NEW METROPOLE ARTS CENTRE
The New Metropole Arts Centre was an arts centre in Folkestone, housed in what until 1959 had been the Metropole Hotel, which was opened on 1 July 1897, built on the site of a former polo field. For many years it, and particularly its ballroom, was the height of Folkestone society. However, it closed in 1959 and was converted into flats, renamed as The New Metropole. Also in the building is the New Metropole Arts Centre. The center has been on The Leas for over 40 years and the ‘Folkestone Art Trust’ is a non-profit group, formed to safeguard and manage the Art Collection acquired by the Metropole Gallery. The Arts Centre originally opened to the public in September 1961 the most prominent protagonist, amongst many being Sir Kenneth Clark, (later Lord Clark, 1903–1983)), its later main financial benefactor was Sir Roger Michael De Haan (1948-). Central to their role was to regularly organise exhibitions, essentially showing work from the ‘Metropole Art Collection’, but not exclusively. Since then, the collection includes works by Edward Ardizzone, Frederick Marcus Arman, Elisabeth Jean Frink, Ernest Greenwood, Gertrude Hermes, Blair Rowlands Hughes-Stanton and Orovida Camille Pissarro.