After several delays due to the pandemic, Broadway Gallery has launched the Letchworth Open exhibition on 9 January 2021.
The recent COVID-19 restrictions mean the gallery cannot yet welcome visitors, but the exhibition has been brought to life online with a programme of showcases, events and activities celebrating the rich creative community in Letchworth Garden City.
Originally planned for June 2020 as an ‘Open Call’ exhibition in which only 20 artists were to be selected to exhibit, the events of the last year caused a rethink for curator Kris Day:
"“It occurred to me early on in the first lockdown that 2020 wasn’t going to be the year for a competition, it seemed more fitting to celebrate and support the many artists and creatives in our area. The arts have been devastated by this pandemic, Broadway Gallery faced permanent closure and it was only through the support of the people in our large and thriving art community that we managed to survive and look to the future. So it’s only appropriate that we use the Letchworth Open to say thank you. The Open is also an opportunity for the town’s creatives to symbolically get together under one roof during a time when this is impossible to do for real.”
Spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, video and graphic design and showing professional artists next to that of five year-old first timers (and everything in between), The Letchworth Open embraces the full spectrum of creative activity, sensitively curated to create a cohesive and inspiring show.
Kris Day continued: “The digital show-case will focus on the people and stories behind the artworks, showing how making art has been both a saviour and a struggle for so many this year. It is also a call to arms, inviting everyone in the local community to get making (or carry on making) art and to be proud champions of their uniquely creative town - it is a celebration of Letchworth’s creative community.”
For more information, please see broadway-letchworth.com/TheOpen and @broadway_studio_gallery on Instagram.
The gallery will re-open to visitors as soon as government guidelines allow.
