Independent art gallery in Wrexham celebrates its first birthday!

An independent art gallery in Wrexham is celebrating its first birthday,

The Drawing Board, on Lord Street, is a CIC & small charity to help promote and sell local artists and makers’ work.

In the course of their first year the gallery has already seen a huge amount of high quality work displayed across five exhibitions, which in turn has brought a lot of previously unknown artists out of the woodwork

Five fully curated exhibitions over one year is no small feat for an independent gallery and many of the hours and hard work are put in by a team of volunteers.

Speaking to Wrexham.com co-director Jacqui Blore explained why she thinks so many are willing to give their time free of charge to The Drawing Board.

“I think most of our volunteers initially come in to simply have a look at the works on display, they end up chatting to Margaret and myself and ultimately decide it’s a place where they feel at home,” said Jacqui.

As to how a small gallery has adorned it’s walls with such a huge variety in a short space of time, Jacqui points to the underground art scene beginning to rise to the surface in recent years with projects such as Ty Pawb and Ty Cornell also opening in the city; along with music charity The Rock Works based upstairs in their building and the potentially creativity the pandemic brought out in people who found they had time on their hands to think and create.

So how do local artists feel about the space? Speaking to Wrexham.com on the day, Thomas Williams of Wire Aspect Arts said: “Having somewhere you can readily display and sell your work as an artist which helps combat the stigma that artists can’t actually make any money with their practice. It really helps to ease the pressure and also motivate you.”

One of the other ways people can get involved if they’re simply curious is to attend the drop in demos which the Drawing Board hosts on Monday afternoons where an artist turns the gallery into a studio and showcases their artistic process, which Jacqui explains helps people understand the value behind the artworks for sale.

Looking to the future Jacqui explained how they’ve been given the good news that they’ve received grant funding via AVOW to deliver workshops on behalf of the City of Culture 2029 Bid in collaboration with the Wellbeing Hub.

The team are keen to expand the offering of The Drawing Board and connect with the wide range of diverse cultures here in the city, exploring the rich melting pot of cultures and practices within Wrexham.

In terms of the challenges the Drawing Board is a non for profit and as well as giving the volunteers a day off, they are always in need of funding and ask that any well intentioned companies with disposable income pay them a visit.

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