Museums
an exhibition of cups, medals, skis and jumpsuits of the ski jumper Adam Małysz, opened in Wisła in 2007
Museums
a theatre gallery in a tenement house from 1870 with set designs, puppets and an archive
Museums
contemporary art gallery in a pavilion from 1960 and the Sixt villa with a garden
Museums
a branch of the Częstochowa Museum in a building from 1875 on Blessed Virgin Mary Avenue
Museums
a contemporary art gallery from 1949, with a collection and the Polish Poster Biennale
Museums
gallery in the brick power station of the Saturn mine with the “Wanda” generator from 1903
a gallery of painting, graphics, sculpture and unique glass, operating in Katowice since 1993
Museums
an art gallery in an Old Town townhouse, with a café, concerts and an independent cinema
Museums
museum of about 22 square metres in a Tychy tower block, with miniatures, sculpture and edged weapons
Museums
bronze busts of artists who served Katowice, chosen in a vote by residents
Museums
the interior of a workers' flat, a laundry with a mangle and the Janów Group in the heart of Nikiszowiec
a municipal gallery on the first floor of the Andromeda Culture Arcade, with temporary exhibitions
intuitive and naive painting by Silesian self-taught artists, in Ruda Śląska since 2010
Museums
a family museum of artists with a chapel and a gallery on Bucznik
Museums
ethnographic museum with souvenirs of Franciscan missionaries from several continents
Museums
ruins of the Kossak family's Baroque manor from 1734 and a cultural centre in a park with an avenue of limes and oaks
Museums
art and architecture gallery in a historic tenement house on Dyrekcyjna Street in Katowice
Museums
an exhibition on the carolling customs of the New Year dziady and szlachcice in a historic library building
Katowice gallery of contemporary painting with roots in the independent scene of martial law
gallery with computer graphics by Beksiński and works by Polish painters
private collection of vintage cars and tractors, most of them in working order
exhibition on Tychy sport at the Municipal Stadium, with athlete profiles and a comic
Painting in Silesia is found in contemporary art galleries: from the BWA in Katowice to private collections in Istebna.
The biggest cluster of galleries is in Katowice, with more in Bielsko-Biała, Tychy, Gliwice, Częstochowa and Ruda Śląska. Some places show paintings directly, others combine art with a museum, a café or a theatre. It is therefore worth checking what exactly a gallery holds before travelling there.
The safest choice is galleries that run painting exhibitions outright: Parnas in Katowice (pictures, prints, sculptures and art glass), the Katowice gallery Fra Angelico with contemporary painting, Barwy Śląska in Ruda Śląska and the Obok Gallery in Tychy with changing exhibitions. Katowice has the most addresses, gathered on the page for painting in Katowice; a few venues are also in Tychy, covered by the page for painting in Tychy.
The city centre, Śródmieście, holds five places close to one another. The BWA Contemporary Art Gallery has worked since 1949 in an exhibition pavilion on Wojciech Korfanty Avenue, with exhibition halls of 800 square metres in total, a collection, its own publishing house and the Polish Poster Biennale. Parnas has been operating as a Katowice gallery since 1993; it exhibits pictures, prints, sculptures and one-off art glass.
At 39 Henryk Jordan Street, beside the Diocesan Museum, stands Fra Angelico. It was founded in 1986 and has shown contemporary painting without a break ever since. In a historic tenement at 9 Dyrekcyjna Street works the SARP Architecture Gallery, run by an association of architects, with exhibitions and a lecture series about architecture. It is not a painting gallery, but it complements a stroll through the centre. At 25 3 Maja Street you will find the Ateneum Gallery of the Silesian Puppet and Actor Theatre, opened in 2007, with stage design projects and puppets.
Outside Śródmieście lies the Artists' Gallery in Grunwaldzki Square in Koszutka. Bronze busts of artists linked with Katowice have been added here year after year since 2004. The whole stands under open sky, so in rain choose another place.
In Bielsko-Biała the Bielska BWA Gallery is a contemporary art gallery run by the city. The main building stands on 3 Maja Street, a structure of 1960, and the gallery also includes the Sixt villa with its garden and a club café. At 4 Wzgórze Street in the Old Town there is the private Wzgórze Gallery in a two-storey tenement, that combines a café, a concert stage and an independent cinema.
In Czeladź the Elektrownia Gallery occupies the brick building of the former Saturn mine power station, built in 1902-1908, with its machines preserved. In Częstochowa the Good Art Gallery, a branch of the Częstochowa Museum, is housed in a former rectory of 1875 on Najświętszej Maryi Panny Avenue; bishops lived here earlier.
In Ruda Śląska the Barwy Śląska gallery has operated since 2010, with intuitive paintings by self-taught artists, drawn from Stanisław Gerard Trefoń's holdings. In Istebna, on Bucznik, in a former artists' colony, stands the private Museum and Gallery of the Konarzewski Family: paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textiles and a family chapel.
In Gliwice, at 8 Raciborska Street, the private Esta Gallery has worked since 1998; it specialises in computer graphics and holds the works of Zdzisław Beksiński exclusively. In Tychy the Obok Gallery is run by the city above the Andromeda Culture Arcade; it has no permanent display, and its changing shows cover paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs. A tiny miniatures museum of about 21.9 square metres also sits in a Tychy tower block at 8 Żwakowska Street.
A few venues are galleries in name only. In Wisła the Adam Małysz Sports Trophies Gallery shows nearly a thousand keepsakes of the jumper Adam Małysz, among them trophies, medals, skis and competition suits. The Tychy Sports Gallery is a standing exhibition about sport in Tychy, up on the second floor of the town stadium. In Ochaby Wielkie the private Jazda Historyczna museum collects vintage cars and farm tractors.
In Milówka the Gallery of New Year Dziady and Szlachcice shows carolling customs in a former school building. The Magiel Gallery in Nikiszowiec at 4 Rymarska Street is an outpost of the Katowice History Museum, with displays on a workers' family, the laundry and the mangle, and on the Janów Group. In Panewniki the Missionary Museum at 20 Związkowa Street is an ethnographic museum with roughly two hundred objects brought from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. In Górki Wielkie the Kossak Manor is the ruin of a Baroque manor house of 1734 with a culture centre around it; the manor's interior is not visited.
The easiest option is a walk around central Katowice, since the BWA, Parnas, Fra Angelico, the SARP Architecture Gallery and Ateneum are all in one district and all indoors. A second day could be filled with Nikiszowiec and its Magiel and with Panewniki and the Missionary Museum. In Bielsko-Biała combine the Bielska BWA with Wzgórze in the Old Town, and in Tychy the Obok Gallery with the Dominiak miniatures and the Sports Gallery. Most of these places will do for a wet day, since the displays are indoors. Before going to the smaller private galleries, check whether a visit needs to be arranged beforehand.
At the BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, at Parnas and at the Fra Angelico gallery, all in Śródmieście. Parnas and Fra Angelico name painting directly in what they offer.
Barwy Śląska in Ruda Śląska, from the collection of Stanisław Gerard Trefoń, open since 2010.
The Esta Gallery at 8 Raciborska Street holds computer graphics by Zdzisław Beksiński exclusively.
The galleries in central Katowice, which stand close to each other. The Artists' Gallery in Grunwaldzki Square is outdoors, so it is better skipped in the rain.
