The Bluecoat’s archive charts the development of the UK’s oldest arts centre including its exhibitions and events programmes and architectural changes the building has undergone. An ‘Archives Revealed’ grant awarded by The National Archives has enabled us to appoint professional archivist Kate Wilson to create a single cataloguing system for the archive.
Working with in-house expertise and Liverpool Record Office, the project will help us preserve the archive, enhance its digital presence, and extend its reach. Making material easier to access, it will bring the Bluecoat story – of an eighteenth-century charity school transformed into a thriving centre for the contemporary arts – to more people, from historians, academics and curators to local history enthusiasts, schools and tourists.
Across 2026 there will be a public programme of archive drop-ins, talks and other activities to bring to life the building’s fascinating heritage, as well as opportunities for volunteers to get involved. And we are inviting the public to help us fill any gaps in the archive.
Public Appeals
We're seeking material such as photographs, ephemera, AV material and personal recollections relating to specific exhibitions and events where records are limited or missing.
If you have physical material, or simply a memory, recollection or opinion (positive or negative) related to the list of events, happenings, performances or exhibitions listed below, please get in touch by emailing archives@thebluecoat.org.uk or fill out the survey below
Items can be of any quality, and can be digitised and returned. You can choose whether material is donated, loaned, or simply shared digitally.
Events and happenings
Do you have any information or photography from:
When the Bluecoat was a public lending library?
Model Aeroplanes event late in the 1970s?
Music and accountancy exams being held at Bluecoat?
Music/poetry events in the garden?
The Merseyside Film Institute at the Bluecoat?
Mannequin fashion show which happened in 1930?
Exhibitions
Genesis by Jacob Epstein (1931)
Nearly 50,000 people queued to see Jacob Epstein’s Genesis at Bluecoat - do you know someone who was one of them and do they have a photograph, ticket, or memory from the exhibition?
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Walker Art Gallery exhibitions at Bluecoat during the Second World War (1939-1954)
During the Second World War, the Walker Art Gallery suspended its exhibitions while the building was requisitioned by the Ministry of Food. For much of this period, the gallery’s exhibition programme was relocated to the Bluecoat, effectively making the arts centre Liverpool’s main art gallery. With more than 170 exhibitions held here, very little visual record of these exhibitions survives in the Bluecoat archive today. We would love to hear from anyone who may have any material or memories relating to these exhibitions.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Bluecoat ’63 (10-15 Jun 1963)
Bluecoat ’63 transformed the whole building into an exhibition with a programme of accessible, mixed media works appearing throughout the entire arts centre. Do you remember attending or seeing this exhibition? We're looking for photos from courtyard, foyer, garden, examples of the programmes and any slides or negatives of the exhibitions.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Jean Cocteau (17 Sep-8 Oct 1977)
The work of French avant-garde poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist, and critic Jean Cocteau had been exhibited twice before at the Bluecoat. This solo exhibition touring the UK in 1977, organised by the National Book League was however a much fuller representation of his work, focusing on his artistic legacy, including his drawings and literary work. Do you remember this exhibition? Did you pick up a poster?
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
The Liverpool Nude (11 Feb - 4 Mar 1978)
40 artists, mainly Liverpool-based, were involved in this provocative exhibition, curated by Pam Holt. Artists include Bryan Biggs, Rosemary Christmas, Adrian Henri, Pam Holt, Janet Orrock, do you remember it? We're looking for visitor responses, ephemera, and especially for a copy of the exhibition poster which caused plenty of controversy at the time.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Women’s Images of Men (7-28 Mar 1981)
This touring show from London’s ICA, featured 35 artists including Marisa Rueda, Elisabeth Frink, Sue Coe, Eileen Cooper, Mandy Havers, Jacqueline Morreau, Pat Whiteread, and Ana Maria Pacheco. At the Bluecoat, it broke attendence records. Did you visit it? We’re particularly looking for copies of the invitation card, poster, and catalogue, as well as personal refelctions.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Urban Kisses: 7 New York Artists (2 Dec-7 Jan 1982)
This ICA touring show of new work from New York featured John Ahearne, Mike Glier, Ken Goodman, Robert Longo, Judy Rifka, Cindy Sherman, and Keith Haring, and was among their first exhibitions in the UK. We’re looking for copies of the catalogue and any memories you may have of this important exhibition for the city, 37 years before Haring’s acclaimed show at Tate Liverpool.
4 Artists from Cologne (13 Jun-18 Jul 1987)
This was the first of many Liverpool/Cologne exchange exhibitions arranged with gallery’s in Liverpool’s German twin city/ We’re looking for the exhibition poster and any reflections.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Perestroika in the Avant Garde (30 Jan 1989)
In 1989, Bluecoat hosted Perestroika in the Avant-Garde, a programme of exhibitions and performances that brought artists from Leningrad to Liverpool during a time of major political and cultural change in the Soviet Union. The programme included the exhibition New Artists and a performance at St George’s Hall by underground collective, Pop Mechanica (Popular Mechanics) collaborating with local artists, bands, and players from the Liverpool Philharmonic. We would love to hear from anyone who may have photographs, recordings, or memories of the Perestroika in the Avant-Garde programme.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Black Art: Plotting the Course (4 Mar-8 Apr 1989)
This exhibition was a collaboration between the Bluecoat and Oldham and Wolverhampton Art Galleries, curated by Eddie Chambers, and featuring work by 27 artists. We are looking for the exhibition poster and any memories of this exhibition?
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Sun Ra and his Cosmic Love Arkestra (1990)
This was one of Sun Ra's final performances before he took his last interstellar journey across the space ways. This memorable night apparently resembled a rave, as the packed crowd on the Concert Hall’s seating unit responded to the American jazz legend. The gig was captured on video which turned up in the US, finding its way back to Liverpool the next century. Did you attend? We're looking for copies of the poster and flyer for this memorable gig, and any memories you may have.
Get in touch: archives@thebluecoat.org.uk
Archives Revealed is the only grant programme in the United Kingdom (UK) dedicated to the cataloguing and unlocking of archival collections. The programme is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The National Archives. The goal of Archives Revealed is to ensure that significant archive collections, representing the lives and perspective of all people across the UK, are made accessible to the public for research and enjoyment.
