About Haarlem Artspace Gallery

As the public-facing gallery of Haarlem Artspace, we present ambitious contemporary art across a broad range of practices and career stages. We are particularly interested in artists who are developing distinctive practices and in creating opportunities for work to be seen, discussed and developed within a wider network of artists, curators and organisations.

We are interested in contemporary practice that is ambitious, intellectually engaged and distinctive, and in artists who are willing to test ideas, challenge expectations and take their work into unfamiliar territory.

Alongside our exhibition programme, Haarlem Artspace Gallery develops a range of projects that support different forms of participation and artistic development. Seedlings introduces children to contemporary art through creative exploration; Germinator supports recent graduates as they develop their practices and professional lives; Perennial brings professional, amateur and community-based practice together; and Pollinator brings artists from elsewhere into Wirksworth through residencies and exchange.

These projects form part of a wider programme of exhibitions, residencies, talks, workshops, sound and music events, creating different ways for artists and audiences to engage with Haarlem Artspace.

The Gallery is also a place for artistic development. Alongside exhibitions, we host professional and critical development sessions, mentoring, workshops and other events that create opportunities for artists to encounter new ideas and each other. Some projects develop through collaboration between artists, while others connect Haarlem with galleries, organisations and creative communities elsewhere in the UK.

Haarlem Artspace Gallery is located within the historic Red Lion Building on Wirksworth Market Place. Its position within a working building alongside hospitality, food, drink and accommodation gives the Gallery a distinctive setting: a serious contemporary art space that is also part of the everyday life of the town.

We want the Gallery to be ambitious without being exclusive; open without becoming diluted; and connected to its location without being defined by it.