Drumcroon Education Arts Centre opened in 1980 in a large Victorian residence on Parson’s Walk, Wigan. It gained national acclaim for work in visual arts education and was a pioneer in placing artists in schools, enabling young people in the borough to experience at first hand the work of professional artists.
Part of its mission was to give local children access to original artworks by a range of artists. The Drumcroon Collection includes prints, paintings, drawings, textiles and objects purchased from or donated by many artists over the years. The collection includes works by some established British artists, including Patrick Heron, Victor Pasmore, Michael Rothenstein, Barbara Rae, Patrick Caulfield, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elisabeth Frink and many more, as well as craft objects from around the world.
After the centre closed in 2011, its collection of artworks and books were placed in storage, with some seeing the light of day in occasional temporary displays.
The Turnpike Gallery is delighted to showcase the most significant exhibition to date of over 50 works from the collection. Alongside is a specially built open-access storage area featuring reframed works which are part of a revived schools’ loan scheme.
The exhibition is accompanied by participatory workshops and artist talks, and young people from the Turnpike Gallery’s Creative Community have curated a re-hang of the exhibition to include additional objects from the collection.
The loan scheme enables artworks going out to local schools, giving pupils the chance to get up close to original works of art. Children and young people of the borough have access once more to the resource which for decades inspired artists, teachers and students in Wigan and Leigh.