I rated four stars because the staff are very friendly, and for the most part there are some remarkable pieces kept here that tell a compelling story of Lincoln and it’s history, as well as maintaining the creative legacy of artists from throughout history, around the world. Unfortunately following my visit today, I left feeling less inspired than when I walked into the gallery which, in my mind, accomplishes the opposite of what a gallery is supposed to. You’ll read that this is no fault of the gallery or their staff, but an unfortunate sobering realisation of where the arts has been heading for some time.

Upstairs, the gallery hosts new exhibits in their effort to keep the place fresh and exciting to us; you’ll find new pieces from blossoming artists looking to display to the world the things they work so hard on (fair play to them!), and pieces afforded to be in the gallery a la various prestigious institutions that I presume pay the gallery to host these exhibits (I could, of course, be wrong). The drawback to all of this is that the gallery is put in a tough spot, as I get the impression the gallery’s few choices are to host strange university events, adhere to divisive and politicised industry standards in the work they put on display, and/or showcase talent (or, daresay, lack thereof) that doesn't necessarily belong side by side next to classical era busts or remarkably detailed paintings. I would sadly say some of the work you see upstairs is detrimental to the integrity and quality of the gallery, and to our experience going there. It’s not their fault, like I said, I imagine they have little to no movement and, more importantly, funding. They not only need to remain open, they need to maintain some form of growth, and it’s unfortunate that the art industry has seen a massive drop in standards over many years. It’s like how the quality of food that we put into our bodies affects the quality of our health. We can control our diet, but it depends on what we can afford and what is accessible, nutritious, etc. And so this problem isn’t at fault of the Usher gallery and their staff, they are amazing. I just feel they are are sad victims of circumstance, and its important we support them by visiting the gallery, donating, etc, and its important we remain steadfast and objective when talking about the quality art, especially when holding it in high enough esteem it gets hung in a gallery. That’s when gloves come off.

I don't want to discourage artists, I encourage anyone to pursue the arts, literally everyone, but there ARE standards that are unfortunately deteriorating. I’ll add some pictures that showcase the large gap in quality in some of the work.

The classical era sculpture has form, femininity, and depicts humans from a point fixed in time. The bronze head didn't really have anything that told me about the person depicted, who they were, where they were from.

The same goes for the paintings, the first shows me people doings things, wearing particular clothes, surrounded by buildings of the era. The weather and detail in the ground almost makes you feel cold, damp, but warm surrounded by people doing things; life! the second painting is bizarre, the person looks ugly: they have bad posture, underbite, and strange eyes. The brush strokes are lazy, thick, and the colours aren’t nice to look at.

This is my honest opinion of how I felt following my recent visit, and my honest critique on some of the work on display. It was as equally sobering as it was like a fever dream! but my main take away is that art is under attack, and we need to be vocal in supporting local institutions and against the degradation of standards. Beauty is important in art! not just… “I made something”

tl;dr: art is under attack