The Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool shows a year round programme of contemporary and visual art exhibitions and events. Including solo and group displays together with talks, events and educational activities. Take a look at what’s coming up in Spring 2024.
Opening Times
- Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4.45pm.
- Please note: last entry to the gallery is 4.20pm.
- Closed Sunday, Monday and Bank Holidays
- Admission is Free
- More about facilities here
Winter Programme at Grundy Art Gallery
Grundy Art Gallery welcomes 2025 with a programme of exciting, inter-generational exhibitions and events with a local flavour. From the Annual Schools’ exhibition that gives a voice to the creativity of our local schoolchildren to the annual Open Exhibition which platforms artworks made in the previous 12 months by people from across Blackpool and the Fylde Coast.
Alongside this, the winter programme will see the Grundy continuing to show works from the collection in new and surprising ways. The gallery also continues its professional development support of artists based locally and elsewhere, through the Turning Point exhibition programme.
Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council and Chair of Grundy Art Gallery Steering Group said: “I am delighted to be announcing the launch of Grundy’s winter 2025 programme. A highly anticipated time in the Grundy’s calendar, winter sees the gallery burst to life with hundreds of artworks made by our local schoolchildren and residents. Plus works from the Grundy collection and special projects by artists from the region and beyond. Brought together under one roof, these exciting displays underline the important role that creativity plays in our everyday lives.”
EXHIBITION PROGRAMME
18 January – 8 March 2025
ART MOVEMENT: Annual Schools’ Exhibition
This year’s Annual Schools’ Exhibition is titled, ‘Art Movement’ and focuses on how visiting an art gallery and viewing artworks can make us feel. In November and December last year over 200 pupils from St John’s Primary and Holy Family Catholic Primary visited the Grundy to experience the exhibition programme. Here they viewed a selection of drawings, animations and large scale video projections that variously explored the idea of ‘stimming’ which is the act of repeating physical movements, words or sounds. As a behaviour, ‘stimming’ is common to most people at some degree or another, but it is especially prevalent in those who are neuro-diverse and who use stimming to self-regulate emotions. Responding to the brief to draw how the artworks they saw made them feel – the children have produced a gallery full of colourful, expressive, gestural artworks that energetically explode off the page.
COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT: All the Feels.
Collection Spotlight exhibitions are a regular feature of the Grundy calendar and provide an opportunity for visitors to see works from the Grundy Art Gallery collection presented in new ways. Our first Collection Spotlight display of 2025 is called All the Feels and is made up of artworks chosen by the Grundy team. Echoing the brief provided to participants of the Annual Schools’ exhibition, Grundy team members were asked to select the Grundy collection based on how that artwork makes them feel.
OPEN 2025: Annual open submission exhibition.
Grundy’s annual open submission exhibition once again promises to give visitors an insight into the diverse and dynamic creative practices underway across Blackpool and the Fylde Coast. With increasing numbers of submissions year on year the Open Exhibition continues to be a highlight of Grundy’s annual calendar.
GROUNDING: Tina Dempsey and Tracy Hill
Grounding is a research and development project to explore the slow act of walking, thinking, observing, and making – leading to creative responses and new ways of thinking about place. Focusing on the Fylde coast, artists Tina Dempsey and Tracy Hill aim to reveal new understanding of familiar journeys and landscapes through slow and embodied experiences, reconnecting to ourselves, each other, and the land.
Alongside research findings and new artworks, Tina Dempsey and Tracy Hill have also selected artworks from the Grundy’s collection to accompany their display. For some of these collection pieces, this will be the first time that they have been displayed at the Grundy.
UPON A PAINTED OCEAN: Hondartza Fraga.
Selected to accompany Grounding, Hondartza Fraga’s animation, Upon a Painted Ocean focuses on the sea as its subject. The work was first shown as part of the artist’s 2015 exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery and was made as a response to the gallery’s collection of Dutch seascapes. Rather than being a backdrop for depictions of military and economic power, Upon a Painted Ocean, seeks to bring focus back to the sea itself and its natural power and elemental presence.
Monet painting to be exhibited at Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery
Blackpool Council is delighted to announce that The National Gallery, London has selected Grundy Art Gallery to be one of four museums and galleries from across the country to take part in the prestigious The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2025-27.
The National Gallery’s The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil by Monet will be displayed at Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery in spring 2026 (28 March -13 June). Blackpool was chosen as one of four locations from over 30 museum and galleries that submitted an application to be part of The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2025-27.
This project will also see Grundy Art Gallery host other artworks in the future of art historical and art world significance from The National Gallery Collection.
The work selected for the first year is Monet’s The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil (1872), a work which has left the Gallery only once in the last 20 years. Monet depicts a tranquil scene of a winter day on the outskirts of the small suburban town of Argenteuil, not far from Paris. Although the town was already partly industrialised and a popular location for sailing and leisure boating, Monet only hints at this developing bustle with a few scattered buildings behind a screen of trees. Instead, he focuses on an intimate moment by the river. The orderly composition, variety of brushstrokes and reflection in the water are all regular features of Monet’s work.
Hosting Monet in Blackpool continues Grundy’s ambition to bring world-class art to the town, and follows recent displays of work by art world greats such as LS Lowry, JMW Turner, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry.
To accompany Monet…
Grundy Art Gallery will use its expertise in hosting contemporary art exhibitions to combine the display of Monet with a solo exhibition by the contemporary Northwest based painter Louise Giovanelli. Recognised as one of the most compelling artists of her generation, Giovanelli’s luminous paintings display her own mastery of materials and her expert skill at capturing light, reflection and shadow. Spring 2026 marks ten years since Giovanelli had her first solo exhibition at the Grundy, an occasion that was also the first solo exhibition of her career.
There will also be a schools’ exhibition at Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery following workshops responding to Monet’s work, and Monet’s painting will inspire Grundy’s programme of work with the pARTnership, a creative and professional development project for adults with a learning disability.
Sir Gabriele Finaldi is National Gallery Director. He said: “The National Gallery’s collection belongs to all of us. It is part of our duty and our honour to look after these paintings and to bring them to where people are, not just expect them to come to us. Partnering on touring exhibitions does so much more than bring beloved paintings from the collection to other places in the UK. It supports the whole country’s cultural ecosystem, connecting people with paintings that belong to us all. It allows us to learn and expand our own practices and interpretations through the creativity of our partner organisations and their communities. That over one million people have visited these exhibitions in the last decade proves the desire to engage with our collection is growing. We look forward to welcoming the next million visitors across the UK.”
Grundy Art Gallery’s work recognised by increased funding
In November 2022, Grundy Art Gallery announced that it’s to remain part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio programme 2023-2026 – to the value of £249,000 over the three years.
This funding will support the development and delivery of an exciting year-round programme of relevant, meaningful and high quality contemporary art exhibitions and events, taking place on and off-site.
Image credits, left to right:
- Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Blackpool Light of My Life (2021), Grundy Art Gallery Co-commission with Blackpool Illuminations and Lightpool Festival Photo: Jonathan Lynch, © the artist, Courtesy Grundy Art Gallery
- The pARTnership exhibition banner at Grundy Art Gallery, 2022. Photo Matt Wilkinson. Courtesy Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool Council
- Chloe MacFarlane, copyright the artist, Private Collection, Photo Matt Wilkson. Courtesy Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool Council
Grundy will continue its founding mission to show the best art of the day to the people of Blackpool and beyond. The programme will enable the gallery to enact its vision to be a beacon for contemporary art in the North West.
Grundy Art Gallery is also delighted to receive an uplift on previous years’ NPO funding, specifically to support the development and delivery of the pARTnership.
It’s delivered via a collaboration between Grundy Art Gallery, The New Langdale (Blackpool Council’s daytime service for people with a Learning Disability), Venture Arts in Manchester and Fylde-Coast based artist Tina Dempsey. This project provides bespoke professional development to artists with a Learning Disability to enable them to develop their own individual creativity. The project also presents this work in professional contemporary art settings. Recent exhibitions of this work have taken place at Grundy Art Gallery and Abingdon Studios in Blackpool. And at The Horsfall and The Manchester Contemporary in Manchester.
Grundy newsletter
To keep up to date and find out more about the Grundy’s exhibitions and events sign up to the Grundy newsletter via the Grundy website www.thegrundy.org. Also keep an eye on the website and watch out for posts via Grundy’s social media channels.
Grundy Art Gallery celebrates 110 years
Grundy Art Gallery unveiled an exciting calendar of events to commemorate its 110th anniversary in 2021.
The gallery and its collection established in 1911. It came via a financial gift and donation of over 30 paintings by local brothers John and Cuthbert Grundy. 2021 therefore marks the 110th Anniversary of the gallery opening its doors to the people of Blackpool and beyond.
The Blackpool coat of arms – emblazoned with ‘Progress’ – is embedded in brickwork above the front door. Guided by this motto, the gallery continues to honour its founding ethos. It shows a year-round programme of high quality contemporary art exhibitions and events. Despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, 2021 was no exception.
110th Anniversary Logo
Grundy Art Gallery’s 110th anniversary logo was inspired by an ink stamp, historically used to identify items brought into Grundy’s permanent collection. It also echoes the design of Blackpool’s world famous sticks of rock.
Curator of Grundy Art Gallery
Paulette Terry Brien became the gallery’s curator in November 2017.
Paulette has more than 25 years of experience working within contemporary visual art. She’s well known for raising the profile of the North West region, on a national and international level.
Paulette is co-founder and co-director of The International 3, a contemporary art gallery based in Salford. There, she delivered a year round programme of exhibitions and events. Plus being instrumental in developing projects such as Manchester’s annual contemporary art fair, The Manchester Contemporary.
Paulette comes to the Grundy with a strong track record of identifying and nurturing emerging talent, commissioning and curating high quality contemporary art exhibitions for both gallery and non-gallery settings. Over the years, her wealth of experience has supported hundreds of emerging artists. Many of whom have gone on to achieve regional, national and international recognition.
As well as providing peer support, Paulette has also been successful on many occasions in brokering the acquisition of work by regional artists into major public and private collections, such as the Arts Council Collection and Whitworth Art Gallery’s collection.
Paulette is thrilled to be the new curator of the Grundy. She’s keen to continue to champion regional artists from the North West.
More about Grundy Art Gallery
Grundy Art Gallery is Blackpool’s art gallery. It offers a year round programme of contemporary and visual art exhibitions and events. There are solo and group exhibitions together with talks, workshops and educational activities.
Brothers John and Cuthbert Grundy founded The Grundy Art Gallery in 1908. Now displayed in a Grade II listed Carnegie building. It’s been at the centre of cultural and artistic life in the town for over 100 years. It began with the ambition to show the best art of the day to the people of Blackpool. This sentiment remains at the heart of today, as a leading contemporary art gallery in the North West.
Today it includes works by established artists such as Martin Creed, Tracey Emin and Laura Ford. Gilbert and George, Brian Griffiths, Augustus John, Haroon Mirza and Eric Ravilious. It also has works by regionally based emerging talent such as Joe Fletcher Orr and Louise Giovanelli.
The Grundy aims to inspire audiences through an ambitious and varied year-round exhibitions programme. It draws on the unique and invigorating context and heritage of Blackpool. For instance exploring the space between contemporary art, entertainment and popular culture.
The Grundy Collection
Exhibitions and displays frequently incorporate pieces from our collection. It began with a bequest by the founding brothers and contains an eclectic range of art and other items. From furniture to ceramics, to netsuke ornaments to Victorian oil paintings. Artists include Craigie Aitchison, Ruth Claxton and Martin Creed. Laura Ford, Augustus John, Eric Ravilious and Gilbert and George amongst others.
Grundy is part of Blackpool Council’s Arts Service. It develops and delivers arts projects which engage Blackpool’s residents, communities and visitors in the arts. The service supports the town’s arts community, placing the arts the core of Blackpool’s unique and important cultural environment.
The gallery is an Accredited Museum. It also receives funding from Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation and from the John Ellerman Foundation.
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