A County Durham woman with a very personal link to the region’s mining heritage will be sharing her stories with visitors at a new Bishop Auckland art gallery.
Corinne Aspel is the daughter of acclaimed mining artist, Tom McGuinness and has joined a team of 45 volunteers who will welcome visitors to the Mining Art Gallery when it opens on October 21.
Regional charity, Auckland Castle Trust is working to transform the Grade I listed Old Bank Chambers in the town’s Market Place into a gallery dedicated entirely to mining art.
The new gallery has been created in partnership with Dr Robert McManners OBE and Gillian Wales, founders of the Gemini Collection of Mining Art.
Their collection of more than 420 works featuring local artists such as Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish, has been gifted to the Auckland Castle Trust to be displayed in the gallery.
Born in 1926, Tom McGuinness was one of the artists at the Spennymoor Settlement alongside Norman Cornish, Herbert Dees and Robert Heslop.
Conscripted into the mines in 1944, he worked underground until the age of 57 and continued to paint until his death in 2006 aged 79.
His daughter, Corinne, who lives in Bishop Auckland, has always been keen to promote her father’s artwork and says the creation of the Mining Art Gallery is perfect timing as she is preparing to retire from a 30-year career with the NHS.
The Mining Art Gallery will open on October 21 2017, with community previews from
October 14.