Guests attend launch of new community gallery

23 August 202324 August 2023 Connor Steel

A SELECTION OF invited guests came together at Thorngate Halls on Saturday afternoon (August 19) to celebrate the launch of a new art gallery for Gosport which will allow local residents to display and potentially sell their artwork as the Gosport Community Association hopes to build on the growing interest in creative activities over recent years.

The fresh space, entitled ‘Gosport Community Gallery’, can be found in the Privett Suite area of Thorngate Halls, which is accessible via the entrance to the rear of the building. It further extends into the immediate corridors and annexes that remain a huge feature of these facilities, with people welcome to attend during the working week or for organised private viewings. A comprehensive breakdown of the opening hours will be publshed shortly.

It is hoped that the gallery will feature a wide range of ‘rolling exhibits’ and local residents are invited to get involved by submitting examples of their own work or items from a private collection. This could include photographs, paintings, art, sculptures, graphic design, silk-screen, pottery, jewellery, knitwear and embroidery outcomes; with no limit on creativity.

Anybody wishing to display their work should contact the main entrance reception desk at Thorngate Halls in-person or emailing administration@thorngatehalls.co.uk. Space has been been allocated for those who do decide to sell their work to the public, although Gosport Community Association will take a 15 percent commission for anything sold.

Launching the gallery has proven a challenging task and the event last Saturday was somewhat overshadowed by the news that Vice Chairman Sue Debois had passed away in her sleep early the previous day. Sue was 74 years old and was a driving force behind the project. She had been a key member of the Gosport Community Association for eight years, serving as the GCA trustees’ secretary and then chairman until several months ago. She was also a familiar sight in her role fronting the Thorngate Singers choral group.

The tragic news was reflected in the opening speech by Globe founder Robin Young, who paid his own tributes to Sue and the outstanding work she had done for the Community Association over the years. Many toasts were then made to Sue’s memory and Robin continued to outline exciting visions for the project, including artistic success and the possibility that any funds generated could be used to provide a much-needed “new carpet” for the main gallery area.

Broadcaster and MC for the occasion, Fred Dinenage, then took the opportunity to offer a number of amusing and unforgettable anecdotes about his career, including how one of the featured artists – photographer, Globe contributor and former associate editor Peter Maguire – had paved the way for him to build relationships with the infamous Kray twins, resulting in a best-selling biography about them. This was followed up by words from Deputy Mayor Richard Earle; who praised the gallery’s mission and highlighted local Gosport artists.

Once speeches were completed there was time for visitors to explore the artwork on display (enjoying cheese and wine refreshments in the process). The inaugural exhibition includes photographs on canvas by Peter and the late Lee-on-the-Solent painters Peter Hammond and Chris Rendle. A full list of visitors included Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, Thorngate Administration Manager Sonia Bennett, Gosport Community Association trustee Rob Skiller and Deputy Mayoress of Gosport Mrs Debbie Sherman; with Labour councillors Mrs June Cully and Alan Durrant also attending.

The Gosport and Fareham Globe was further represented with Chief Photographer Holly Mason taking all the images, myself reporting on proceedings as the community newspaper’s Editor and Managing Director, and former Globe company secretary and feature writer Sue Courtney also in attendance. Photographer Peter was unable to be present due to ill health but was represented by his friend and neighbour Sue Murphy.

Kim Bristow, who contributed paintings by her late partners Chris Rendle and Peter Hammond, was also unfortunately absent through illness. The main image with this report is a detail from one of the intricately worked creations by Peter Hammond. Kim had married him on his deathbed in the Queen Alexandra Hospital five years ago.

Readers can examine a downloadable sheet explaining the exhibition by clicking here; whilst further information on the artists and their backgrounds can be read through this link. Both documents are saved as PDF files and can be printed.

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