Welcome to our Gallery,
1 Senhouse Street,
Maryport Cumbria,
CA15 6AB.
Join us in our brand new experience with an extensive collection of art related to Maryport, an artist in residence and reasonably priced art for sale.
Opening Times: – Wednesday – Sunday 11:00 -4:00 pm
Closing Saturday 23Dec and reopening
Wednesday 10 January 2024
We are based alongside the River Ellen in the historic shipbuilding port of Maryport.
This is the home of Thomas Henry Ismay, founder of the White Star Line whose grandparents had their shipyard near our gallery.
Shipping Brow takes its name from the hill running from the town to the harbour. Folks would gather here to watch sailing ships being launched in 19th century Maryport. Now we are launching our new endeavor with a unique visitor and community experience in West Cumbria.
Two important private collections are coming together for the first time in a permanent exhibition on the first floor of this former Victorian pub. Retired Maryport GP Brian Money acquired stunning paintings by West Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly depicting the town in his inimitable style. His hope was to loan the collection for public enjoyment and the vision for an art gallery was born.
Meanwhile another Maryport man Eric Galletly, had been an avid collector of Victorian artist William Mitchell, a marine landscape artist. Mitchell was born in a small port in Northern Ireland and came to Maryport as a teenager to paint coaches for the Maryport to Carlisle Railway. He became known as Mitchell of Maryport and his work is highly collectible. The late crime writer PD James had one of Mitchell’s Maryport Harbour paintings. A chance meeting with Mr Galletly led to his collection being purchased for the gallery. Like Brian, Eric was fervent in wishing his collection to be made available in Maryport for residents and visitors.
A small shop on our ground floor will sell prints and cards of local interest and will provide accommodation and workspace for our Artist in Residence. They will be selling their work in the gallery and we hope other local artists will also use the Gallery to display and sell their work.
We are excited to welcome you aboard!
Resident Artist
Welcome to our first Artist in Residence Felix Butterwick
Felix will be joined us on the 1st September 2023
he will be documenting his progress over the next twelve months and we’re excited to be part of his journey
Our Exhibition
Art inspired by Maryport and West Cumbria
Free admission to our ground floor shop for everyone.
Residents of CA15 have free admission to first floor permanent collection of Percy Kelly and William Mitchell original art.
Visitors are asked for £4 admission to support our Charitable Trust.
Percy Kelly (1918 - 1993)
He was born in Workington, Cumbria. He had no formal artistic training until he went to Carlisle Art College in his 40s, but taught himself to draw as soon as he could hold a pencil. His interests were in the mining villages, coast, pit heads and railway lines. His talent came to the attention of Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Nicholas Seekers, Princess Margaret, her husband and many others, but he was a difficult man to deal with, constantly changing his mind about what he wanted to exhibit or sell. So few works were sold in his lifetime and he died intestate and in self imposed exile in Norfolk.
William Mitchell (1823- 1900)
It is appropriate that the first public exhibition of his work will be in the 200th year anniversary of his birth. He was born in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland and immigrated to Maryport as a teenager to work painting railway coaches. Over the next 10 years , he developed his artistic skills, becoming a full time artist and producing possibly 10,000 works of art in his lifetime.
