Williamson Art Gallery

Spring Wreath Workshop
2024-03-15 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Welcome in the lighter days of Spring and explore the world of floristry during a relaxed floristry workshop with Funk & Bloom!
Learn how to create a fresh Spring wreath, using sustainable techniques, and seasonal flowers and foliage.
All tools and materials supplied and leave with a colourful wreath to adorn your door or table!
Book Tickets

Craig Easton: artist talk and exhibition tour
2024-03-07 14:00 - 15:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Book Now
To celebrate the current exhibition at the Williamson Museum & Gallery, “Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening?”, we invite you to join a one-hour conversation delving into the ethical considerations and the evolving role of social documentary photography in contemporary society.
Craig Easton challenges conventional stereotypes of Northern communities by authentically representing them in his work. “Is Anybody Listening?” showcases two award-winning series, namely Bank Top and Thatcher’s Children, both aimed at shining light on and challenging stereotypes.
To set the stage, Craig will lead a guided tour of the exhibitions, introducing the two projects.
We encourage active participation in the discussion, exploring topics such as the role of the ‘outsider’ photographer, ethical and critically engaged approaches to community collaboration, and the growing responsibility of photographers in an era where social media alters the dynamics of storytelling.
“Is Anybody Listening?” is presented by the University of Salford, generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The exhibition includes a dedicated engagement programme, “Our Time, Our Place,” – including a body of works produced by photographers mentored by Craig throughout 2023 – with the goal of inspiring and elevating the aspirations of young people across the North West region.

Is Anybody Listening? Symposium
2024-02-29 09:30 - 16:00 | Merseyside
Book Tickets
A thought-provoking exploration of socially engaged photography, inspired by the touring exhibition and engagement programme Is Anybody Listening? Our Time, Our Place.
Hear from award-winning photographer Craig Easton and socially-engaged practitioners and educators Liz Wewiora, Suzanne St Clare, and Gwen Riley Jones. Discover the impactful projects, learn about the young talents, and emerging photographers they supported, and the profound effects these initiatives had on the communities involved.
Facilitated by Sarah Lovell (Culture Lead for Liverpool City Region), the symposium will explore the ethical considerations of socially engaged photography and ask “What should we be collecting?”
Expert Speakers include Sarah Fisher (Open Eye Gallery), Lindsay Taylor (University of Salford Art Collection), Laura Jamieson (LeftCoast) and Abdul Aziz Hafiz (Blackburn College). Free to Attend.
Is Anybody Listening? Our Time, Our Place is presented by University of Salford Art Collection and generously supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Special thanks go to National Lottery players.

Choral Performance Afternoon
2024-02-24 13:30 - 15:30 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
An afternoon of a cappella with Creative Community and Bebington Bittermen
Join Wirral-based choirs Creative Community Choir and Bebington Bittermen for an afternoon of inspiring a cappella. Both groups perform uplifting music from around the world: you will hear songs from South Africa, Georgia and Jamaica alongside gospel, folk and classic pop. Both groups were founded over a decade ago by musical director James Sills, who is a passionate advocate for the wellbeing benefits of singing and author of the book ‘Do Sing: Reclaim Your Voice. Find Your Singing Tribe.
Performances will start at 1:30 and 2:30pm, each lasting about 40 minutes.

ENDED: The Williamson Open 2024
2024-02-16 10:00 - 2024-03-16 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
For 60 years the Williamson Open has celebrated the talents of artists with connections to the Wirral peninsula. In recognition of the plethora of artistic talent within the wider Liverpool City Region of which we are part, however, in 2024 we extended the eligibility criteria to all artists working in or with connections to Wirral, Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, Halton and St Helens.
Entries have been submitted and selections made, and we’re now looking forward to welcoming you to the Williamson Open exhibition 2024!
News: Winners of 2024 Williamson Open Revealed
Alongside this year’s entries will be special displays by this year’s guest judges Gareth Kemp and Lucy Elizabeth Jones, and Birkenhead-born artist Pete Hoida (1944-2023) – more information on these coming soon.
Take the work home! Many of the works included in the Williamson Open 2024 – including those by the guest judges – are for sale. Williamson Art Gallery is a participating gallery in Arts Council England’s Own Art scheme. Own Art makes purchasing original artworks more affordable by making it possible to pay in 10 equal, interest-free monthly payments. Amounts between £100 and £2500 can be applied for.
To find out more and to apply for the Own Art scheme, please make an appointment at the front desk.

Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening?
2024-01-26 10:00 - 2024-04-06 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum presents Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening?, a touring exhibition from the University of Salford Art Collection which showcases two award-winning series of photographs; Bank Top and Thatcher’s Children.
Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening? seeks to challenge typical stereotypes of northern communities through authentic representation and raise aspirations of young people within the region through an accompanying engagement programme called Our Time, Our Place.
The engagement programme, Our Time, Our Place being exhibited alongside Easton’s work, has empowered young people to explore their own history and share it through pathways in photography and associated practices.
Is Anybody Listening? Our Time, Our Place is presented by the University of Salford and generously supported by The National Heritage Lottery Fund.

About Craig Easton

Easton won Photographer of the Year (2021) at the Sony World Photography Awards with his series Bank Top, a collaboration with writer, poet and social researcher Abdul Aziz Hafiz, examining the representation and misrepresentation of northern communities. Commissioned by Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, the work focused on a small, tight-knit community in Blackburn.
He also took second place in the documentary category for Thatcher’s Children, which explores the inter-generational nature of poverty and economic hardship as experienced by three generations of one family across the Northwest.
A passionate believer in working collaboratively with others, Easton also conceived and led the critically acclaimed SIXTEEN project with sixteen leading photographers exploring the hopes, ambitions and fears of sixteen-year-olds all around the UK, in which Williamson Art Gallery also participated as an exhibiting gallery.
He often tackles stereotypes and responds to the negative way in which the mainstream media can portray Northern communities. The relevance of Easton’s work has resurfaced in a new light as communities endure the cost-of-living crisis and face new challenges and segregation.
The exhibition comes at the same time as the launch of Easton’s new book centred on his award-winning Thatcher’s Children series. Quotes from successive prime ministers demonstrate how deprivation is connected to the social policy failures of successive governments.
The exhibition marks the start of Wirral’s year as Borough of Culture for the Liverpool City Region. Wirral Borough of Culture 2024 is a year of incredible experiences in incredible places, reflecting Wirral’s story and celebrating its people. The programme features a diverse line-up of culture, arts and heritage across the whole borough and shines a spotlight on Wirral’s creative community and the regeneration of the Left Bank of the River Mersey. Wirral Borough of Culture 2024 is led by Wirral Council and local cultural partners, with support from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Worst Record Covers
2023-11-15 10:00 - 2024-01-27 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
15th November 2023 – 27th January 2024
From the unintentionally funny to the completely bizarre, Steve Goldman’s collection of more than 500 record covers are something to behold. Collected over a seven-year period from charity shops and online marketplaces, Goldman’s selection criteria is stringent: Is this one of the worst record covers in the world? The exhibition of this collection, Worst Record Covers is a unique celebration of some of the most questionable design choice in music history.
Goldman explains that to get into his collection, a cover “has to make me laugh! There are plenty of covers which are bad for the wrong reasons – sexist, homophobic, racist, gory etc – you won’t find any of these. I want records where the designers have tried to do something that’s gone horribly wrong”.
Visitors will have the opportunity to have their say on which is the best – or worst – via a public vote to select a favourite. This is an exhibition which can be enjoyed by the whole family, and younger visitors can enjoy games and activities, including designing their own worst record covers.
The exhibition will run 15th November 2023 – 27th January 2024. Free entry – but Goldman is a stroke survivor and is staging the exhibition in aid of Different Strokes, a charity helping younger stroke survivors.
EVENTS:
Saturday 13th January, 2pm: Talk ‘Designing the Worst Album Covers’ with Simon Robinson (text author of The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve). Book on Tickets Wirral
Thursday 18th January, 6pm: ‘Pull Back The Covers’ with Brian Biggs, Alan Dunn & Steve Hardstaff. Book on Tickets Wirral.
Book events on Tickets Wirral
The exhibition’s opening will also mark the publication of Goldman’s book “The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve”, published by Easy On The Eye Books. The text is written by Simon Robinson at Easy On The Eye, who has produced many sleeve designs himself (happily none of which feature in Steve’s collection!) with a foreword written by comedian Stewart Lee.

The New Light Prize
2023-10-14 14:00 - 15:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

ENDED: The New Light Prize
2023-09-30 10:00 - 2023-12-22 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
THIS EXHIBITION ENDED ON 22ND DECEMBER 2023
We are proud to host the launch of the New Light Prize exhibition 23/24.
Established in 2010, the New Light charity celebrates and promotes Northern art, supporting both well-known and emerging artists by offering some of the region’s best awards and opportunities with the biennial New Light Prize Exhibition. It provides Northern artists with an unparalleled platform to showcase their work and reach new audiences.
The New Light Prize exhibition tour 23/24 begins with this show at the Williamson, open 30th September – 22nd December 2023. Free entry, check our Visit Us page for full visiting information.
Following its time at the Williamson the Prize exhibition will tour to London’s Bankside Gallery, The Gallery at Rheged in Penrith, The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle and finish at The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate on 31st December 2024.
All artwork is available to purchase, and every purchase supports the viability of participants artistic careers. We are a member of the Own Art scheme, which makes it easy and affordable for anyone to buy contemporary art by providing interest-free loans. Speak to staff in the gallery for further information.
FREE EVENTS:
Saturday 14th October, 2-3pm, POSTPONED until Saturday 11th November 2-3pm, FREE: ‘Unlocking New Light Art’ exhibition tour & talk with Sara Riccardi. SOLD OUT
Friday 3rd November, 6-8pm FREE: ‘Assembled Interiors’ workshop with Josie Jenkins. SOLD OUT

ENDED: Helene Appel: Among Trees, Among Sand Grains
2023-09-22 10:00 - 2024-02-24 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Berlin-based artist Helene Appel creates images that straddle the threshold between realism, sculpture, and abstraction. Appel paints ordinary materials from everyday life, working in a 1:1 scale.
Appel’s work highlights the sometimes-overlooked beauty of ordinary objects such as the bark of a tree, sand on a seashore, an envelope, the headlight of a car, and a loose fold of fabric. Appel’s closely-observed paintings even explore the aesthetic qualities of discarded vegetable peelings ready to be thrown onto the compost pile, or a kitchen sink full to the brim of murky washing up water. The materials Appel uses, such as oil, watercolour or encaustic, start to resemble the object itself, giving her paintings a physical and three-dimensional presence.
This exhibition features key works from Appel’s career alongside a selection of new paintings. It is also an opportunity to see two works by Appel which were recently acquired for the Williamson’s collection: ‘Sand’ and ‘Dishwater’.
