Fry Art Gallery

The Fry Art Gallery is an art gallery in Saffron Walden, Essex. Located on Castle Street, on a path leading down to Bridge End Gardens, it is best known for its displays of work by the Great Bardfield Artists, including Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious.

History of the gallery

The gallery was designed to house the art collection of Francis Gibson, a local Quaker businessman who died in 1859, and the building passed by descent to the Fry family. In its present form, the gallery was established in 1985 and it is managed by the Fry Art Gallery Society. The Gallery's permanent collection is rotated annually and new works added as well as temporary exhibitions.

The Fry houses work by artists who have local connections with north west Essex. Artists of note include Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious, Tirzah Garwood (wife of Eric Ravilious), Michael Rothenstein, Michael Ayrton, Paul Beck, Sir George Clausen RA, Robert Colquhoun, Keith Vaughan, John Aldridge, John Bellany RA, Grayson Perry, Robert MacBryde, and the photographer, Edwin Smith.

Art museum

An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection. Paintings are the most commonly displayed art objects; however, sculpture, decorative arts, furniture, textiles, costume, drawings, pastels, watercolors, collages, prints, artists' books, photographs, and installation art are also regularly shown. Although primarily concerned with providing a space to show works of visual art, art galleries are sometimes used to host other artistic activities, such as performance art, music concerts, or poetry readings.

Types of galleries

The term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art. However, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere.

Art Gallery (University of Southern Maine)

The Art Gallery of the University of Southern Maine, Gorham campus, is located at 5 University Way, at the main campus entrance. The building in which it is located was built in 1822 as a non-denominational church building, and has also served as Gorham's town hall. It has been part of the campus since the early 1960s, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Description and history

The Art Gallery is located at the southern edge of the USM Gorham campus, at the northeast corner of University Way and College Avenue, west of the Gorham town center. It is a rectangular wood-frame structure, about 42 by 60 feet (13 m × 18 m), with a front-facing gable roof, clapboard siding, and a stone foundation. The front, facing south, is distinguished by a temple facade, with four fluted Doric columns supporting an entablature and fully pedimented gable. The gable has a small rectangular opening at its center, that originally housed a window but is now boarded over. The facade behind the temple front has two sash windows flanking a central entrance. The side walls have six evenly spaced windows.