The Road to Cleethorpes Pier
Free exhibition at Cleethorpes Library in March – paintings by Cym Whitley and photographs by Tim Whitley
The Road to Cleethorpes pier is Cym Whitley’s first exhibition. She is 91 years old.
Cym has loved painting since she was a little girl and has attended different painting classes over the years. After retiring from teaching Cym worked for several years at Grimsby Central Library.
Last year, whilst helping Cym tidy up, Cym’s son Tim and daughter Kerry found some paintings Cym had never shown them before. Tim posted images of them on Twitter. The feedback was unremittingly positive, and there were over 20000 views and 500 likes in just a few days.
Questions were asked as to whether Cym had ever exhibited her work, and if any of it was for sale. This response helped formulate the idea in Tim’s mind that Cym’s work should be made available to a wider audience, which is how the idea for this exhibition came about.
In the early eighties, Tim worked as a freelance photographer in Grimsby, and exhibited some of his work in an exhibition at Grimsby Library called ‘Out of Season’.
Tim moved to Leeds in the mid eighties and his photography took a back seat for years. He feels that he neglected his passion, before coming across the Twitter group Galler65. He saw a post from a photographer based in the North East who had started the group, and the invitation for anyone, anywhere, to post a daily picture of their work. Gallery 365 reconnected Tim with his love for photography, and he started to take photographs again regularly from that date up until the present.
Gallery 365 has grown since 2022 and is now a global community. The ethos of the group is to be supportive, inclusive, and non-judgmental. Some of the group have become close friends, and will be exhibiting with Tim and Cym.
The exhibition opens Saturday 1st March – 1pm to 4pm in the Albert Room at Cleethorpes Library, running until Thursday 27th March during library opening hours.
All the work is for sale, and any profits will be donated to Beat, the eating disorder charity.
