Whitby residents are being invited to play a starring role in a brand new art exhibition at the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby.

The new installation, by artist Pippa Hale, will go on display from 20 July to 29 August 2016 using seats lent by members of the public to tell the story of the town and its inhabitants.

Pippa explained: “I wanted to reflect the dual use of the building; both as a gallery space and seat of local Government hosting the Whitby Town Council meetings.

“Seats have a practical use within the gallery but I want them to act as the artwork itself. That’s why we’re encouraging local people in Whitby to lend their chairs and share the stories behind them. The stories, along with the chairs and their owners, will feature in the new exhibition.”

Entitled ‘Seat’, the installation at the Pannett Art Gallery will recreate a Whitby Town Council Meeting, complete with public gallery, using local residents’ seats. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to match the chairs to their owners and learn more about the stories that make the chairs so special and unique.

Residents of Whitby can apply to take part in the exhibition by emailing [email protected] with a picture of their chair and a brief description of its story. Application forms are also available to collect in person from the gallery.

Successful applicants will be invited to Green Lane Centre on Saturday 9 July to meet the artist, drop off their chairs and have their photos taken for the exhibition.

The gifting of seats is significant because it marks a special moment in Whitby’s history when, in 1928, local people, upon hearing of the death of Pannett Art Gallery founder Robert Elliot Pannett, donated chairs to ensure the Gallery - named in his honour - could be completed.

Helen Berry, Curator at the Pannett Art Gallery, said: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to develop this contemporary art installation and are delighted to be working with Pippa to celebrate the uniqueness of our Gallery.”

Part of the Meeting Point project by Arts&Heritage, which sees nine new contemporary art installations at four museums in the North East and five museums in Yorkshire during 2016, a photography catalogue detailing all the submissions will remain on display at Pannett Gallery.

Timandra Nichols at Arts&Heritage said: “Pippa’s installation will engage the local community in a new way and invite visitors to take a fresh view of this gallery and its permanent collections, also alluding to the fact that it hosts Town Council meetings."

Funded by Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience Fund, Meeting Point presents new art commissions in unexpected places and has given small and medium scale museums the opportunity to commission artists to create a piece of work in response to their venue.

The project aims to bring new visitors to the nine participating museums and position them as exciting places to see contemporary art.

The nine museums and artists taking part in Meeting Point are:

Chantry Bagpipe/Morpeth Gathering
Ziad Jabero working with the Baghdaddies

Dales Countryside Museum
David Murphy

Durham Castle
Jo Coupe

Head Of Steam, Darlington
Cath Campbell

Kirkleatham, Redcar and Cleveland
Grennan and Sperandio

Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby
Pippa Hale

The Workhouse Museum, Ripon
Catherine Bertola

Shandy Hall, York
Anne Vibeke Mou

Thackray Medical Museum, Leeds
Irene Brown

Seat takes place at the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby from Monday 20 July to Monday 29 August 2016. For more information, please visit www.pannettartgallery.org

Anyone interested in loaning a seat and starring in the exhibition can email [email protected].

Meeting Point takes place across the North East and Yorkshire from March