Two art exhibitions will run side by side at Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in Bangor in the new year. The official opening will be held on Friday, 13 January, and the exhibitions will run from 14 January until 25 February 2012.
The Stories and Journeys exhibition celebrates the end of Nichola Goff and Michael McMillan’s year as Artists in Residence with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor and will run alongside Mutable Figure/Flux of Landscape exhibition by Elizabeth Ashworth.
Gwynedd Council and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board have already been involved in a number of projects and events which bring patients, visitors, volunteers and staff together with artists and the local community to enjoy the arts.
Both Nichola Goff and Michael McMillan have worked on various projects at Ysbyty Gwynedd and Ysbyty Llandudno from 2010 to 2011 involving patients, carers and hospital staff as part of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s Arts in Health and Wellbeing Programme.
Nichola Goff artist/printmaker who worked within the Renal Unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd said:
“As Artist in Residence I have enjoyed the challenges, surprises and delights in working with dialysis patients, carers and staff. I have experienced a warm welcome in the Renal Unit and found the year to be a journey of discovery for myself as an artist working in a new and challenging environment, and also for the participants uncovering their hidden artistic talents.”
Michael McMillan writer and curator worked with the Alaw Unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd and the Rheumatology Clinic at Ysbyty Llandudno added:
“As Artist in Residence I interviewed patients and carers in their living rooms. Oral history and photographic material formed the basis of The Waiting Room installation accessed by patients on the actual waiting rooms of the wards and clinics I worked in.“
The ‘Mutable Figure/Flux of Landscape’ exhibition by Elizabeth Ashworth are recent paintings which are the result of eight months work by the Llanfairfechan artist following a Wales Arts Council small project grant awarded to develop her theme.
The landscapes are all of north Wales – often beaches on Anglesey and at Llanfairfechan. They are not painted realistically or romantically but explore another idea of how the changing landscape can sometimes seem to overwhelm us, and make us feel isolated. At the same time the artist wanted the paintings to be lyrical and uplifting.
Delyth Gordon, Gwynedd Council’s Visual Arts Officer, said: “Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery are delighted to host both exhibitions which will provide an opportunity for the local community to see how beneficial these developments are in health care and to enjoy these poetic works by Liz Ashworth. I would urge anyone who is interested to take the opportunity to view and appreciate all these art works.”
The gallery is open to the public: Tuesday – Friday 12:30 – 4:30, Saturday 10:30 – 4:30. Admission is Free. For more information about the exhibition, contact Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery, Bangor 01248 353368 or visit www.gwynedd.gov.uk/museums
