Current Exhibitions
Whistle Stop
Various artists
Runs from: Saturday 14 June 2025 to Wednesday 23 July 2025
Whistle Stop, presented by the S&DR200 Festival, gives visitors to Darlington Library Art Gallery the chance to step back 200 years in time to see important documents and images from the birth of the modern railway. The exhibition is an introduction to the very start of the S&DR story.
The documents have been brought together from archives across the UK and include engineer drawings and rarely seen maps, as well as cultural paintings, poems and cartoons depicting the adventurous and strange inventions of the age!
“This touring exhibition has already delighted visitors in Durham and Stockton-on-Tees libraries, and I hope Darlington residents will come along and see this impressive collection of artefacts from around the country. The Whistle Stop is a fascinating insight into the birth and subsequent development of the modern railway into what we see today.” - Niccy Hallifax, S&DR200 festival director
The exhibition is free and you can see a selection of works from Darlington Borough Art Collection and the Centre for Local Studies linked to our rich railway heritage.
Upcoming Exhibitions
British Railways
Alan Kitching
Runs from: Saturday 26 July 2025 to Thursday 04 September 2025
British Railways
To mark 200 years since the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway — the world’s first passenger railway to use steam locomotives — renowned typographer and printmaker Alan Kitching returns to his hometown with a striking new exhibition: 'British Railways'
Alan Kitching is one of the UK’s most celebrated letterpress artists. Known for his dynamic use of wood type and bold, expressive layouts, Kitching’s work brings history to life through print. This new body of work pays tribute to the engineering legacy of the North East, drawing inspiration from the spirit of steam travel and the graphic language of railway signage.
Born in Darlington in 1940, Kitching began his career as a teenage apprentice at a local print shop, the beginning of a lifelong passion for typography and design. His journey has taken him from the North East to international acclaim, but this exhibition brings him full circle, back to the place where it all began.
Kitching went on to co-found the Experimental Printing Workshop in Watford with Anthony Froshaug and later became a partner at Omnific Studios, where he established his reputation in letterpress. His honours include being named a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) and Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art and Visiting Professor at University of the Arts London.
Join us for the Private View on Thursday 31 July, 5:00–7:30pm
RSVP: [email protected] by 25 July 2025
Please contact the Creative Darlington Manager, Stephen Wiper, at [email protected] if you would like to bring an exhibition to Darlington Library.