Drumcroon Collection: Selected works on paper from the 1960s to 1990s

About

Drumcroon Education Arts Centre opened in 1980 in an old doctor’s surgery building on Parson’s Walk, Wigan. It gained national acclaim for work in visual arts education and was a pioneer in placing artists in schools, enabling young people in the borough to experience at first hand the work of professional artists. 

Part of its mission was to give local children access to original artworks by a range of artists. The Drumcroon Collection includes prints, paintings, drawings, textiles and objects purchased from or donated by many artists over the years.  The collection includes works by some established British artists, including Patrick Heron, Victor Pasmore, Michael Rothenstein, Barbara Rae, Patrick Caulfield, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elisabeth Frink and many more.

After the centre closed in 2011, its collection of artworks and books were placed in storage, with some seeing the light of day in occasional temporary displays.

The Turnpike Gallery is delighted to showcase the most significant exhibition to date of over 50 works from the collection. Alongside this will be the launch of a specially built open-access storage area featuring reframed works which will be part of a revived schools’ loan scheme.

The exhibition will be accompanied by participatory workshops and artist residencies, and the Turnpike Gallery’s Young Creative Community will curate a re-hang of the exhibition to include their choices from the collection in the autumn of 2025.

The loan scheme will see artworks going out to local schools, enabling pupils to get up close to original works of art. Children and young people of the borough will have access once more to the resource which for decades inspired artists, teachers and students in Wigan and Leigh.