OLDHAM OPEN EVENING – A FRIEND’S FAVOURITE.
On Thursday 10th October, almost 30 members attended a special “Friends only” event where Senior Exhibitions and Collections Officer Rebecca Hill introduced us to a number of Oldham Open exhibitors, who told us about their art styles and mediums as well as the background and inspiration to their work on display.
Everyone who attended seemed to enjoy the evening very much.
Friends hear from Peter Fallas about the photographs he had on display at the Oldham Open
FRIENDS REPRESENTATIVES DECIDE ON GALLERY 4 EXHIBITORS
Chairman Roger Hindle and Treasurer Tricia Golden represented The Friends of Gallery Oldham when choosing the next batch of exhibitors for Gallery 4 during 2025/26. They were part of a group of 8 people who shortlisted 5 nominees for the next period of artists who will exhibit their work in the future.
Keep a look out for further details of who will be displaying their work and when.
FRIENDS “MADE BY MEMBERS” SALE
Thank you to everyone who has donated items for the “Made by Members” sale in aid of our fundraising to buy Cliff Murphy’s painting of Oldham Coliseum for the Gallery collection.
Our first sale on 14th November raised a fabulous £75.
The sales table will be in the Gallery foyer again from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 23rd November and we are hoping to have another few sale days leading up to Christmas. Can you help on the stall? If so, please email tricia.golden@gmail.com
If you have something we may be able to sell and have not already dropped off your contribution, please do so as soon as you can, or contact Tricia so we can replenish our stock. We are still hoping for jams and chutneys as well as arts and crafts.
We are selling raffle tickets for Steve Whitworth’s painting of Oldham Parish Church.
As well as the raffle, we are also holding a Silent Auction for three items with a suggested minimum bid of £50.
1. A colour sketch “City Hustle” by Paul Wilson
2. “Stecci Hercegovini” tomb carving mixed media by Peter Stanaway.
3. A 40 x 50 cm oil painting of your pet by artist Paul Wilson. These commissions usually sell for at least £250.
If you wish to bid on any of the silent auction items, please email fogoldham@aol.com with your bid and which items you are bidding for.
The silent auction will close and the raffle drawn at the Friends social evening on 12th December.
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- Steve Whitworth’s painting of Oldham Parish Church
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- City Hustle by Paul Wilson
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- Peter Stanaway’s Stecci Hercegovini
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- Paul Wilson’s pet portrait
FRIENDS OF ROCHDALE ART GALLERY VISIT GALLERY OLDHAM
The Friends of Rochdale Art Gallery visited Gallery Oldham on the afternoon of 14th November. The group, who support the Touchstone Gallery, which is currently closed for refurbishment, were invited to come to Oldham earlier in the year and were please to accept offer. FRAG Chairman, Joe Dawson and a number of the group were shown round Gallery Oldham by FOGO Chairman Roger Hindle.
FRAG Chairman Joe Dawson & FOGO Chairman Roger Hindle with other visitors from Rochdale
GO FUND ME PAGE
Don’t forget, we have a “Go Fund Me” page initially to raise funds to purchase Cliff Murphy’s painting of Oldham Coliseum and to fund other projects in the future. You or your friends and family can help by donating any amount you can using the following link. https://gofund.me/7539684f
RAISE MONEY FOR FOGO WHILST SHOPPING ONLINE
The Friends of Gallery Oldham are now registered with easyfundraising, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online. Over 7,000 brands will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them, even sale items, – at no extra cost to yourself!
Many popular companies are part of the scheme, including Amazon, eBay, B&Q, Pets at Home, Tesco – far too many to mention here but check to see if people you buy from are on the list.
These donations really mount up and make a BIG difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us. It’s completely FREE, really easy (if I can do it – anyone can) and only takes two minutes to register.
You can find our easyfundraising page at
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/friends-gallery-oldham/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pmc&utm_content=gs-email1
Even if you are already signed up to easyfundraising, you can change your choice to us.
WHAT’S ON AT GALLERY OLDHAM
“Oldham Stories” continues as a permanent exhibition whilst the “One Seven Five” exhibition runs until 11th January next year.
The “Oldham Open” has now closed, so work is underway to prepare Gallery 2 for the next exhibition “Minute to Midnight” which will run from 7th December until 1st March and Gallery 4 for an exhibition of work from Colin Welden called “A Walk Along the Towpath”.
Future exhibitions include “The Lights” which opens on 25th January until 28th April and finally “New Life in an Old Building” will run from 15th March until 30th May.
Details of these and other events can be found in the “What’s On” brochure for October 24 to April 25 which is now available at the Gallery or on the Gallery’s website.
The Friends of Gallery Oldham
NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON.
Work continues on preparing our new website. Thanks to a very generous offer from local company “Inclusive Bytes”, we will soon have a brand-new website. Keep a look out for when https://gofriends.org.uk/ goes live.
UPCOMING FRIENDS EVENTS
We have a few events arranged and I am please we can give more details below.
12th December 2024 – 6.30pm – An informal Friends evening in the lead up to Christmas, so join us for some festive refreshments, a chat about what events already being planned for 2025 and let us know if you have any other ideas and suggestions. The “Made by Members” stall will be open for any Christmas gift ideas. There will also be an opportunity for you to view the current exhibitions. We would also like to extend the invitation to this event for you to bring a guest, all we ask is that non-members would either join the Friends on the evening, or offer a donation to the group.
13th February 2025 – 6.30pm – As we mentioned in our first newsletter Senior Exhibition & Collections Officer, Rebecca Hill, visited Japan earlier this year. She will give us a presentation on the background for the trip and what transpired during her time in the Land of the Rising Sun.
12th June 2025 – 6.30pm – This will be our first Annual General Meeting. Although no arrangements have been made yet, we hope to have a guest speaker.
There will be further Friends events on 10th April, 14th August 9th October and 11th December 2025, although no firm arrangements have been made so far.
FUNDING AND PUBLICITY ALWAYS WELCOME
Do you know of any local companies or organisations who may be able to either make a donation to us or allow us to apply for any charitable funding to help us with our aims and objectives, or do you know how we could spread the word of the Friends group by any other means? If so, please get in touch by emailing us at fogoldham@aol.com.
HELP RECRUIT NEW FRIENDS
If you have any friends or family who would be interested in joining The Friends of Gallery Oldham, please let us know or ask them to get in touch by emailing us at fogoldham@aol.com.
