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300 Facts

Bluecoat's fascinating history revealed

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Ghost stories abound in Bluecoat’s history. British TV show, Most Haunted, filmed in the empty building in 2005 during its refurbishment.

2005

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At Bluecoat in April 1986, sculptor Tony Hayward exhibited wall-based works, many of them made from recycled domestic objects.

1986

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St George's Day in 1843 is the subject of a popular print that depicts school children marching out through the Bluecoat gates, led by the school band.

1843

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A Sandon Studios Society exhibition of Modern Art in April 1912 at Bluecoat included works by Augustus John and Liverpool-based Polish émigré, Albert Lipczinsk.

1912

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In 2001, MOMART Fellow at Tate Liverpool, Marion Coutts, had an exhibition at Bluecoat, the culmination of her fellowship. Other fellows who also had final shows at the venue included Emma Rushton and Maud Sulter.

2001

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In April 1972, a Bluecoat exhibition, A Concept of Multiples, featured affordable art by David Hockney, Claes Oldenberg and others.

1972

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In 2013, Bluecoat's learning disabled group, Blue Room, travelled to Ireland to collaborate with theatre group, Doors to Elsewhere, on an immersive dinner party.

2013

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Moving into the building in the 1920s, Herbert Tyson Smith was active at Bluecoat for half a century, creating art for churches and public sites in the region. His sculpture studio overlooked the garden.

1920s

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Janek Schaefer performed at Bluecoat in 2009 to accompany his gallery exhibition, Sound Art, on a bill that also featured Liverpool-based turntable pioneer, Philip Jeck.

2009

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A Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia touring exhibition, Contemporary British Tapestry visited Bluecoat in 1982 with a selection featuring a punk portrait and work by pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi.

1982

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In 2009, Reverend Billy and his Gospel Choir of Stop Shopping visited Bluecoat and several Liverpool shops in an attempt to cleanse the city of rampant consumerism.

2009

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Children at the Blue Coat School in the 18th century had beer, brewed on the premises, for breakfast.

18th century

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Bluecoat's weather vane once featured a ship, reflecting the building's close association with maritime trade and the importance of donations by merchants to the charity school's early years.

Early 1700s

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Football was the focus of Clive Hickinbottom's exhibition of ceramics at Bluecoat in 1980.

1980

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In 2003, artist Claire Weetman presented a performative drawing in Bluecoat's Window Box, a tiny space enclosed on two sides by windows that housed a programme of artists' displays.

2003

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In 1986, Liverpool performance artists Bob Connolly and Phil Hughes presented Executive Golf in Bluecoat's front courtyard. Dressed as city gents, complete with bowler hats and brief cases, they attempted to play golf on the unyielding terrain of the

1986

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Robin Blackledge presented several memorable live art interventions at Bluecoat, including one in 1989 where, painted red, he performed on the roof.

1989

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Berlin-based artist Hannah Hurtzig's 2008 Blackmarket performance at Bluecoat invited the audience to interact with experts in an interrogation about 'useful knowledge.'

2008

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Bed-In at the Bluecoat in 2010 consisted of over 60 daily events staged on a bed in the Hub, in tribute to John Lennon and Yoko Ono's famous peace protest. Performances and actions were presented by a wide range of artists, community groups and activists,

2010

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on 25 May 1989, UK female rap team The Cookie Crew performed at Bluecoat, in the concert hall, now the upstairs bistro.

1989

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In 2013, Merseyside-born artist Mark Leckey curated the Hayward National Touring exhibition, The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things, which opened at Bluecoat, where he presented a huge inflatable Felix the Cat in the Vide.

2013

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In May 1945, when Bluecoat was Liverpool's main art gallery while the Walker was closed during the War years, an exhibition of contemporary Chinese paintings, arranged by the British Council, was staged.

1945

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Young people's art group, Yellow House carried cargo from Albert Dock to Bluecoat in Philip Courtenay's 1992 Lode performance and installation about globalisation. This was revisited as RE:Lode in Bluecoat's tercentenary exhibition In the Peaceful Dome.

1992

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In 2008, Geraldine Pilgrim's Trace performance with Blue Coat School pupils evoked the building's previous life as a charity school.

2008

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