Pebbles Art Gallery

Case Study

A rural Northumberland village is preparing itself for the most ambitious project in its history - the creation of a new art and media centre. The venture in Allendale, near Hexham, has brought together a wide range of creative practitioners and community members to create workspace and studios for small businesses, exhibition gallery, workshops, café, office facilities and a sound and media studio where the youth project will be based.

Among the organisations supporting the initiative is LEADER, which has provided £25,000 for a Project Coordinator who will oversee the development and work with everyone connected to the scheme. At the heart of the project is Allendale Creative Artists CIC (Community Interest Company), which already runs the Pebbles Gallery and Art Café in the middle of the village and is now well advanced with plans to build the Allendale Art and Media Centre of Excellence nearby. The idea has its roots in the experiences of Amanda Galbraith, of Catton, near Allendale, who runs her own jewellery-making business, Bewitching Jewellery.

She recognised the wealth of arts and crafts and musical talent in the Allen valleys and gathered together a group of artists to share a disused village shop that provided somewhere for them all to display their work and set up new businesses. After refurbishment of the 19th Century former restaurant, Pebbles opened in September 2006. Fifteen businesses sell everything from paintings and textiles to fine art covered in leatherwork, ceramics blacksmith iron, handblown glass, photography, jewellery and handmade chocolates, as well as running workshops and the coffee shop that has become a community hub. The creative practitioners and community members, who are directors of the company, sell their work and help staff the gallery seven days a week 10 am to 5pm.

Amanda, currently the voluntary project manager, said: “I had the idea four or five years ago because I was selling my jewellery at craft fairs and galleries all over the area and it became exhausting as well as being expensive with the cost of petrol. At the events, I met other people in the same situation and the idea developed of having somewhere for them to promote their work and to support new businesses being hatched in remote parts of our own area. “One of the attractions for customers is that they can meet the artists and chat about their work or have work signed or even commission a special piece. It is also good for the artists to meet their customers. It’s the personal touch.”

In addition to the retail side, the gallery runs monthly art exhibitions and cultural events that include the community, operates a free youth project, providing arts and crafts workshops, a sound studio and web design, work experience, fragile learning for those students who can’t attend school and a dedicated gallery to show and sell work for local young people. The success of Pebbles means that the existing premises are too small and the short lease on the building means the business would have no place to go, so eyes fell on a disused motor garage not far away in the centre of the village.

To create the new arts and media centre, the company has attracted funding from several sources, the largest of which was £365,000 from regional development agency One North East.  A further £25,000 came from LEADER to employ a project co ordinator who will be in place later in the year. The funding is being made available through the Rural Development Programme for England, which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, and is managed by One NorthEast in the North East region. Amanda said: “The LEADER funding is very important to us. This is a large development and we need someone to co-ordinate the work ahead. The directors have been working hard giving their time and skills freely but they have also had to run their own businesses. It is a complicated project and the new coordinator will be able to pull everything together as we go into our final stage that is the build.”

Planning permission has been secured, the garage has already been demolished and later in the year, the company will award the construction contract. Due to open in Spring 2011, it will include 11 work units for micro creative businesses as well as providing exhibition and meeting spaces, a sound studio and a café. Amanda said: “We all work together to support many people and enjoy seeing new businesses being hatched and exhibitions organised. Being an artist in a beautiful, remote part of Northumberland is quite inspiring but it’s often this isolation that makes running a business from here a hard job to do. Pebbles Gallery offers somewhere to promote regional fine art, crafts and is a visitor destination. “We contribute to community life by giving people somewhere to come and enjoy a cup of coffee, lunch and a chat with the artists. We also support lots of local clubs and societies and we feel we are a part of a very lively village working together to be sustainable.

“This is a social enterprise with a good business plan and the new centre will allow us to expand our work networking to link up with other projects. We are thinking big at a time of recession I know, but rather than ‘shrink back’ we decided to keep going and be in a good position once the recession lifts. “We have seen visitors from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and even Kathmandhu and the local community support right through the year is amazing.  The new centre will, hopefully, increase visitors and we will offer new community facilities. In Allendale local businesses think of each other. If we cannot help a customer, we will pass them onto someone who can and vice versa. This is about helping the community. It is an amazing project.”