BEECROFT ART GALLERY

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Southend Museums officially became a museum when local philanthropist Robert Arthur Jones (20 November 1849–23 May 1925) donated the grounds of what is now Priory Park and the Prittlewell Priory, to the town. In 1952 Walter Beecroft (1885–1961) endowed his collection of art and a gallery building at Westcliff-on-sea to Southend, the Beecroft Art Gallery had originally occupied an Edwardian building in Westcliff-on-Sea. Alongside local art exhibitions and a permanent display of the Beecroft collection, the gallery also displays a rolling programme of fashion and textile exhibitions utilising the museum's extensive collection of dress and textiles. A selection of paintings from the fine historic collection is always on display in the permanent gallery or in temporary exhibitions. The Essex Open Art Exhibition was founded by Walter Beecroft in 1957 to create a showcase for artists in Essex, giving them an opportunity to show their work on the walls of the then newly opened Beecroft Art Gallery at Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. In 2014 the gallery moved to the former home of the Central Library on Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea. The Beecroft Art Gallery marked its 70th year in 2023 with an Essex Open Art Exhibition. Suffolk artists who exhibited at The Beecroft Gallery include Christian Figg, Terry Jeffrey, Jonathan Keep, Dale Mann, Anne-Marie Oshelda, Dione Page, Winifred Pledger, Hazel Theobald and Bryan Whiteley.

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Works by This Artist