From the past to the present
"A lovely space to escape to surround yourself in art and take a moment out"
Visitor comment, Audiences Yorkshire survey 2009
The space that is occupied by the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery in the Parkinson Building has seen many changes since this landmark building was formally opened in 1951.
The original gallery, created in 1970, was the result of a collaborative effort between Lawrence Gowing, then Professor of Fine Art, the Vice-Chancellor Sir Roger Stevens, and Stanley Burton. Two rooms were converted from the suite of interconnecting offices that had previously accommodated the University administration at the south end of the Parkinson Court. A third room, sandwiched between the gallery and the porters’ lodge in the Parkinson foyer, was converted in 1974.
For the first ten years of its existence, the gallery acted in the main as a venue for temporary loan exhibitions, but the emphasis shifted in the early 1980s towards more in-house exhibitions, including those featuring different aspects of the University's own collection. In 1992, grants from the Henry Moore Foundation, the Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund and the University of Leeds Foundation enabled an overhaul of the existing gallery rooms. The lighting system and means of environmental control were updated, and a new doorway was opened, connecting the room converted in 1974 with the former porter’s lodge to create a new gallery foyer immediately accessible from the Parkinson main entrance on Woodhouse Lane.
In 1994, the University was selected as one of the thirteen institutions to receive HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) funding for support for higher education museums, galleries and collections. The funding, afterwards administered by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) continued until 2004 and provided a welcome means of supporting the University further in its strategy to conserve and display its rich collections of art. A portion was put to use to convert one of the three existing galleries into a permanent collection room. This involved not only the more cosmetic aspects of decoration which stamped the room with its own distinctive identity but, through the advice and financial support of the Area Museums Council, provided a suite of display cases installed in the centre of the room to enable the exhibition of works on paper, as well as corner cases for the collection of Yorkshire pottery. Opened in 1998, the permanent collection room provided a dedicated space for the University's art collection for the first time in its history. It provided a modest means of studying not only the collection's history and development, but also something of the traditions which informed the changing practice featured in the continuing programme of temporary exhibitions in its adjoining rooms.
In 2004, the University had begun to examine ways in which the gallery might most effectively continue this dual role. Recognising the constraints placed upon any further ambition by the limited amount of space available, the University was considering the financial implications of converting further rooms adjacent to the gallery – a continuation of the original suite of administrative offices – when Audrey Burton’s interest and encouragement gave these initial proposals impetus and scope for development. From that moment, the project accelerated. Architects were invited to respond to the University’s brief which, underpinned by Audrey’s support, could venture on a more prestigious design and reconfiguration of the existing space. Architects Pringle Richards Sharratt, who have completed a number of highly acclaimed museum and gallery projects including the Glass Gallery at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Sheffield Millennium Galleries and the Stanley Spencer Gallery, were invited to add the University gallery project to their portfolio.
The architects took full advantage of the gallery’s connection with the Parkinson Court which, since refurbishment in 2004, has returned to its original role as a lively and congenial meeting place for staff and students, as well as an impressive gateway for visitors to the University and to the Brotherton Library. The entrance to the gallery from the Parkinson Court has been enhanced and made more conspicuous. The three rooms of the old gallery have been converted into one large and impressive space for the display of the permanent collection, providing an additional 92 square metres for this purpose. At the same time, space for temporary exhibitions has been maintained by linking the main gallery to the southernmost suite of offices, merging them into one coherent whole. At the north end of the gallery, the main room connects with the former foyer, which has been transformed to offer completely new provision for educational and research initiatives associated with the gallery and the University art collection. The whole space is supported by an improved, consistent infrastructure designed to high museum standards for physical environment, lighting, and security.
Enlarged, redesigned and refurnished, the gallery is now firmly distinguished as the very special facility and asset that it is within the University, ready to play its part in building the University’s national and international reputation as a vibrant educational, cultural and research institution.