Spencer House Gallery founder Chris Woodcock tells us how she has progressed from a blank canvas to a bustling art space in little over a year.
Spencer House Gallery, in the heart of the South Cotswolds Georgian market town of Tetbury, is one of the region's newest arts venues, having opened in May 2022. It's a showcase for an eclectic range of contemporary art – much of it regional – and fast building a national reputation for its busy schedule of exhibitions and events. Founder, Chris Woodcock, tells us how she has progressed from blank canvas to bustling art space.
Thousands of us pursue a professional career, strive to realise our potential and, having got there, wonder what comes next.
While we were focused on goals and excellence in our chosen sphere – plus juggling family and home – life followed a pretty clear path. But, once we 'arrive', professionally speaking, there's an opportunity to kick back and ask ourselves what we really want to do.
In my case, this happy introspection involved questions like: 'What really floats my boat?' Or, more testing: 'How can I be fulfilled in a way that gives something back?' For me, the answer to both lies in making and sharing art and supporting contemporary British artists.
A Reflection of Identity
It's simple really: people need visual stimulus. Experts agree that art appreciation is good for the brain – and it certainly feeds the soul. People often want to express their beliefs, viewpoints and passions in the art they choose: it's a reflection of their identity. Engaging them in art, encouraging them to express their creative ideas – and matching viewers with art they love – is a therapy: an antidote to the pressures of modern life. Even in these difficult times – in fact, especially in these times.
Founding a gallery, selecting and curating new and exciting artists, draws on my knowledge of art history and my own drawing, printing and painting skills. Being a journalist and regularly writing about art - or for artists – also helps greatly. It's exciting to select art that incorporates traditional skills or that reflects topical subjects, like preserving our planet or celebrating Cotswold and West Country rural life.
Historic Market Town Location
Spencer House Gallery, in the heart of the unspoilt market town of Tetbury, opened in spring 2022. It occupies two floors of a listed Georgian town house, where my husband, Stephen, and I are also tackling the refurbishment of the building.
In Tetbury, we feel we've hit on the right location. The beautiful old town attracts a diverse range of clients and passers-by, from long-haul holidaymakers from mainland Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, to Londoners, Highgrove and Westonbirt day-trippers, Cotswold tourists and, of course, regional and local people, all of whom have been wonderfully supportive. The database of repeat clients, interested in our exhibitions as well as our Live on Long Street programme of workshops and talks, is growing apace.
Fellow Tetbury entrepreneur and independent store owner, Vesper Ward, founder of vintage clothing, accessories and jewellery boutique, Constantine Rex, enthuses: “We welcome a new and enterprising gallery, strengthening Tetbury's reputation for art and culture, as well as its established fame as an antiques hub. Having so many quality regional artists' work on display makes this gallery stand out from the crowd.”
Summer Landscape Show
The gallery's focus is on contemporary art talent, much of it from the Cotswolds and the South West: captivating and challenging work by established names, as well as emerging and early-career contemporary artists. One of the most pleasing reactions is when someone wanders in, unplanned, and comments on how distinctive our gallery is and how they could buy almost everything in it. Success.
Gallery opening times are scheduled around up to five exhibitions per year. In 2023, the main summer show is From Where I Stand, 20 July – 20 August. It centres on four female landscape artists working in paint, print, glass and clay. Among them is summer 'Artist in Residence', printmaker Wendy Rhodes, based near Stroud. Wendy will host a workshop focused on her striking black-and-white etchings and graphite drawings of ancient medieval hollow-ways and farm tracks.
The landscape exhibition also features award-winning Chipping Norton abstract landscape painter, Caroline Chappell. Her process-driven work is characterised by unplanned, gestural brush strokes, or marks made with other implements, and rich colour combinations, built up in layers, suggesting spontaneity and an expressive response to the North Cotswold landscapes she loves. Each scene tells a story and is as much about how the viewer feels about the art as the act of creating it.
Forming a Partnership
One of the perks of being a contemporary art gallery curator is forming a partnership with each artist I represent. It helps that, as an artist myself, I have a foot in both camps. The gallery gets to debut promising new talent or new concepts – original and thoughtful work in textile, glass and ceramic, metal and resin, paint and print. Sometimes, with up-and-coming artists, I act as their agent, helping with framing and making creative suggestions.
I firmly believe that great contemporary art, fairly priced, will always find a market. Art viewers, buying or not, are encouraged to browse and enjoy our exhibitions and get familiar with various styles and forms: that way, they can work out which art attracts them and why. Online art has its place but nothing matches the experience of actually standing, physically, in front of the artwork and connecting with it.
Enjoying the Connection
Countless scientific studies have shown that artistic creation and appreciation improve quality of life and self-esteem. When we create, interpret or enjoy art we lift our mood, improve our ability to problem solve and open our minds to new ideas and provocations.
You don't need to be an art expert or a wealthy individual to own a quality piece of British art. You just need to explore what you like, take every opportunity to view art 'in the flesh', build confidence in your preferences and enjoy the connection with any artwork that you buy.
There's more to being a gallery owner than meets the eye. I know it's cliché, but a lifetime of art love and appreciation has finally turned into a fulfilling purpose and a way to share good feelings and creative ideas.
From Where I Stand runs 20 July – 20 August, Thursday to Sunday 10.30am - 1pm and 2 – 5pm.
Evening Private View: Friday 21st July, 6.30 – 8pm.
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For more details go to spencerhousegallery.co.uk or https://www.instagram.com/spencer_house_gallery/
Telephone 07841 979273
Spencer House Gallery: Putting Them in the Picture
Around 60% of the artists are based in the Cotswolds or the South West
Artists include established names – like Caroline Chappell, Helen Masacz, Rosalind Robinson, Angie Spencer and Frans Wesselman – as well and emerging and early-career names like Vivienne Beaumont, Chloe Cumming, Emma Falcke and John Thompson
Each exhibition shows work across many media, looking for novel approaches to textile, clay, metal and glass as well as paint, drawing and print formats
The watchword is accessibility – genuinely creative, distinctive and talented artists who charge a fair price for their work
“Spencer House Gallery is such a positive and attractive venue. A blast of fresh air. Chris, its driving force, is , above all, a curator. Her great eye fills the gallery with an eclectic mix of emerging artists, like myself, along with the best established artists. It's art we really want to have in our homes. Buyers and artists alike definitely feel in safe hands.” Vivienne Beaumont, textile artist
