The Pier Arts Centre reopens on July 7. Courtesy the Pier Arts Centre

The Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney, reopens to the public on July 7 2007 following a £4.5million redevelopment. The work has transformed the gallery into an internationally important arts complex, giving fitting prominence to its significant collection of modernist art.

The two-year project has seen the building of a striking new glass and zinc gallery space at the heart of the Centre, where newly-acquired works are being shown. The extension design was led by architect Neil Gillespie of Edinburgh-based practice Reiach and Hall.

The newly-acquired works bring the Centre’s collection up to date, complementing the original set of works that founded the Pier.

Opened in 1979 on top of one of Stromness’ harbourfront piers, the Pier Arts Centre burst into life when Margaret Gardiner gifted a collection of 67 works to the people of Orkney. The paintings and sculptures included some prime examples of modernist art by the likes of Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and other 20th century artists, with particular focus on the St Ives avant-garde scene of the 1930s and 40s.

The Centre's founder was a keen proponent of artists such as Barbara Hepworth, whose sculpture is shown here alongside a new acquisition by Callum Innes. Courtesy the Pier Arts Centre

The collection has recently been included in the Scottish Executive’s new Recognition Scheme for collections of national significance – one of only two art collections included.

“When you consider that the other is at the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow, it puts in clear perspective the importance of the collection we are so proud to have in our care,” said Neil Firth, Director of the Pier Arts Centre.

He described the honour as a “wonderful boost”.

“Our original collection has been shown to great acclaim at some of Britain’s leading galleries while we’ve been closed,” said the Director. “Now these wonderful works of art can be enjoyed once again on home soil – in a much-loved gallery filled with the sparkle of the sea.”

The revamp has taken nothing away from the Centre’s original character and charm, but greatly extends its facilities, making them fully accessible and equipping the venue with up-to-date collection care systems.

“A walk next door takes you from the old to the new, from pieces created in the mid-20th century, to work created by some of the best contemporary artists working today,” continued Mr Firth. “They reflect the themes of colour and light so evident in the art donated by Margaret Gardiner, while adding as exciting 21st century edge to our collection.”

The new building. Courtesy the Pier Arts Centre

The new acquisitions include works by Olafur Elliasson, Garry Fabian Miller and Callum Innes (total cost £40,466, supported by a grant of £20,000 from the Art Fund).

Danish artist Elliasson’s Colour Spectrum Series (2005) consists of 48 radiant photogravure prints depicting the colours of the spectrum. Elliasson is best known for his enormous indoor ‘sun’ shown at Tate Modern in 2005 as part of his Weather Project installation.

Towards a Solar Eclipse (1998), by , is the Centre’s first ever photographic acquisition, and yet it was not created by traditional processes. The work was made by filtering light through glass and oil-filled vessels onto light sensitive surfaces without the use of camera or film.

Turner-shortlisted Scottish artist Callum Innes is now represented at the Pier with a work entitled Exposed Painting, Deep Violet, Charcoal Black (2005). It is a deconstruction of the essence of colour, featuring thickly layered paint and re-exposed areas of canvas.

Olafur Elliasson, Colour Spectrum Series, 2005. Courtesy the Art Fund

Two exhibitions will be launched at the Pier on Saturday July 7 to mark the reopening.

One offers a glimpse of the Orkney countryside of almost 40 years ago, in drawings by Stromness artist Sylvia Wishart. Wishart created the works in the early 1970s for calendars sent out to customers by agricultural merchants J&W Tait.

“They’re beautiful, beguiling drawings many people won’t have seen for a long, long time,” said Mr Firth.

The relationship between Sylvia and J&W Tait’s is also partly to be thanked for the creation of the Pier Arts Centre itself.

Billy Tait, then chair of J&W Tait’s board of directors, commissioned the works.

“There was a theme each year,” he explained. “One year it would be lighthouses, the next churches or castles or farms.”

“Sylvia agreed to provide six drawings each year and, in return, we provided a fee that helped her create a house in an old building on one of the seafront piers in Stromness,” he said.

When Sylvia decided to move into the surrounding countryside, her good friend Margaret Gardiner spotted the potential of the home on the pier and an adjoining building as an ideal location for a gallery. The Pier Arts Centre opened there in 1979. Gardiner died in 2005, aged 100.

Garry Fabian Miller, Towards a Solar Eclipse, 1998.

Another special exhibition also takes a geographical point of view, exploring themes of light and colour from the Centre’s northern outlook. ‘A north light ~ cynosure’ brings together works from the Pier’s core collection and new acquisitions and commissions.

The title, cynosure, is derived from the ancient name for the constellation containing the North Star, and is used to describe anything that provides a navigation point, or that is a focus of attraction.

Richard Calvocoressi, outgoing Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, gave his praise for the refurbished gallery.

“The refurbished and enlarged Pier Arts Centre, filled with light and with views to the harbour and sea at every turn, promises to set a standard in the cultural life of Orkney that will be hard to rival – a worthy home for Margaret Gardiner’s collection and for ambitious programme of acquisitions and exhibitions that will attract visitors not once but many times,” he said.

The Pier’s redevelopment was made possible with more than £3million from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and further support from the EU, Orkney Islands Council and Historic Scotland.