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The 01625 Gallery

Updated: Nov 11, 2023

We are very excited to be supporting a new micro gallery in Macclesfield!

The 01625 Gallery is a new art gallery coming soon to the two listed red K6 telephone boxes outside Macclesfield Town Hall. It will officially launch at MTC's Step Into Christmas event on November 26th 2022 and house 5 exhibitions until January 2024.

Funded by Macclesfield Town Council, this micro gallery is right on the high street, ready for you to enjoy whenever you’re visiting the town centre or passing by!


Through fun, vibrant and inspiring art installations, the gallery aims to support and promote local artists and groups and provide opportunities for the residents of Macclesfield and surrounding areas to create and enjoy art and engage with local history.


Exhibition 1 Nov-March 2023: Patty Callaghan's 'On Croker Hill'. Pictured: Patty Callaghan, Local Artist

Exhibition 2 March-May 2023: Macclesfield Community ArtSpace's Spring Art Box! Pictured: Andy, ArtSpace Volunteer and steering group member.

Exhibition 3 May-August 2023: Mini-Macc by IDST! Arts. Pictured: Lorna Ellen, Local Artist & IDST steering group member.

Exhibition 4 August-November 2023: Phone Calls From The Past by The Silk Museum and the New Macclesfield School of Art. Pictured: fine artist Becca Smith.

Exhibition 5 November 2023-January 2024: 32 Macc Artists.

"It's great to have a platform (the phone boxes) for community artwork to be displayed."​

​"I have only recently moved to Macclesfield and don't know many people. It has been good to be involved with something with people in the area."

​"Local artists/residents get to see their work in an unusual and central location."

IDST's Mini Macc


This installation included a variety of materials and techniques, including:

  • Laser cut wood that has been collaged used for the buildings. The Silk Museum was collaged with a Dictionary's "Silk" page, the Town Hall with scanned pages about the Barnaby Fair from 'Life and Labour in Victorian Macclesfield'. Some buildings have hand written words on them, one taken from 'Love Letter to Macc' by Arc at Barnaby 2016, now set in Macc kerbstones.

  • Beautiful detail was drawn in pen on the buildings by top artists!

  • 3D Printed objects such as South Park's bandstand, micro residents and phone boxes

  • Cardboard and collage train station with depiction of Peachzz' Tunnicliffe inspired mural

  • Wooden dowel pillars

  • Laser cut wooden micro-dogs

  • Wallpaper offcuts with hand-drawn cobbles

  • "Slate" wallpaper rooves

  • Wire and matchstick bench

  • Paper and skewer Barnaby Bunting

  • Jacquard card inspired museum roof

  • Recycled poysturene rocks

  • Toy cars, vans and traffic cones

  • Chicken wire and recycled linen and hessian landscapes

  • Felt fields and flowers

  • Book page trees, wax crayon coloured

  • Cocktail sticks and paper Save Danes Moss signs, design by Becca Smith

  • Pins with wool tip sheep

  • Black sand tarmac

  • Card and wool clouds

  • Background paintings 'On Croker Hill' x2 by Patty Callaghan

17 local residents helped to create the individual pieces over 7 weekly sessions, then the installation was concieved, planned, led and brought together by local artists Lorna Ellen and Lucie Fitzpatrick. Lorna constructed a table and hill base that the pieces were them added to.


If you're interested in what IDST! does, bringing people together through arts and tech projects, visit their website here.


Phone Calls From The Past


The Silk Museum, Becca Smith Art and New Macclesfield School of Art are working together to bring an interactive installation to the Marketplace called ‘Phone Calls from the Past’ in time for August’s Treacle Market and #HeritageOpenDays on September 9th.

They're celebrating the lives of two important Macc women, designer Edith Buxton (nee Clayton) and Marianne Brocklehurst, bringing them to life through an art + audio experience... Make sure to visit from Saturday August 26th 2023! A huge thank you to members of MADS who did some voice acting, and audio editing thanks to RoBoTaLiEn.

Listen in on 6 “phone calls from the past”! Tap into the right frequency via the QR codes and you will hear 3 calls between Marianne Brocklehurst, Mary Booth and their friend Amelia Edwards in 1876 as they discuss their past and future trips to Egypt, and 3 phone calls from 1925-1949 between various people talking about Edith Buxton (nee Clayton), a successful designer who lived and trained in Macclesfield. As the phone boxes were installed from 1935, another exciting fact is that Edith may well have used one of them!


The two silhouette figures of Edith and Marianne were painted by Becca Smith, Director of the New Macclesfield School of Art, based at The Silk Museum, where Edith trained in Design. They are painted with acrylics; Edith’s an homage to her popular “Tulip Time” design in a 1950s dress shape, and Marianne’s a typical Victorian dress shape based on her photograph decorated with Hieroglyphs and enlarged illustrations from her diary.

Both were originally done in watercolours, but unfortunately that wouldn’t be fit for a semi-outdoor space!


What other objects can you spot in the phone boxes that relate to each of the women?


Make sure to visit The #01625Gallery - which is supported by Macclesfield Town Council and curated by Lucie Fitzpatrick - in the phone boxes outside Macclesfield Town Hall. It’s “open” 24 hours a day from August 26th 2023 until November. What3Words//jumps.froze.phones

After you’ve listened in to the phone calls - which are best listened-to through headphones - pop down to The Silk Museum where you can discover the ancient Egyptian artefacts collected by Marianne and Mary, including the mummy case of Shebmut. Find out what the collection reveals about life and death in ancient Egypt, from Hair and Make-Up to Female Pharaohs. Scroll through digitised pages of Marianne’s illustrated diary, which inspired the fictional telephone conversations.


Much of Edith’s career was centred around screen printing, and The Silk Museum has over 1000 pattern books of designs collected from mills around Macclesfield, full of various techniques like block printing and spanning nearly 200 years of design! Visitors can view these incredible books and blocks at the museum - why not visit on Heritage Open Day on September 9th?

After the museum’s event, pop to the phone boxes from 17:00-18:00 where curator Lucie and artist Becca will be available to answer any questions and chat about the installation! Alternatively the museum is open Wednesdays to Saturdays 10.00-16.00 and the last Sunday of each month.


The New Macclesfield School of Art has a programme of art classes planned for autumn and winter, so you can try your hand at some of these traditional styles and techniques, plus new ones like VR drawing! See them all at: www.newmacclesfieldartschool.com/book-online


32 Macc Artists


32 Macc Artists (adults living, working or born in Macclesfield) will exhibit their 2D/photos of 3D creativity in a group exhbition from Nov 2023 - Jan 2024, showing the wealth and variety of talent in the town.

The aim is to provide a platform for exhibiting artists and those making money from their art to fulfil their own aims (whatever they may be: sales, promoting market dates, commissions etc) over the festive period. The 32 fabulous local creatives are:


Charlotte Oxenham Art http://charlotteoxenhamart.com

Ginny McDermott www.ginnymcdermott.co.uk

Helen Fitzgerald, Head of Art, Beech hall School https://beechhallschool.org

Papier Mache Patty https://pattycallaghan.com

Martin Deakin Pottery Houses https://www.potteryhousesbymartindeakin.com


This exhibition is funded by Macclesfield Town Council, with print by L&J Print in Congleton.


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Post your pics and let us know what you think with #01625Gallery! You can also follow the official council channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to follow the gallery’s journey.


The 01625 Gallery is curated and managed by Lucie Fitzpatrick, if you have any queries please contact Lucie at the01625gallery@gmail.com.


You can find the Macc phone box gallery at:


The 01625 Gallery,

Market Place,

Macclesfield,

Cheshire,

SK10 1EA.

Google Map here.

What 3 Words ///jumps.froze.phones location here.



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