London it is, then

While looking for a location for the Mail Me Art show, I travelled up and down the UK in search of a gallery that felt right. At the start of the project I had decided I wanted to hold the exhibition in London, but half way through the project I had to take other options into consideration as I had to move unexpectedly from Surrey to Leicestershire, one hundred miles north of London.

After looking at around sixty different galleries both in person and on the internet, I managed to whittle it down to three: The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames, the View From The Top in Nottingham and the Red Gate Gallery in London,with Kitch-en in Newcastle coming a close fourth.

While The Rose provided a contemporary venue in a good location, I didn’t feel that it had the right set-up for what I needed and Newcastle was too far for me to travel, so I had to discount those. In the end it was a choice between London and Nottingham. I was in Nottingham several months ago. I can’t remember what I was doing there (just remembered, we went so my son could visit Warhammer World.) and while we were there I decided to have a look in Waterstone’s to check out some books. I wasn’t particularly looking for a gallery at the time, but just by luck while I was wandering about the store I discovered they had a gallery situated on the top floor of the building with some great views of the city. It was closed off at the time, but after a quick chat with the curator and a glance around the space I had decided this was a serious contender. In the end, though, the combination of receiving a recommendation for the Red Gate Gallery and having the opportunity to hold the exhibition in my original choice of location on the dates I wanted (and having accommodation and storage available nearby) won the contest. I recently went to see the gallery while I was in London visiting the Doctor Who Exhibition at Earls Court, and was really pleased with my choice.

So London it is, then and the exhibition will be held at the Red Gate Gallery.