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300 Facts

Bluecoat's fascinating history revealed

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The earliest subscription roll for Bluecoat - 1717 - features many of the tradesmen who worked on the building and donated their fees back to the charity school.

1717

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Currently home to several Liverpool festivals, Bluecoat has also previously hosted Africa Oyé, Brouhaha and the Liverpool Comedy Festival.

1980s and 1990s

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In the 19th century, Blue Coat School received a donation of raw cotton, equivalent to an amount that later caused a glut on the markets in Manchester.

1800s

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European émigré artist George Mayer-Marton settled in Liverpool after World War Two. He had a studio at Bluecoat, taught at the art school, and was a pioneer of contemporary mosaics.

1950s

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For Bluecoat's tercentenary exhibition, In The Peaceful Dome, Jo Stockham revisited work she'd showed in the venue's 1990 exhibition, New Sculpture, and remaking her iconic Canon piece.

2017

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On the occasion of the Columbus Quincentenary in 1992, Keith Piper and 15 other artists explored colonial legacies evident in Liverpool, Bristol and Hull in the commission project, Trophies of Empire.

1992

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For his 1989 Bluecoat exhibition, George Wyllie presented his Paper Boat project, a comment on the decline of the shipping industry on the Clyde.

1989

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For 1992 commission project Trophies of Empire, which explored legacies of slavery and imperialism, South Atlantic Souvenirs & Trouble presented a cabinet of merchandise - packaged tea, sugar and cigarettes – highlighting the products of British

1992

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For the 2006 Liverpool Biennial, Bluecoat curated Humberto Velez's The Welcoming at Albert Dock, involving migrant communities using song and dance to welcome a new group of refugees.

2006

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Life was harsh at Blue Coat School in its early years, but pupils enjoyed holidays across the year, including many Saints' days, a Gunpowder Plot day, and fourteen days at Christmas 'for amusement.'

1700s

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In September 1972, Dave Pearson built a dramatic installation at Bluecoat inspired by Van Gogh, recreating a larger-than-life 3D room based on one of his paintings.

1972

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Part of 2002 live art programme You Are Here, artists Mad for Real performed a soya sauce and tomato ketchup fight inside a perspex boxing-ring styled box in Bluecoat's front courtyard.

2002

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Master mariner and Blue Coat School founder Bryan Blundell was also an amateur artist, painting his own ship The Mulberry in 1696, some 20 years before it became the first vessel to sail from the port's Old Dock.

1696

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Bluecoat was established as a charity school for destitute children, dedicated in 1717 'to the promotion of Christian charity,' as inscribed in Latin on a frieze on the building's front façade.

1717

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Bluecoat alumnus David Mabb curated Problems of Everyday Life at the venue in 2000, an exhibition of emerging British artists from Goldsmiths College in London.

2000

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The title of the 2017 exhibition, In the Peaceful Dome, comes from William Roscoe's 1777 poem, Mount Pleasant, which describes Bluecoat.

1777

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For the 2004 Liverpool Biennial, Bluecoat showed Malaysian artist Wong Hoy Cheong’s video installation based on the story of cowboy film star Roy Rogers (and his horse Trigger) staying at the Adelphi hotel.

2004

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Painter Clement McAleer, who had a studio overlooking the Bluecoat garden for many years, was one of the most prolific artists working in the city during the 1980s and 90s and exhibited frequently at the venue.

1980s

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For the 2009 exhibition End of the Line, Bluecoat collaborated with Hayward Touring and UK galleries to showcase a resurgence in drawing nationally and internationally.

2009

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Classical music has a long history at Bluecoat, with many ensembles performing here, from the Liverpool Chamber Music Group to more contemporary approaches from the likes of Immix Ensemble and Ex-Easter Island Head.

2017

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Commissioned by the Liverpool Biennial for the 2006 Shanghai Biennale, Bluecoat curated Walk On, an exhibition by artists from Liverpool that was presented in a shopping mall, Citic Square.

2006

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Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation funding enabled Bluecoat to stage three themed arts seasons, including Victorian High Noon in 1959, as well as create a young artists' bursary scheme and commission research into the prospects for visual art in Liverpool,

1959

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Bob & Roberta Smith created a towering installation resembling a bonfire for the exhibition Niet Normaal ('Not Normal') at Bluecoat in 2012, part of disability arts festival DaDaFest.

2012

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Bluecoat commissioned the writer and Brecht translator, John Willett, to carry out a study of art in Liverpool. The result, Art in a City, published in 1967, is regarded as the first sociological study of art in a single city.

1967

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