A NEW online art gallery from Trapezium Arts is now open to artists from the Keighley area.

The Trapezium Online Gallery is inviting submissions for their May ‘Open Gallery’ and encouraging not only art from the past but also from the current challenging lockdown period.  The gallery, whose physical building is in Bradford city centre, has made the offer to artists from across the entire Bradford district.

Ken Woods of Trapezium Arts: “Our gallery on Kirkgate is closed for the present but we’re still very keen to continue showing art made by local people.

“The Online Gallery has been up and running for a month, with over 50 pieces of work to view in April’s gallery. These include all sorts of art forms - from drawing and painting to photography and textiles.”

The Online Gallery also has a series of Individual Galleries in which work by a single artist can be shown. There will be a small fee for the Individual Galleries, with the money going to pay the rent on the ‘real’ Trapezium Gallery, which Trapezium is eager to relaunch when the lockdown is lifted.

Trapezium Arts is a volunteer-run independent contemporary art and photography gallery based at 58 Kirkgate in Bradford. The organisation sets out to show art from all walks of life in a welcoming and accessible way. Exhibitions display an eclectic mix of artwork on a range of themes.

Trapezium Arts opened its contemporary art and photography gallery in November 2018 with an exhibition of work by Rob Walsh and Ann Driver. Rob’s ‘Watching Water’ focused on the life-giving properties of water while Ann’s ‘It’s a Mean Old Scene’ showcased images portraying the effect of thoughtless human pollution on the urban landscape.

Setting out the gallery’s aims, Ken, a member of the gallery collective, invited people to submit their own artwork for display. He said: “We’re exhibiting a variety of art in a way that’s easily accessible - people can walk straight in off the street - and we provide artists with a supportive space.”

In July last year, Trapezium hosted a photography exhibition highlighting the stress human activity was putting on the Earth. Everything is Enviro-Mental involved three local photographers, Barbara Sheldrake, Jo Newbury and Mark Lunn, looking at how people polluted the environment through irresponsible tipping and how some of this trash could be used as art.

* The Online Gallery can be viewed at TrapeziumArts.com. Visitors can follow links to submit work.