About the Gallery

Japanese Calligraphy workshop with Nao Fukumoto O’Neill, part of Craft Month, supported by Farnham Town Council

Jeweller Kelly Munro is one of the winners of our Rising Stars Professional Development Award

UCA and New Ashgate Gallery have a Memorandum of Agreement and work in partnership

Our mission and history as a not-for-profit trust

Exhibitions are at the heart of our work and we run an all-year programme of exhibitions.

We support emerging artists and makers through professional, business and audience development in the market place. We work to raise aspirations and inspire excellence through partnerships.

We deliver outreach and gallery workshops with artists for diverse audiences.

New Ashgate Gallery, a non-profit making trust, cultivates the pursuit of excellence in a marketplace environment, with support to emerging artists, by exhibiting work and through professional development. We promote the creative process for all communities through workshops, talks and outreach work. We provide an unparalleled resource in Farnham, Surrey and beyond.

History

In doing all this we have a direct line of continuity with our beginnings. Elizabeth Naydler, who founded the Gallery in 1959, had aspirations to bring quality art to Farnham, with the first provincial exhibitions of nationally and internationally known sculptors and artists such as Henry Moore, Anthony Caro, Elizabeth Frink, Barbara Hepworth, Picasso, Sandra Blow, Mary Fedden, Peter Blake, whilst at the same nurturing local talent and helping the careers of the next generation of artists and crafts people through exhibitions, sale of work and prizes and scholarships.

The Gallery moved into Waggon Yard in 1966 - in 2016 the Trust celebrated its 50th anniversary in the 17th century Grade II building in in the centre of the Farnham Craft Town. During the years, the gallery has administered the profits from craft and art sales to create prizes and scholarships, and for the purchase of artworks for local and national museums. It was one of the first provincial galleries to show artists with an international reputation as well as supporting local talent. Read more about our history here.

Today

New Ashgate Gallery is a destination for viewing and buying the best of affordable contemporary art and craft by established and emerging artists and makers. The Gallery curates a programme of up to 25 annual exhibitions and is dedicated to champion the best contemporary art and craft in the market place, showcasing more than 200 artists and makers every year.

Through the sale of contemporary art and craft, our collectors support British practitioners and further our charitable activities: the funds are invested in cultivating our passion for arts and crafts through exhibition opportunities, professional practice programmes, mentoring and partnership projects. The trust supports diverse audiences through a free community programme of gallery and outreach workshops, led by local and regional artists.

As a charity, it also fosters emerging artists and makers through mentoring and touring exhibitions, working in partnership with organisations such as the Crafts Council. Moreover, The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and New Ashgate Gallery announced a partnership in 2013. The Memorandum of Understanding was renewed in 2016 and 2019. UCA is the second largest creative education provider in Europe and it is ranked first for arts in London and the Southeast.