As parents, we like to encourage all of our children’s interests. For Robin, that’s primarily gymnastics and playing guitar. For Kai it’s going to the gym and playing DnD, for Amelia, it’s arts and drumming. So, when our local art gallery announced the Harlow Open at Gibberd Gallery last year, we encouraged Amelia to pick out a photo and enter, though she didn’t make it in, she was mentioned and felt very proud of that! This year, she and Robin decided to do a painting.
Amelia spent the better part of an entire week working on her painting of bubbles, with Robin painting a sunset one of the evenings, determined to enter as well. Entering the Harlow Open is pretty easy, we showed up during one of their days to gather entries, filled out a form, paid for some hooks to go on the side of our paintings, and they were done. After a few weeks of judging, we got an email stating both Amelia and Robin had been accepted this year, even though there were over 300 entries. As a parent, I am extremely proud of them both and know how hard Amelia worked to get in as well. It’s absolutely fantastic. The Gibberd Gallery is always showcasing fantastic art. Amelia’s school made drawings of sculptures which appeared there a few years back and we’ve visited to see local art.
The Harlow Open, however, featured artwork from local artists, all hand selected to showcase. These pieces can also be purchased, with a small commission going to the gallery and the rest going to the artist. The Gibberd Gallery itself is at the front and upstairs of the Civic Centre in town, so you can see some of the art in the entranceway with the rest being upstairs. It’s always well laid out and does a fantastic job of showcasing both statues and pictures. This year’s awards had specific awards for just sculptures along with a bunch of other awards given out to many of the entries.
There were so many fantastic works of art; I quite enjoyed the various sculptures and the wooden pieces of art that are showcased. There’s also a really well drawn bird I loved. When we all went as a family, all of our children found favorites and loved seeing what was created there. The Harlow Open is currently showcasing, and really does highlight all of the talent that can be found by artists in Harlow right now. And, you can also see Amelia’s and Robin’s paintings too.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!
All of the artwork is so amazing! I love the sculptures. I’d definitely enjoying seeing this gallery.
Wow. This is so great. I love your family updates. You make me want to actually get out there and show as much of the world to my own kid!
Art galleries always have a way of sparking inspiration. It’s nice to explore spaces that showcase creativity in different forms.
Visiting a gallery like that sounds refreshing. It’s nice to just wander and take in some creativity without overthinking anything.
I wish this place was near me. I love exploring different galleries so much. I will save this.
Your review makes it feel like a hidden gem worth exploring. The connection to local artists and the evolving exhibits sound especially intriguing.
Gibberd gallery seems amazing…A must see for sure, wow…The exhibits are gorgeous…
I love finding local artist’s work. I’d go crazy at something as big as the Harlow Open at Gibberd Gallery. I’m sure Amelia’s and Robin’s are excited about their paintings.
All of the artwork is absolutely incredible! They did an amazing job on it! Congrats to them on being featured in the gallery!
This is amazing! A huge congrats to Amelia and Robin for getting their paintings accepted! It must be so rewarding to see their hard work on display alongside other talented local artists.
What a great painting! So much great artwork here. Sounds like a wonderful experience to see a great collection of pieces by talented artists.
A fun filled outing for the whole family. I am curious to see the paintings of Amelia and Robin.
Harlow Open at Gibberd Gallery looks like a family friendly spot to visit. Thanks a lot for introducing it!
I love this so much! What a great thing to do! The artwork is smashing and the kids look so happy!
It’s always fascinating to visit an art gallery. We went to a few before and the creativity shown in those artwork was just awesome.
I’d love to visit this museum one day, it is so beautiful and the artwork is stunning. Seeing these pieces of art in real life will be a great experience!
It sounds like my daughter has similar interests to Amelia’s. The gallery sounds great, I think this is something my daughter would love to see too.