Chichester’s Oxmarket Gallery confident for the future despite lockdown

Chichester’s Oxmarket Gallery is navigating November’s second lockdown with confidence high after a hugely buoyant four months of opening following the first lockdown.
Oxmarket chairman Sophie HullOxmarket chairman Sophie Hull
Oxmarket chairman Sophie Hull

It enters the second shutdown on the back of a highly successful Philip Jackson exhibition in October – and is confident it will be back in time for its Knockout Christmas Fair in December, before closing again for two months of refurbishment in January and February.

The gallery will take the second lockdown in its stride.

Oxmarket chairman Sophie Hull said: “We have had some artists that didn’t set up and that was very disappointing, but we are arranging for them to come back at another time. We are now going to be working very hard towards our Christmas fair. We are really going to be going for it. We have got lots of people who have booked for it, and it is going to be fabulous.

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“We are going to focus on that and then we are going to focus on the refurbishment that is going to start after Christmas. We are going to open again with a high-profile exhibition and then we have got strong bookings for next year. The refurbishment will be in January and February, and then we have got solid bookings. And we are rearranging any exhibitions that have had to be postponed.

“It is just a question of using this time efficiently and effectively. The Philip Jackson exhibition was so fantastic. We had well over 2,000 visitors of all sorts of age groups, and we didn’t have any problems at all because we were so well set up for Covid.

“And we sold quite a few pieces which was very helpful for our fundraising appeal for the refurbishment.

“Getting more than 2,000 people was an amazing number. Usually you are lucky if you get 100 a day; 60-70 a day is the norm. But getting well over 2,000 was just incredible. One day we even had nearly 200 people but the gallery is so large and so beautiful that we could easily cope.

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“So we are going to get through this, and having a positive attitude is the best way forward. There is enough doom and gloom around the place, but actually we are very fortunate. We are financially strong, and we have got a can-do attitude. My glass is always half full!

“I am just going by the feedback we had to the Philip Jackson exhibition and seeing people coming into the gallery who have been before and seeing young people coming into the gallery.

“You can see that the gallery is absolutely fulfilling its purpose as a vibrant and strong community gallery providing a platform for artists to come in and sell their wares.

“We had another exhibition at the same time as the Jackson which was great for them.

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“There is no other place in West Sussex where artists can exhibit and sell their wares. You have got the commercial outlets that not all artists can afford, but we are a vibrant community gallery, and that is our purpose.”

As for the refurbishment works, the venue currently needs urgent updating to ensure its spaces continue to meet the needs of its users and visitors and to safeguard its sustainability, Sophie said.

“It needs to upgrade the facilities and increase gallery space, replace the toilets and include a disabled toilet, improve the entrance area and improve the lack of external and internal signage.”

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