MARGATE.- During its autumn 2016 exhibition programme, Turner Contemporary had 106,656 visits; making it the most highly visited autumn programme since the gallery’s first year of operation. The figures show an increase of over 31.5% compared to autumn last year and Turner Contemporary’s visit figures have now passed the 2.25 million mark. By bringing world class art to Margate, Turner Contemporary is encouraging visits to the town outside of the traditional tourist season.

JMW Turner: Adventures in Colour brought together 149 artworks and objects that had travelled a combined 26,000 miles to Margate, where they were displayed at the site where Turner lodged, famously hailing the skies “the loveliest in all Europe.” Reactions from members of the public populated social media platforms, championing the opportunity to “see so many works of Turner in one space!”, not least that they should be exhibited “with the added frisson of standing and seeing the same skies over the harbour of Margate and out to sea that Turner himself painted.” During the exhibition, more than 2600 children and young people engaged with Turner Contemporary’s learning programmes.

In keeping with the gallery’s aim to bring contemporary and historical art together, John Akomfrah’s Vertigo Sea was presented alongside JMW Turner’s work. The 3 screen video installation, offered a meditation on our relationship with the sea, exploring the oceans, whaling and the environment across 300 years of history.

Akomfrah’s work spurred extensive engagement across social media. The capacity for art and creativity to transform lives was exemplified by a teenager on Facebook: “It has made me look at life a different way, that there is more than just sitting at home eating or spending too much time on social media, feeling sorry for myself and just being lazy.It makes me feel like I want to go traveling because every minute people do drugs or other bad things can be spent doing something amazing instead, that's why I'm not going to waste my time with people and just be independent and get my grades and do what I want to. Because you only have one life and you have to make it count.”

The resulting coverage across local, national and international press amounted to £1,216,825 AVE with a reach of 56,556,286 people[1], further promoting the town. 5 years from opening, the draw that the gallery brings, with over 48% of visits to Margate being made by individuals who come specifically to visit Turner Contemporary, shows no signs of wearing off.

Alongside the gallery’s busy Autumn programme, Turner Contemporary’s social value research, launched at the House of Commons with local children in October 2016, afforded an opportunity to reflect on the gallery’s impact after 5 years of operation. Amongst many things, the research showed that for every £1 invested in Turner Contemporary’s exhibition programme, £2.88 of net social value is created for visitors to the gallery and for every £1 invested in the gallery’s schools programme, £5.15 of net social value is created. Beyond this, visitors and participants identified that the gallery provides them with a stronger sense of connectedness to family and friends; enables them to be more receptive to new experiences; empowers them; increases self-belief, inspires and excites them and encourages them to be more active members of society.

After 5 years and more than 2.2 million visits, Turner Contemporary is now closed from Monday 9 January to Friday 13 January for some essential repairs and maintenance ready for when it re-opens on 14 January. The ground floor, café and shop will be open but the first floor galleries will remain closed from Saturday 14 January to Friday 27 January as the gallery team install Entangled: Threads & Making.

Entangled: Threads & Making, which opens on Saturday 28 January 2017 brings together 40 international female artists who explore a diverse range of materials, in particular, textiles and thread. The exhibition includes many new works produced especially for the exhibition and others, such as Hannah Ryggen’s large scale political tapestry 6. oktober 1942 and Sidsel Paaske’s jewellery made from organic materials, that have not been exhibited in the UK before.