Wilson Shaft Gallery

The Wilson Shaft Gallery is housed in a historic lamp room and bathhouse building at Oswobodzenia 1 in the Janów-Nikiszowiec district of Katowice. It is the former facilities of the Wilson shaft of the Wieczorek mine, today a private contemporary art gallery.

What the Wilson shaft was

The Wilson shaft belonged to the Wieczorek mine, whose history goes back to 1826. According to the gallery's website, the site was originally called Richtofen and Hulda, and it received the name Wilson in 1935, after the President of the United States. The mine was closed in 1995.

The pithead building

The pithead building dates from 1915, is built of brick and is listed in the heritage register (entered in 2019). Together with the bathhouse, changing room and guardhouse with a tally room, it formed the facilities for the shaft's crew. The site belongs to the Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship, and it is less than a kilometre from Nikiszowiec.

From mine to gallery

Revitalisation of the buildings began in 1998, and the gallery opened in 2001. It shows paintings, sculptures and installations by Polish and foreign artists from a private collection. Concerts, performances, workshops and conferences are also held here. A regular part of the programme is a festival of naive art. The gallery gives its exhibition space as more than 2,000 m², while other sources give 2,500 m².

In the area, about 1.4 km from here, there is also the Walcownia - Zinc Metallurgy Museum.

Practical information

• Address: Oswobodzenia 1, 40-403 Katowice.
• According to the gallery's website, admission is free; check the current opening hours and rules before your visit.
• Guided tours in English are available by prior arrangement.
• There is a free car park by the gallery.