Event type: Exhibition

Women at Work: the Unilever Contemporary Art Collection

 

Discover a new exhibition of work by women artists from the Unilever Contemporary Art Collection in Port Sunlight, the iconic Wirral model village and historic home of the global company.

‘Women at Work: the Unilever Contemporary Art Collection’ is a unique opportunity for the general public to see work from a collection which is normally displayed in Unilever’s offices across the UK. It includes paintings and prints by Bridget Riley, Lisa Milroy and Margaret Calvert.

The exhibition is open Wednesday–Saturday from 22 November until 22 March at the historic Bridge Cottage, which was briefly home to Port Sunlight’s founder William Lever, and is now a gallery space. Entry is free, with donations welcome to Port Sunlight Village Trust, the independent charity responsible for looking after the village.

The history of art is full of work by men, and it is only in recent decades that women artists have begun to be equally acknowledged, outside of the production of artworks which may be considered ‘domestic’. The Unilever Contemporary Art Collection redresses this by displaying work by female artists to show the breadths of their interests, subject matter and media.

Unilever has been associated with the arts since it was founded. William Lever was an avid collector and the business often used fine art in its advertising. Unilever has been collecting contemporary art since the late 1970s, with the aim of creating a more enjoyable working environment for employees and visitors, as well as supporting young artists in the UK.

 

Shift Exhibition

 

Overview

 

SHIFT has been curated and produced by Tobias Ferguson with Artist-Led St Helens

About SHIFT

 

SHIFT is an immersive group exhibition exploring how transformation moves through body, material and collective experience.

Informed by the circadian rhythm, the exhibition unfolds across two contrasting environments shaped by the energies of morning and night.

 

Featuring over twenty artists, designers and creative practitioners, the exhibition invites visitors into a space where light, atmosphere and movement influence how the artworks are encountered.

 

To attend the PREVIEW NIGHT – an evening of art and community, please book a place so we know how many people to expect. This is on the 5th December 2025 (6pm-9pm).

 

Public Viewing will be between 6/12/25 – 14/12/25 – no booking necessary for these days – so please spread the word and let people know about the SHIFT exhibition so that we can share these ideas with more of St Helens!

 

The LAKE gallery 2025 OPEN Exhibition

 

The 2025 OPEN exhibition at the LAKE gallery in West Kirby brings together over 50 emerging and established artists to create a dynamic and colourful group exhibition. The gallery is showcasing the work of many locally-based artists alongside others from further afield and visitors can enjoy a beautifully curated mix of original paintings and drawings, prints, ceramics and sculpture.

The exhibition runs from Thursday 27th November to Saturday 24th January 2026. 

Opening Times: Thursday – Saturday, 10am – 4pm

 

Pop Tarts

A colourful splash comes to the Future Walls gallery, with this new joint show from three boss print artists from the Prints n Tha’ collective. JoMo, Rhonda Davies and GloMoth are three of the core members of PNT, whose riot of colour takes over our gallery space with the Pop Tarts exhibition from 23 November to 19 January. Together, their styles merge as a bright, empowering and playful message that embraces the power of print.

Join us for the launch and private view of the exhibition on Thursday 27th November at Future Yard to see all of the work up close. There’ll be tunes from GloMoth on the decks, plus our pizza kitchen will be open.

Free entry. Doors open at 6pm.

Onomatoposter with Pulled Apart By Horses

We’re incredibly excited to be welcoming back the incredible Onomatoposter exhibition for 2026. One again we are working with Toucan Tango to host an incredible exhibition of flatstock poster art to the walls of our Gallery space, the perfect way to kick off the new year. Printmakers and designers Toucan Tango are firmly embedded in this world, a global movement of artists whose love for music spills over into a rich world of gig poster design.

We’ll be exhibiting some fine examples of this work across January, February and March with an exhibition in our Future Walls gallery space, where you can come and feast your eyes on some of the finest screen print show artwork from across the world. All prints will be available to purchase, and many are rare or limited edition prints. There will also be a special piece of print deigned for this show. Scott from Toucan Tango will also be on hand doing some live screen printing, working up the final layers on a special print designed for the night’s headlined live show with Pulled Apart By Horses to mark the launch of the exhibition.

NB – the gallery event is free entry; the live show with Pulled Apart By Horses is ticketed and takes place in the Live Room.

Liverpool City Region Photo Awards 2025

Photographic talent is very much alive in the Liverpool City Region. It happens every day, in every postcode; in group chats, in home darkrooms and on the street. Returning for its second time, the Liverpool City Region Photo Awards received over 2,100 images from local people.

Through the work of 18 category finalists, this exhibition pictures what photography looks like and how it is being used across the region right now. All of these stories are shared with us because telling stories, and telling them through photography, is such a huge part of our lives. Category winners and commended submissions make up the physical exhibition, and an image from every entry is featured in the Digital Window Gallery exhibition.

The outside walls of the gallery will see a selection of photography from this year’s Photo Here residencies. Throughout 2025, six diverse groups from across the Liverpool City Region provided a unique snapshot of their lives and communities as part of this year’s LCR Cultural Events Programme. The ‘Photo Here’ project saw established groups, including refugees and asylum seekers, members of the LGBTQI+ community and D/deaf and BSL users, tell their stories and the stories of the areas they live in with the help of professional socially engaged photographers in residence.  Councillor Mike Wharton, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Business, Investment and Trade said: “These awards are more than a celebration of photography – they’re a celebration of the people and places that make our region unique. Every image tells a story of connection and creativity, and that’s what makes this competition so special. 

“It’s not just about technical skill; it’s about capturing the spirit of our communities and the shared experiences that bind us together. Through initiatives like this, we’re showcasing the incredible talent that exists in every corner of the Liverpool City Region and reinforcing the role of culture in bringing people closer.” Winners will be announced on 27 November 2025 at the launch of the photographic exhibition of their work at Open Eye Gallery. The exhibition is open to the public from 28 November to 11 January. Category winners will receive £500, while commended photographers will be awarded £100.  Declan Connolly, Liverpool City Region Photo Awards Lead at Open Eye Gallery, said: “Photography has the power to stop us in our tracks and make us see the world differently. The finalists this year show just how vibrant and diverse our local talent is – their work reflects the heart of our communities and the possibilities of our shared future.

“These images are not only visually striking; they carry meaning, emotion, and a sense of place. That’s what makes the Liverpool City Region Photo Awards so exciting – they give photographers a platform to share stories that matter and invite all of us to look again at the world around us.” The finalists in each category are:

Celebration. Something we celebrate is something we’re publicly proud of – is there something not enough people celebrate? What do you want to tell absolutely everybody about?

Ella J. McConville Emma Rock Jude McLoughlin

Connecting. We connect to people, places, animals, plants and objects everyday, some more meaningful than others. How do you feel about these connections and how would you show them?

John McDonald Pete Regan Stephen McCartney

Futures. We all experience our climate and think about the future of our planet. What around you do you see as a positive? What would you like to keep for the future, and what would you like to change?

Björn Matthies Paul Henry Solenna Argow

Shared Space(s). Where we choose to spend our time reveals a lot about a person and when shared, it can begin to represent the ideals or wants of a community. Your town, cafés, your friend’s house, your favourite bench – every place holds hundreds of stories. Which stories will you choose?

Andrew Shaw Amy Woods Tom Rees

Movement. Running clubs, dancing, travelling or the passing of time. Think creatively – what moves you?

Andrew AB Andrew Dunford Dale Bristo

Care. Care and caring looks different to each person. We can care for our friends, we can care for our communities, we can care for our environment. We can feel cared for. What does care look like for you?

Connor Maxwell Gerald Murphy William Whatley

Liverpool City Region Photo Awards is delivered by Open Eye Gallery with the support of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Image by Amy Woods from the series Held

Bluecoat Arts Market

Join us this December for the Bluecoat Arts Market!

We’re opening our Garden and Sandon rooms to local artists, makers, and creatives. The market will feature a wide range of locally crafted, handmade goods, celebrating the creativity of our community.

ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha

From parking lots and gas stations to swimming pools and diners, explore the work of influential American artist Ed Ruscha.

Inspired by his travels by car, including the journey from his hometown of Oklahoma to Los Angeles, Ruscha depicts the vast open space of the US and invites you to look at his surroundings. This free display includes books, photographs, paintings, drawings, and lithographs, capturing the architecture, geography and image of the USA.

You’ll see his 1963 book Twentysix Gasoline Stations, which features photographs of petrol stations along Route 66, photographs from his ‘Sunset Strip Portfolio’ including Filthy McNasty’s, as well as some of his text-based artworks such as OK (State I) 1990 and Dance? 1973.

ARTIST ROOMS presents the work of international artists in solo exhibitions drawn from a national touring collection jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. Its programme reaches audiences across the UK and is developed through local partnerships. ARTIST ROOMS gives young people the chance to get involved in creative projects, to discover more about art and artists, and learn new skills.

The ARTIST ROOMS programme and collection is managed by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland with the support of Art Fund, Henry Moore Foundation and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Creative Scotland. Its founding collection was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008 with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments.

Accessibility

Tate Liverpool is temporarily located at RIBA North, Mann Island, a short distance (425m) along Liverpool’s iconic waterfront. There is step free access to the main entrance. There is a lift to the first floor gallery, or alternatively you can take the stairs.

  • Toilets are located on the first floor
  • The nearest Changing Places toilet is located at the Museum of Liverpool
  • Ear defenders are available to borrow.

Please ask a Visitor Engagement Assistant Additional seating is also available. Please ask a member of staff if you require assistance.

To help plan your visit to Tate Liverpool + RIBA North, have a look at our visual story. It includes photographs and information of what you can expect from a visit to the gallery.

For more information before your visit: Email visiting.liverpool@tate.org.uk

Messy Grief: Smashing Ceremony with Lowri Evans

For Grief Awareness Week 2025, At The Library presents Messy Grief! A week of arts programming as part of Loved and Lost, a programme of work exploring grief, how we talk about it and how we live well with it.

For this special smashing ceremony, artist Lowri Evans has reimagined her project, Fragile Handle With Care, to explore the reasons why grief can be messy, ambivalent and uncomfortable. Celebrating mistakes, accommodating agonies and giving voice to pain, you’re invited to a special Smashing Ceremony.

Friday 5th December

3pm – 4:30pm

Crosby Library – Echalaz Room

Bring an item that holds significance for you in a cathartic ritual, smashing the item against the wall to honour all that we do to hold ourselves, and others, together when we have loved and lost. This is an act of holding up the pieces, not brushing them under the carpet, finding beauty in mistakes, embracing what’s broken or lost, and letting it go. 

When you book your place, please let us know what item you’ll be bringing to smash so we can discuss with you! 

Visit our website to book your place and tell us which item you would like to smash.

 

April Ashley’s Personal Papers: First Look at the New Collection

 

 

 

 

 

LJMU Special Collections & Archives are delighted to invite you to a First Look event for our newest collection: April Ashley’s Personal Papers.

We’re very excited to announce this recent acquisition, and we want to hear from our community to learn more about: what you want to see more of; what you want to happen next; and how we can work with you in the future.

This ‘first look’ will include an open workshop with a large selection of original archive material belonging to Ashley to browse, followed by discussion.

As the collection is very large and currently uncatalogued, it won’t be possible to retrieve everything, but we will try to put out a good variety of material.

Her papers include: the legal records related to the landmark 1970 Corbett V Corbett case; personal and medical records related to her life as a prominent transgender figure from the 1950s onwards; and records of her successful career as a model and activist, among other papers.

The building is wheelchair accessible with blue badge parking, but do let us know at archives@ljmu.ac.uk if you have any specific access needs or concerns.

19 Nov 14:00-16:00 or 21 Nov 10:30-12:30

Mount Pleasant Campus Library, 29 Maryland Street, Liverpool, L1 9DE