Dovecot Gallery: 280-year-old farm transformed into gallery and exhibition space

Most recently they brought a new artistic lease of life to the 18th century dovecot which is sited at one end of the yard at the 280-year-old farm.

It has been transformed into a gallery where for the past few years Cartmel and Johnson have been curating occasional pop-up exhibitions as well as running artist-led workshops and hosting performances of music and poetry.

They began by approaching artists they knew and had links with, put a couple of call-outs on social media and then it grew from there.

“The first event we did was a Christmas selling show featuring the work of around 80 artists, which proved to be really popular,” say Cartmel.

“At that time of year people are looking for gifts that are a bit different. We had a variety of artworks across the whole craft range and fine art.

“Since then, we have done a series of shows on various themes, showcasing different genres – painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture – that seem to have been inspiring to artists and visitors alike.

“And there is always tea and cake in the garden. We like to keep it very informal and relaxed with a welcoming feel. People have really responded to it, they seem to like it and we get a wide range of people coming along, not just local people, we have visitors coming from quite a distance. It has built show on show.”

Last month they held their second potters fair featuring the work of 25 potters with all the work for sale in a market running through the old farmyard and garden. There were demonstrations on the potter’s wheel and visitors had the opportunity to have a go at throwing a pot themselves.

“The first time we did the market it was so successful – it was a real joy,” says Cartmel. “Everyone really enjoyed the experience – we had members of the public aged from five years old to 90 trying out the potter’s wheel. People seemed to be really inspired by it.”

Next weekend they will be inviting people into the gallery for their latest two-day event. “The weekend has been inspired by our longtime friend and inspirational community artist Carol Crowe, who died a couple of years ago,” says Cartmel.

“She did a lot of work in schools and with communities and we thought the best way to celebrate her life and work was to run a series of free artist-led workshops alongside an exhibition of her artwork, which ranges from graphic design to silk painting and puzzle-making.”

The workshops will include a watercolour course for adults featuring garden birds, drop-in children’s workshops in stencils and printing plus Pop-Art style, inspired by Carol Crowe’s work, a taster session in crochet and a puppet-making workshop.

There will also be a puppet show performance and an informal concert from bodhran player and folk singer Ciaran Boyle. For the more than 30 years that Cartmel and Johnson have been at Poplars Farm, it has been both their home and their place of work.

“It has been the ideal situation for us – there was enough space for us to have a studio each, and we had three children, so to find a place where we could both work and raise our family was wonderful,” says Cartmel.

“We had the luxury of having more space than we knew what to do with. The children always had a pot of paint or some clay to play with and their friends would come round and make a mess too.”

With their children grown up and making their own lives, Cartmel and Johnson continue their creative practice.

“Artists never retire. We make commissioned work but also just things that take your fancy, if you have a block of time when you don’t have a deadline to meet. We have printmaking facilities too – we are always experimenting with differenthings and as well as sculpture we both also paint.”

The couple met at art school in the 1980s at Nottingham Trent University where they both studied on the Fine Art course specialising in sculpture.

“Those were the heady days when there was a lot of staff and materials and helpful technicians and you were given the space and time to try things out,” adds Cartmel.

“And we didn’t come out with enormous debts, I think those days are probably gone now.

“We have both worked in the public art sector since the mid-1980s and our practice has gone with the spirit of the times.

“There was a gradual increase in public art projects over that time – there were lots of artist- in-residence posts in the 1980s and 90s and many of our projects have been involved with community and collaborative art making – it was always very much a conversation.

“We got quite successful – one job often led to another and there were periods when we had several projects on the go at a time. Our approach was always that no job was too small.”

Over the course of several decades, the couple have seen the public art sector change and develop.

“Because both of us often work in metals, you produce something that is durable. We would often be making something like a decorative gate – when we started off, there was quite a lot of hostility to it,” says Cartmel.

“But now there are a lot of commissions asking for that kind of public artwork for new housing developments. We have been part of that sea change and we have been involved in projects across the country from small community ones to large-scale ones.”

As both have been committed to their involvement in community and public art projects since the mid-1980s, including residencies in youth and community services, a psychiatric hospital and Grizedale forest in Cumbria, among many other settings, running and hosting free creative workshops is an important part of what they want to offer at the Dovecot Gallery.

“When we were doing public art projects there was always all sorts of community engagement and interesting conversations, themes and ideas that can come out of it and are pursued. It is about consultation and you have to start by listening to people,” says Cartmel.

“Some of the workshops we run here take place in our studios and some are in the community.

“We have always enjoyed doing and making with people and we can offer something that maybe in a school setting they wouldn’t have had a chance to do.

“You are giving people another experience which might hopefully inspire them to keep going with it. From our point of view, it is very exciting and rewarding to be able to encourage people to explore their own creativity.”

Weekend workshops at the Dovecot Gallery, Poplars Farm, July 27 & 28. The Drawing Show – an exhibition of drawing, with free artist-led workshops and an evening of folk song, September 14 & 15. For more details and to book workshop places, visit dovecotgallery.co.uk