Abingdon Studios
Based on Abingdon Street, above Blackpool’s vibrant market, Abingdon Studios is the only contemporary visual arts studio in the town – a centre for talent development with 10 studios and a dedicated project space. Its directors are Garth Gratrix – a Blackpool based artist and curator and one of the art commissioners for the work in Art B&B – and Tom Ireland – who also founded the long-standing and influential visual arts programme Supercollider and works at The Grundy Art Gallery, a stones throw from Art B&B on Queen Street. A slice of Abingdon Studios can be found in Art B&B’s Reading Room.
ArtB&B Artwork
The Reading Room
The Reading Room and Gallery Room (2.07) have been designed and built by Abingdon Studios directors Garth Gratrix and Tom Ireland in partnership with Art B&B, LeftCoast and The Grundy Art Gallery. The Room will present its own mini exhibitions, and houses a growing collection of art books with titles recommended by Abingdon and other Art B&B artists, as well as publications documenting Blackpool’s own artistic output. The Room’s ‘library trolleys’ can even visit other parts of the hotel. The writing desk featured in the room is a commissioned piece from artist Laura Jamieson. So sit down, relax, be inspired and write (or draw) your own masterpiece. You can donate art books for the benefit of future visitors if you wish.The room’s paint colour - ‘Fearless’ - is by artist Laura Shevaun Green from the ‘Paint the Town!’ range – a colour palate designed specially to celebrate the vibrancy that can be found in every corner of Blackpool. The colour is a match for the bandstand in Blackpool’s Stanley Park. You can find out more about the ongoing Paint the Town project at: https://pttblackpool.co.uk/
