‘York to me was synonymous with quality. I think we’ve lost a lot of that’

How has the pandemic affected your venue?

Obviously, I had to close. I did open in the summer. Some of the time I wasn’t really sure whether I was meant to open or not because being a gallery and a house, it is entirely within our own house. So I wasn’t sure whether I had to stop or whether I could open by appointment, which is something that I do all the time anyway. But I think people were quite nervous about coming, maybe more nervous about coming into a private house, than they would into a shop gallery. Basically, I muddled through, which is what I think everybody is having to do.

In what ways have you adapted?

I’ve always been willing to open at very flexible times. I always say, if we’re in, we’re open, and you’re welcome to come and ring the bell, or ring up. I would never turn anybody away at any reasonable time. So I just carried on doing that.

What have been the most difficult and most uplifting experiences from the past 12 months?

Trying to teach myself to be better with social media. I’m not good with social media, I don’t enjoy it. But I know I’ve got to do more of it. Organisations like Indie York are really helpful, because they are so good at retweeting and helping in any way that they can. I think they’re a tremendous asset. We’re very lucky to have them.

I found encouraging from the pieces you’ve written so far is they’re talking about more collaboration between various arts organisations. I would like to see much more of that in the visual arts in York, and more widely. How can we benefit from each other? What we are doing is unique. I only sell original work. So by definition, you’re not in competition with anyone. You’re always going to be complementing each other and not competing.

What have you learned from the pandemic? Will you do anything differently going forward?

I’m thinking all the time about all these poor people who are shut up in their homes, and looking at what’s on their walls, wishing they had something different. So I need to focus on ways to take advantage of that. I’m hoping that when the lockdown ends, there are going to be lots of people who are thinking ‘we really need some new paintings on our walls’. I did propose a part exchange system where people can bring back something that they’ve bought here and part exchange it for another one.

One of the things I long wanted to do is get art into business premises. I tried doing a leasing scheme and it didn’t take off in York, I’ve got some customers in Leeds. Now, there are going to be fewer people working in offices anyway. So that needs a complete rethink. I just feel so sorry for all these people who work in offices with pale grey empty walls, and people at home who have either got nothing, or they’ve just got a poster.

What’s next for Kentmere House Gallery?

I’ve been spending time thinking about projects for the future, and projects I’ve done in the past. I’ve done a lot of collaboration, so it’s something I feel strongly about. For several years I did a collaboration with the Early Music Festival, and had artists in residence working during the concerts. That was great fun to do. I did a big exhibition in York Minster, and a collaboration with Newby Hall. I put a lot of effort into finding opportunities and creating opportunities for my artists. I think artists actually have a hard time. There seem to be more opportunities at the amateur end of the scale, and not very many for the artists who have progressed. That’s something that concerns me a lot; that there is no career structure for artists, you start off showing in your local village hall, and you maybe progress to open studios, and then you may be presented to a gallery like mine, but there are very few of them. I fear there are going to be fewer in the future. So it’s necessary to put that effort in to create the opportunities.

How will York’s cultural scene have been changed by what’s happened?

I think there is a greater appetite for collaboration and that’s a very healthy thing. Not just between people within the same art sector but across the sectors. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see who is going to be around when it’s all over. Which is a very depressing thought, but you do wonder.

What have been your cultural highlights in York?

During the pandemic, I was very pleased that I actually managed to go to four live theatre shows. I said to a friend, whatever is happening, we are going, we’ve got to go and support it. One of them was a show at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.

What do you think York’s cultural scene is missing – or what would you change?

In the visual arts, I would like to see more art of real quality. Before I came to live in York, 40 years ago, I think I’d been here once. But York to me was synonymous with quality. I think we’ve lost a lot of that, and we need to get back to that again.

It hasn’t happened in music and theatre, but I fear it has happened to some extent in visual arts. It’s not unique to York, but we have some shops in the city centre calling themselves galleries which are selling photocopies. They’re selling them for very high prices and the people who are buying them don’t know they’re buying a photocopy. How would they know?

We need to make it easier and easier for people to buy art. Being able to try it out is one of those – another thing I do is allow people to take paintings home and try them, especially if it’s a large piece. The last thing I want is for somebody to buy a painting and not be happy with it, I would rather they brought it back and changed it for something different and took that away and tried it.

It has always been one of my principles to bring art from other areas to a particular town for the benefit of the people who live there. Even the York councillors are now starting to say that they think there has been too much emphasis on tourism. I think they are starting to recognise that it has actually done harm.

What are your hopes and fears for York’s cultural scene in the future?

Well, it’s got to get better than it is at the moment. Not able to do anything at all – it’s got to get better than that. I think we’ve just got to be finding our way in this new dynamic. Once we are able to be open again, a lot of things will have changed – some will have changed for the better and that’s good. People are getting together more, that’s definitely good.

Anything you would like to add?

One thing that I really missed is not being able to get out and see exhibitions and visit artists. So I’ve put a lot of effort into keeping in touch with artists by phone and email. My gallery’s always been based on personal connections. That’s always what I wanted to do.