Championed by Lowry, her expressionist landscapes showed her native Cumberland beyond the pastoral and picturesque. Though she lived her adult life in London, it was her birthplace that served as inspiration throughout her career. Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas will be the first major retrospective of Fell’s work in over thirty years. This exhibition brings together almost 100 works from private and public collections across the country from the likes of Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy, and those much closer to home, Abbot Hall and The Nelson Thomlinson School. It has been curated by Eleanor and Andrew Bradley, who have compiled a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of Fell’s work, set to be published in spring 2025. The exhibition will explore Cumberland as Fell’s source of artistic inspiration, her childhood in Aspatria, her artistic development at Carlisle School of Art (then located in Tullie House) followed by St. Martin’s School of Art, Fell’s recognition as an important female artist, her relationships and her legacy. In addition to Fell’s work, the exhibition will include an interview with Melvyn Bragg, alongside a short documentary on Fell he made with the BBC in 1963. Returning to Aspatria, Fell’s place of birth, the exhibition will feature artistic responses and exhibition interpretation from Richmond Hill Primary School pupils, as well as spoken word contributions from Beacon Hill Secondary School students.