Barnsley Museums have commissioned The Caravan Gallery to shine a spotlight on the South Yorkshire town of Wombwell which lies 5 miles from Barnsley town centre. Our Wombwell Pride of Place Project residency, which runs from 14 September – 10 October 2019, will see our well-travelled yellow caravan pop up outside Gabby’s Florist at the end of Wombwell High Street on market days (Tuesday / Friday / Saturday) from 10 – 3 between the launch on Saturday 14th September until 8 October. Additional exhibits and activities – including a closing celebration on 10 October 2019 to mark the end of the residency – will be hosted by Wombwell Library.
Read this Pride of Place Projects: Overview article to discover more about our aims and approach.
The Caravan Gallery itself will become a temporary mobile museum and gallery, devoted to Wombwell past, present and future, with input from local people. We’ll set the scene with our own photos of local people and places and add to the display as we go – loans and donations of Wombwell-related artwork, photos, objects or ephemera are welcomed! Some exhibition contributions – especially fragile and valuable items – may be exhibited in a secure museum display case in Wombwell Library and / or in a special exhibition in the Cooper Gallery, Barnsley at a later date. We’re also eager to hear and record local stories, memories, ideas, hopes for the future, news of community initiatives etc. Why not make your mark on our hand drawn Map of Wombwell by commemorating where you fell in love or fell in the canal?
The Caravan Gallery will be on Wombwell High Street next to Gabby’s Florist from 10 – 3 on the following dates in 2019:
Saturday 14 September, Tuesday 17 September, Tuesday 24 September, Friday 27 September, Saturday 28 September, Tuesday 1 October, Friday 4 October, Saturday 5 October, Tuesday 8 October
Additional events:
Tuesday 1 October, 10 – 12, Wombwell Library – Wombwell History Morning with Barnsley Museum and Archives
Thursday 10 October, 4 -7, Wombwell Library – celebration to mark the end of The Caravan Gallery’s residency in Wombwell.
We’ve set up a dedicated Wombwell Pride of Place Project Facebook group where you can see photos of our adventures and share your own impressions of Wombwell.
See you in Wombwell!
Jan & Chris, The Caravan Gallery
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The Caravan Gallery: WOMBWELL PRIDE OF PLACE PROJECT
The internationally famous The Caravan Gallery shines a spotlight on Wombwell
Barnsley Museums have invited artists and photographers Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale to bring their unique mobile gallery to the streets of Wombwell.
Their bright yellow caravan – a lovingly reincarnated1969 Bluebird Europe – will make its Wombwell debut on the High Street next to Gabby’s Florists on Saturday 14 September during the Heritage Open Day weekend. Further market day appearances will follow over the course of a month.
The Wombwell Pride of Place Project – part exhibition, part alternative visitor information and an honest exploration of Wombwell past, present and future, will see The Caravan Gallery host an evolving exhibition celebrating the characteristics, community initiatives and creativity of the town and the people who live there. The exciting project, whose aim is to engage and connect the local community, has been made possible through the generosity of Arts Council England.
The caravan will be visiting Wombwell on the following dates; Tuesday 17 September, Tuesday 24 September, Friday 27 September, Saturday 28 September, Tuesday 1 October, Friday 4 October, Saturday 5 October and Tuesday 8 October
Visitors are invited to come and see Williams’ and Teasdale’s photographs of local people and places, and get involved in the project by marking places of personal significance on a hand drawn People’s Map of Wombwell.
People can make their voices heard by taking part in an unusually entertaining survey which asks ‘What slogan would you put on a Welcome to Wombwell sign?’, ‘What attractions or hidden treasures would you show visitors?’ and ‘How do you express your creativity?’
The exhibition will grow as people add their stories, memories and hopes for the future to the display along with loans and donations of Wombwell-related arts, crafts and memorabilia – some of which will go on show in a museum case in Wombwell Library.
A photography competition asking, ‘What does Wombwell mean to you?’ will run throughout the project. Competition entries will be exhibited in Wombwell Library with winners announced at the project’s closing celebration on Thursday, 10 October.
Additional events will include a Wombwell History Day in the library on Tuesday 1 October.
The outcome of this project will be shown in the Cooper Gallery, Barnsley’s exciting art space, in 2021 alongside a major touring exhibition, extra{ordinary} Photographs of Britain by The Caravan Gallery.
Cllr Tim Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Regeneration and Culture) says: “We have an extremely strong sense of community in Barnsley – people are passionate about the area in which they live and are keen to work together to make it the best place it can be. Projects like this are vital in bringing communities together to celebrate their past present and exciting future.”
For further information and updates, please visit The Caravan Gallery website and join the Wombwell Pride of Place Project Facebook group.
#WombwellPrideofPlaceProject #TheCaravanGallery
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Notes to Editor
The Caravan Gallery
The Caravan Gallery is a gallery in a caravan and socially engaged visual arts project run by artists and photographers Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale who are interested in recording the ordinary and extraordinary details of everyday life.
Since 2000 they have travelled thousands of miles and exhibited in hundreds of locations, nationally and internationally, taking art and creativity to people and places ‘normal’ galleries might not easily reach. Whether exhibiting in a supermarket car park or prestigious arts venue (fashion designer Paul Smith hosted the artists and their caravan for a major exhibition at Paul Smith Space, Tokyo!) Williams and Teasdale enjoy interacting with visitors and encouraging them to get involved. Their Pride of Place Projects, often run in partnership with galleries and museums, explore regional identity and people’s connection to place. The Caravan Gallery recently played a leading role in West Midlands based art organisation Multistory’s Blast! Photo Festival when they ran a six-week Sandwell Pride of Place Project in an empty Poundland shop.
‘Seriously thought provoking, distressingly perceptive, beautifully absurd’.
