The Guildhall, Gloucester - Stamping Ground - Rachel Markwick's Stamp Collage Exhibition NOW ON

The exhibition, Stamping Ground,  is NOW ON at The Guildhall, 23 Eastgate Street, Gloucester until 29th March .

The Guildhall is right in the centre of Gloucester and is really easy to find, but I met quite a few people yesterday who previously never been there or even knew anything about it!  I think there may be some confusion with Shire Hall, at the other end of the city, which is a very imposing looking building with pillars and steps leading up to it, whereas the Guildhall frontage is quite narrow and  is sandwiched between the  Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society and Dorothy Perkins in Eastgate Street, and right opposite the Eastgate Shopping Centre and Marks and Spencer. You can easily miss it if you're not actually searching for it or looking up to see the banner! And it's a pity to just pass it by as you never know just what may be going on inside!   And it's like a tardis - so much bigger inside than it looks from the street.
I had to wait more than 2 years to get the gallery space for my exhibition, which just shows how popular it is for artists wanting to exhibit their work  here, but unfortunately, unless you advertise it widely yourself, it could go unnoticed as there is no street advertising of the art exhibitions, which is a real shame. The Guildhall do have a brochure and some of the art exhibitions are listed in this bi-monthly guide, but I was rather unlucky as for some reason mine got missed out of the February/March edition !! So I'm hoping that my own posters, showing my stamp collage of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, will get noticed elsewhere around the city and inside the Guildhall building itself, although not outside!

Just one of my pictures on show in The Gallery 2nd Floor of The Guildhall

  And hoping for some press coverage too, as well as the lovely article in March's Cotswold Life (p18).

 Inside the Guildhall is a cinema which shows all the latest films as well as some lesser known and older films. There is a lovely cafe/bar which also offers vegetarian and vegan food. It's a great venue for theatre, comedy, music events, workshops and hosts meetings for many associations, including U3A.  They have a wide range of activities going on, and an elderly gentleman I was talking to recently about it, said he remembered going there to Saturday night dances.  He was surprised to learn that you can still go dancing there too! Passers-by just need to know about it!