The History of the Proscenium Building

 

  •  The Gardens Gallery is located within the Proscenium Building in the beautiful Montpellier Gardens in Cheltenham.
  • Opened on the 19th July 1900, the building was a new companion to the bandstand that had provided musical performances since 1864.  The Proscenium provided a venue for vocal concerts and other cultural events.
  • During concerts an awning was placed between the Bandstand and the Proscenium Building to provide cover for the audience. The seating had reversible backrests.
  • Concerts were held regularly until 1937. Subsequently a brick built building was added to the front which was used as a gym centre as can be seen in the above watercolour sketch by Alwyn Sampson dating back to the 1980s. The brick building was removed in 1999.
  • Between 1999 and 2006 the Proscenium Building fell into disrepair.
  • Montpellier Gardens and the Proscenium Building were extensively refurbished in 2006/2007 thanks to a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Public Parks Initiative Programme and a significant contribution from Cheltenham Borough Council.
  • The Cheltenham Borough Council leased the building to The Gardens Gallery Community Interest Company (see About Us) who converted the interior into into an art exhibition space.
  • The Gardens Gallery was officially opened on the 9th June 2007 by international artist P J Crook.   Since then it has provided local artists with an outstanding space in which to exhibit their art and for other community arts related activities to take place.

 

WHERE ARE WE/CONTACT US?

Click map

POSTCODE: GL50 1SW

MONTPELLIER GARDENS

The Gardens were originally developed in the early 1800's and its centrepiece is the Bandstand.

Facing the Bandstand is the Proscenium Building where we now have our Gallery.

Follow https://tinyurl.com/MontpellierGardens for a history of the gardens and https://www.facebook.com/MontpellierGardens/about for information about Friends of the Bandstand and Gardens(FOMBAG).

ACCESS

  1. There is wheelchair access to the gallery from the path between the tennis courts and the gallery.
  2. For exhibitors delivering their work, there is a locked bollard to be removed at the gardens entrance. See link below for details.
  3. Unfortunately, there is no disabled parking in the gardens.
  4. Exhibitors should take care to design their exhibition layout with wheelchair use in mind.

For full information about accessibility, please follow this link:

https://www.gardensgallery.co.uk/accessibility/

FOOTFALL

 Typical annual foot-fall is 22000.

If we take out the impact of Festivals then the weekly average is 400 per week.

This varies according to the variables of weather, social media, networking, number of artists, and the appeal of the Exhibition

ART eBULLETIN

Social Media

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