Castle Galleries Grand Opening September 2008

On September 20th 2008 Alexander Millar officially opened the new Castle Galleries in Newcastle city centre.

There was standing room only as collectors old and new queued to meet the man who depicts North Eastern nostalgia with such flare.

The day began with a leisurely champagne brunch at Alex's regular haunt 'Blakes', where he can often be found sitting sketching away the day. As the gallery began to fill up our collectors feasted on ham & peese pudding stotties, homemade meat and potato pie and washed it down with Newcastle Brown Ale as Alex's model Peter, dressed in full 'Gadgie get-up' gave everyone a demonstration of 'Gadgie' poses. Alex arrived to find a queue of people eagrely awaiting his arrival, including our very own Jeff Rowland who had also come out to support his friend for the day.

A beautiful selection of Alex's artwork adorned the walls, limited editions and sculptures alongside original pieces depicting his various styles; from small sketches of his lone character to large detailed oils of the North East from eras gone by.

The 'Gadgie' character often accompanied by his 'Gal', grandchild or ever loyal wee dog has become a nostalgic image that many are reluctant to let go of. Generations that remember days like these have passed their love and memories down through Alex's artwork to family and friends and now a new generation of collector has emerged.

So it was that the gallery burst at the seams with people of every age, clamouring for a word with Alex but also eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winners of our Art Competition in conjunction with St Thomas More RC High School, thus highlighting the importance of Art in school and inspiring the next generation of artists.

The day was a massive success, one we hope to repeate next year for our one year anniversary.