It comes after artists Yollande Posthumus and Antje Rook set up a quirky art gallery, which is no bigger than a doll’s house, outside the Beehive Café in February.
The two women, who have curated many projects in the area and have also worked as therapists, recognised the need for art to be more readily available to people who may not be able to travel or pay to see exhibitions elsewhere.
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Antje said: “It makes art more accessible than larger galleries. It has been fun building the box and having people from the community help us.”
The box has been filled with artwork from many local residents and community groups, who are not necessarily artists, including Muntsy’s and LGBT+side, formerly Artachat.
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The gallery is currently displaying a circus themed exhibition created by B-side for Portland Fringe Festival.
The art gallery has been a great success on the island, with the community coming together to support it.
Antje said: “We have some people that always come back and are now collecting little artworks. People on Portland love it and seem to look after it.”
With the money raised from the artwork sold, which goes towards maintaining the space, the artists are now creating another portable gallery, which will make the communities’ paintings, models and collages even more accessible.
Antje said: “It is going to be mobile, but the same size and foldable, with a window into it so you can see inside from the roof.”
It will be showcased at the annual Christmas fayre at the Royal Manor Theatre in Fortuneswell in November.
It will also travel to the Jubilee Hall in Poundbury, for its Winter exhibition on November 22-30, in aid of Arts in Hospital at Dorset County Hospital.
Arts in Hospital aim to increase patients’ wellbeing through art and visual displays.
Antje said she would like the art created for the exhibition to not showcase who created it, so people buy the artwork they truly love.
She said: “I would like people to buy the one they like without knowing if it is by a [professional] artist or not.”