Nestled in Quality Square just off Ludlow’s main Market Square lies the Silk Top Hat Gallery and shop. Opened by Jill Howorth in 1981 the building houses 2 floors of exhibition space on the first and second floors of the premises and a shop on the ground floor.
Jill organises two exhibitions at a time for the gallery and these change every 4 weeks, when I visited for this blog there was a show of new work by Lucy Jones titled An Awkward Beauty on the top floor and an exhibition of work by Celia de Serra on the middle floor titled ‘Lifting the Canopy’. This means that there is almost always something new to view, including a group show that is organised annually in the run up to Christmas. The breadth of work that is displayed in the galleries covers painting, print, sculpture and many other mediums and is largely created by artists living and working in the surrounding Welsh Marches. Alongside the exhibitions the gallery also produces a regular newsletter that details the existing and forthcoming exhibitions.
To foster and encourage an interest in art, in all of its guises, the gallery also has a Friends scheme – which entitles members to discounts on artworks and also on Top Hat Tours; a series of coach tours to specific galleries and exhibitions across the country. In order to become a member of the Friends scheme and receive the newsletter you can contact Silk Top Hat Gallery via their website.
As well as the exhibition spaces the shop space on the ground floor sells cards, gifts and a pretty comprehensive stock of artists materials.
*Please note that Silk Top Hat Gallery is now closed following Jill Howorth’s death in 2016. The site is now occupied by Twenty Twenty Gallery
Silk Top Hat Gallery
Quality Square
Ludlow
SY8 1AR
01584 875 363
10 am to 5pm
Monday – Saturday
http://silktophatgallery.wordpress.com/
Only In Ludlow 