Manchester by the Shop – Central Street Gallery

Located at 11 Central Street in Manchester, the Central Street Gallery is an artists cooperative. Gallery Director Alison Rowell says that they have about 14 members who each rent wall space in the gallery which starts off at a width of approximately 73″. The artists can hang as many paintings as are practical.

The focus of the gallery is a traditional Plein Aire style with the paintings set in gold frames. There are some deviations on the theme providing  some different styles though the general style for paintings is still life and landscapes.

Each member of the Gallery agrees to rent space and also to paint 5-6 new paintings every two months which they deliver framed and ready for hanging. The Gallery presents six shows each year so the collection of paintings is changing every two months. To give each artist equal opportunity to the better display areas on the walls, every two months each artist rotates their space three wall spaces, guaranteeing each artist equal time in the front window.

Central Street Gallery is celebrating their fifth year at 11 Central Street and will be starting their next show with an opening night reception on December 7th. This show will focus on smaller works from the artists.

In addition to the Gallery there is a website (www.central street gallery.com) where more of each artist’s works are shown.

The artists are generally local with a number living in Manchester and Gloucester. Central Street Gallery is a great place to support local artists and is clearly a place to check out.