WHAT IS GERRY’S POMPEII?

With limited resources and infinite imagination, Gerry Dalton (B. Athlone, Ireland, 1935 - 2019) devoted over thirty years of his life to create what has become known as ‘Gerry’s Pompeii.’ An intensely private person, Gerry worked mostly in secret and often at night, to transform his social housing flat, garden and his neighbours’ canal path into a visionary environment, off the Harrow Road in West London.

WHAT DO WE DO?

• We are a charity dedicated to preserving and promoting Gerry’s artistic legacy. Using Gerry’s story as a catalyst for creative engagement, we work hyper-locally with brilliant community partners to co-deliver inclusive, innovative workshops, events and experiences in his spirit.

• We provide unusual, inclusive opportunities for creativity in an area facing significant inequalities and lacking a dedicated visual arts space.

• We invite emerging and established artists to work with local community groups to make unique creative workshops and public, building skills, confidence and community pride.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Gerry’s canal-side sculpture garden provides the inspiration for our charity, with the mission of preserving the site as a meaningful artistic environment and community landmark. Our mission is to inspire local communities and those beyond through projects that facilitate and celebrate their innate creativity.

There is a vibrant and creative ecosystem within West London. However, wards surrounding Gerry Pompeii are amongst the most disadvantaged in London. There is a limited community visual arts offer and a significant lack of the inter-organisational resources to create one locally. Gerry’s Pompeii is our opportunity to meet this need as well as our chance to champion a cultural heritage that is usually marginalised, destroyed or left to rot.

Gerry’s Pompeii offers an alternatie approach to heritage conservation and arts provision – local, personal and empowering, with a raucous spirit that reflects the idiosyncrasies of this very special neighbourhood. The energy unleashed by Gerry’s Pompeii could not have happened anywhere else – but we believe that other, different reservoirs of creative energy are waiting to be tapped all over the place. In the long-term, we hope that our programme here will serve as a template for creative flowering in neighbourhoods all over the country.



“They’ll be astonished by what they’ll find in my garden in years to come. It’ll be like Pompeii or something… Gerry’s Pompeii.”

GERARD ‘GERRY’ DALTON

Supporters & Partners

“In over 50 years in London, I have never encountered anything so unusual, and so complete... I have seldom been so affected”

RICHARD WENTWORTH CBE, ARTIST