Pier Arts Centre

The little-known Pier Arts Centre is located in Stromness on the out of the way yet beautiful Scottish isle of Orkney. It was established in 1979 when the author and peace activist, Margaret Gardiner (1904-2005), donated her collection of work by artists of the St. Ives School to Orkney. Situated at the edge of the harbour in Stromness, the arts centre occupies buildings and a pier that once housed the former Hudson’s Bay Company. After the completion of a contemporary extension by Reiach & Hall Architects, the Pier reopened to the public in July 2007.

Regarded as one of the finest collections of its kind in the UK, the centre represents a key period of British Modernism with works by Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth of whom she wrote a biography, Alfred Wallis and Naum Gabo, as well as work by a younger generation of associated artists such as Terry Frost, Patrick Heron, Roger Hilton, Peter Lanyon, Margaret Mellis and John Wells. The collection continues to develop with the addition of a number of works by international artists. Light, colour and landscape are themes that form the backdrop to contemporary additions by Sean Scully and Anish Kapoor.