We urge Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) to reconsider proposals affecting the use of Stockport Art Gallery and War Memorial.

SMBC proposes to  save just £40,000 by closing Stockport Museum and changing the use of Stockport Art Gallery so that the Art Gallery is used to house displays from the Museum. This will stop or severely diminish Stockport Art Gallery's historic use as an art gallery for temporary and community exhibitions.

The gallery will no longer fully fulfil its function as a place where contemporary art, local, regional or national, can be displayed and viewed, which it has done since opening in 1925. There is insufficient space for the Art Gallery and the Museum to coexist without a likely severe loss of art exhibition space, which may be partial or total. 

Stockport Art Gallery and War Memorial is a unique Grade II listed building, built entirely from money raised from voluntary public subscriptions. It was built because  local people wanted an art gallery as well as a suitable memorial to its dead. It is the only one of its kind nationally.

We are local artists, many of us exhibit at the Art Gallery, in solo or group exhibitions or as members of the Stockport Art Guild, which is based at the Art Gallery. The Art Gallery is also  a venue for art workshops and other art based community activities. 

 We oppose the council’s proposal because it will:
• severely curtail the original intended functions of Stockport Art Gallery and War Memorial
• remove or severely curtail the only provision in Stockport of quality exhibition space for local and regional artists
• impact on the local community, by withdrawing or compromising the only independent focus on art in Stockport
• impact on the provincial role of Stockport in encouraging artistic endeavour and contributing to national cultural development