Posts tagged: Salford Museum And Art Gallery

Harold Riley works now on display at The Old Fire Station Bakery

To coincide with the celebration of Harold Riley’s life through the Every Line Is Me exhibition at Salford Museum and Gallery (April 2024 – April 2025) we have installed 4 works from the University of Salford Art Collection in The Old Fire Station Bakery this Summer.

Harold Riley work on display in The Old Fire Station.
Right to left: St Luke’s Church, Seedley (1975), charcoal and chalk. City Motorway (1977), pastel over lithography. Building by the Railway, Trafford Park (1976), chalk pastel. View of Manchester from Salford (1975), gouache and chalk.
Photographed by Sam Parker.


Artist Harold Riley was born in Salford in 1934. After studying at the Slade School of Art, London, and undertaking scholarships in Spain and Italy, he returned to Salford and lived and worked here until his passing in 2023. He dedicated much of his practice to documenting life in Salford and Greater Manchester – from both everyday urban streetscapes to portraits of local sporting stars – particularly at Manchester United FC. Further afield, he also achieved success with portraits of Nelson Mandela, John F Kennedy, and other important public figures.

The University of Salford Art Collection holds more than 100 paintings, drawings, and mixed media artworks by Riley, including local landscapes that capture the changing skylines of Salford and Manchester for over 60 years. Some places, views, and landmarks are still visible today; whilst others have been lost over time to new developments and regeneration.

Do you recognise the locations of City Motorway or View of Manchester from Salford? Get in touch with us by email or Instagram! Photograph it, tag us, let us know how these places have changed over the years.

The 4 works are on display at the Old Fire Station until the end of July 2024. We have also loaned a number of works to the display at Salford Museum & Art Gallery; please visit their website for opening times.

Haven’t visited the Old Fire Station Bakery yet? It’s the newest venue on campus, open to staff students and the public. The cafe, bar and bakery serves speciality coffee, homemade breads and bakes, and a delicious breakfast and lunch menu – including sustainable and locally-sourced options. From 4pm you can also enjoy craft beers, pop-up kitchen vendors, and a range of events from quizzes to live music. Visit the Bakery website for more info and full opening times!

Every Line is Me, Salford Museum & Art Gallery – opening night.
Photographed by Sam Parker.


Bringing together all of Harold’s many disciplines and subject matter including painting, drawing, digital fusions, and photography. It tells the story of the man, showing works that portray places and people that were important to him. There are quotes from the artist that help illustrate the person Harold was, the legacy that he leaves behind, and the strong connection he had with the City of Salford.

Every Line is Me at Salford Museum and Gallery celebrates Riley’s life and includes several loans from the University of Salford Art Collection (open 19th April 2024 – 27th April 2025; see Museum for full opening days and times).


Hybrid Futures Comes to Salford

We are delighted to share that we’re bringing Hybrid Futures, a new group exhibition exploring sustainability and the climate crisis, to Salford, launching in March 2024 at Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

Bringing together all the work from across the Hybrid Futures project, you’re invited to join us to celebrate the exhibition launch on the 21st of March.

Exhibition Launch: Hybrid Futures

5-7 PM, Thurs 21st March 2024
Salford Museum and Art Gallery

Open to all and free to attend, refreshments provided.
RSVP here: https://salfordmuseum.com/event/opening-hybrid/

A prayer room, water and dates will be made available to anyone observing Ramadan. Want to attend earlier? We will be offering a quiet hour ahead of the exhibition launch. Please contact Rowan Pritchard if you would like to attend from 4 pm.

Hybrid Futures is an ongoing partnership project from Castlefield Gallery in Manchester, Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool, Touchstones Rochdale, University of Salford Art Collection and Shezad Dawood Studio exploring collective and more sustainable ways of working.

Marking one of the final phases of the 2-year project, the exhibition brings together the new works co-commissioned for Hybrid Futures from Shezad Dawood, Jessica El Mal, Parham Ghalamdar and RA Walden, each exploring universal threats of climate change, informed and inspired by their own perspectives and backgrounds.

Also featured is the wider work of the project including Collective Futures, a test bed community engagement programme and the findings and recommendations of Hybrid Futures’ Sustainability Advisor, Danny Chivers whose work has been integral to the project and the partners.

More to come from Hybrid Futures:

  • Interested in the behind-the-scenes of the project? The exhibition will be accompanied by a national symposium on 10 May 2024, where learning from Hybrid Futures will be shared. Find the booking and full programme details here on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/837365973167
  • Alongside the exhibition at the Museum, two additional works by Hybrid Futures artists Parham Ghalamdar and Shezad Dawood will be screened at the New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery, University of Salford, to coincide with the exhibition. Part of the Gallery’s art film season – showing works from the University Art Collection with an international focus – Birds or Borders by Ghalamdar screens 18 March – 3 April, and Leviathan Cycle, Episode 1: Ben by Dawood screens 10th – 24th April – visit the UOSAC website for full details.
  • PLUS: A new exhibition by RA Walden will open at the Grundy from 20 April – 15 JuneObject transformations through the coordinate of time is a solo exhibition of newly commissioned and existing works. Spanning sculpture, installation, text and moving image, the works in this exhibition mark and measure the passing of time. Drawing on reference points as varied as, quantum physics, the ecological crisis, ancient timekeeping and the life cycle of worms, Walden is asking us to consider time at both a macro and micro level. More specifically, as an artist with lived experience of a disability, RA Walden also uses their work to explore and express non-normative experiences of time. From sculptures made from hacked office clocks to texts that ask who and what defines, ‘work’, Walden’s exhibition also provides a poetic meditation on lives and bodies whose timekeeping does not conform to the supposed ‘norm’.

Find out more about the Hybrid Futures Project:

Visit the dedicated Hybrid Futures Microsite to explore the exhibitions so far, learn more about the artists & partners, and read about the work of Collective Futures now.

Hybrid Futures, a multi-part collaboration focusing on climate, sustainability, collaborative learning and co-production between Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, Touchstones Rochdale, University of Salford Art Collection and Shezad Dawood Studio, and generously supported by Arts Council England and Art Fund with additional funding from Henry Moore Foundation.

🔗 Download the full press release here.


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