The Cooper Art Gallery on  Church Street in the town centre is a glorious little place with its changing exhibitions, cafe and gift shop. We had the chance to visit and see its newest exhibition '45 rpm' by Terry Brookes, the permanent pieces from the Cooper Collection, new pieces in their newly built extension and the 'Expressed' exhibition showcasing the best of Barnsley College end-of-year shows. There's a lot packed into this deceivingly 'small' gallery and really worth the visit.

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The Terry Brookes 45 rpm exhibition is all about mod type artworks and 3D objects. Also includes a wooden sculpture of a Vespa accompanied by a green parka and bike helmets for you to dress up and play on! We had much fun on this. My model boyfriend showed this off perfectly, in which I couldn't resist and had to join in too! Our favourite painting was the one of the tapes, on our forever wish list.

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Their permanent exhibition from their Cooper collection looks more beautiful than ever since the area has been renovated and now includes more interactive elements for a friendlier visit for all the family. Next to them is the newly built extension with more amazing pieces as well as some ceramic, pottery and sculptures. We also enjoyed the interactive games like the hexagonal jigsaw and re-building the magnetic pot.

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Then finally I headed upstairs into the Sadler room to see the 'Expressed' exhibition from Barnsley College. The Cooper Art Gallery chose their favourites from the end of year showcase that all Art & Design students do in the final projects. There was a nice range of paintings, 3D sculptures, graphic design and Fashion garments.

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[gallery ids="1980,1984" type="rectangular"]

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Have you visited the gallery recently? What was your thoughts?