Sunny Bank Mills: Departing gallery director looks back at a decade of bringing art to former mill

“As soon as I walked into one of the light, open spaces, I thought ‘this would make an amazing gallery,’” she says.

A former solicitor, Kay had recently completed an access course at Leeds College of Art and a degree in textiles at the University of Bradford and was in the process of developing her creative practice.

“I suppose I had always had this dream about having a place where I could show and sell my artwork and that of other people. The space seemed perfect for that.”

It made such an impression on her that she approached William and John Gaunt, the cousins who regenerated and run Sunny Bank Mills, a former textile mill that has been in their family for over 150 years, and asked if she could come and talk to them about her idea.

“That was really unlike me – I’m not the sort of person who normally does that sort of thing,” says Kay.

“I went to see them; we had a meeting and they agreed to give it a go. It turned out that William and John had been thinking it might be an interesting space for a gallery.

“I liked them, they liked me and it was all a bit experimental at first. They were very supportive and gave me the freedom to try out things. Then it grew quite quickly – and very organically.” Kay contacted artist friends who lived locally about showing their work in the gallery.

She organized a few pop-up exhibitions, which proved successful and popular, and from there the gallery, which is housed in what used to be the cloth warehouse, expanded and developed.

“We thought a shop would be a good idea,” says Kay. “We started selling cards and jewellry and then I thought maybe we should do some tea and cake for people while they were in the gallery. I brought in some old cups and saucers that had been my mum’s and made a cake.”

That was the beginning of what is now a lovely café area, which is known for its delicious cakes. “I’m still making cake – in fact, I think my greatest legacy is going to be cake,” says Kay, laughing.

Early in the New Year Kay will be leaving Sunny Bank Mills after ten years in post as gallery director and she has just overseen one of her final exhibitions.

Woven Stories, which opened last month, features the work of over 30 artists and makers. The artwork on display includes painting, printmaking, ceramics and textiles.

“It is a bit of a retrospective,” says Kay. “All the artists involved have exhibited with us before, sometimes more than once, and most of them are from Yorkshire.