Ikon Gallery
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The Ikon Gallery (grid reference SP060866) is a modern art gallery, housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic, former Birmingham board school Oozells Street School (John Henry Chamberlain 1877), in Brindleyplace, Birmingham, England.
Previously the gallery was located in an industrial space near New Street Station. It moved to the current site in 1997 with the cost of the conversion partly funded by a grant from the National Lottery. The current director is Jonathan Watkins.
It was set-up to encourage the public to engage in contemporary art. As a result of this the gallery runs an offsite 'Education and Interpretation' scheme that educates audiences, promotes artists and their art. The gallery is open every day of the week except Mondays, though it opens on bank holiday Mondays.
Featured artworks include all forms of media including sound, sculpture and photography as well as paintings. Exhibitions rotate throughout the year so that as many pieces can be displayed as possible. Ikon is a registered charity which is partly funded by Birmingham City Council and West Midland Arts Council.
"The Ikon" (as it is colloquially known) began in a small kiosk in Birmingham's Bull Ring, Ikon's reputation for innovation, internationalism and excellence has gradually developed over the past 40 years. It has an artistic programme consisting of three interdependent strands.
- The gallery features temporary exhibitions over two floors totalling 450 square metres. A variety of media are represented, including sound, film, mixed media, photography, painting, sculpture and installation.
- There is also an off-site programme which helps develop dynamic relationships between art, artists and the audience outside the gallery. The projects and events vary enormously in scale, duration and type of location, challenging expectations of where art can be seen and by whom.
- Education is at the heart of the Ikon's activities, stimulating public interest in and understanding of contemporary visual art. Through a variety of talks, tours, workshops and seminars, the Education & Interpretation programme recognises that artistic expression can empower people, heightening individual and community experience.
Ikon is a limited company, registered as an educational charity. Ikon receives core funding from Arts Council West Midlands and Birmingham City Council and raises additional income from a variety of sources, including charitable trusts and foundations and corporate sponsorship.
