STORIEL GALLERY OPEN TO PUBLIC
STORIEL, the newest museum and gallery in Wales, opened its doors to the public at the weekend.
Based at the Bishop’s Palace, Bangor, Storiel is the new name for the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery and the opening follows substantial upgrading work as part of a £2.6m project.
With a contribution of £1.4m from the Heritage Lottery Fund the building has been transformed with a shop, café and museum galleries as well as an art gallery and an activities room.
The project was developed in partnership between Gwynedd Council and Bangor University, with the aim of transforming both establishments’ access to their collections, as well as improving links between communities across Gwynedd and their heritage through community satellites that will be developed in locations across the county.
The first exhibitions will be new work by Iwan Gwyn Parry and Vivienne Rickman-Poole, both Gwynedd artists. During the exhibitions there will be an opportunity to see how both artists – Iwan Gwyn Parry with ‘Alcemi’r Dwr’ and Vivienne Rick- man-Pool with ‘ Y Llyn’ have been inspired by the striking and spiritual waters and landscapes of Snowdonia.
Their exhibitions will be on show from January 30 to April 2.
Cllr Mandy Williams-Davies, Gwynedd Council Cabinet Member leading on Economy and Community said: “Following years of co-operating between Bangor University, Gwynedd Council, Friends of Storiel and the Welsh Government, we have reached an extremely important milestone with Storiel opening its first art exhibitions to the public.
“With a new shop offering a showcase for local Welsh products and goods, the opening is another sign of Bangor City’s regeneration and how the arts and heritage have played an important role in doing this.”
Prof Jerry Hunter of Bangor Univer- sity, said: “The Storiel project is proof of the successful co-operation between all of the partners and offers a unique opportunity to open doors to Bangor University’s collections and provides an array of opportunities for future co-operation between Storiel and Pontio.”
There will also be an opportunity for the public to see an exhibition of work by Alan Whitfield, Storiel’s resi- dent artist, which will include a selection of images which give a glimpse of the Bishop’s Palace building’s transformation. Head of Heritage Lottery Fund Wales, Richard Bellamy, explains why the project was considered important enough to be awarded a Heritage Grant: “Gwynedd is an area rich in both heritage and culture.” Storiel is open to the public from Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm.