1. Brief history of establishment

The LIFT Modern Art Gallery is located in a huge building of the Cultural Center of Kielce in rooms of a theatre painting hall which was used for preparing stage props. In 2004, it was refurbished to create modern and multi-functional space of the Art Gallery. The gallery has an area of 340 sqm and it is 6 metres high. There is a one-meter-wide footbridge spanning at the height of 3.20 meters above the floor. A huge goods lift 8.5 m x 2.15 m, 2.5 m high, reaches the main room making it possible for an art event organizer to have new possibilities of space arrangement and bring huge stage props to the Gallery.

An exhibition room has a lot of windows, which can be covered tightly, as well as nine skylights letting in beautiful natural light. At the mezzanine of the Gallery there is a café Cafe Winda, where visitors of the Gallery can drink a cup of coffee and look at a current exhibition from the bird's eye perspective. The Gallery is protected with a burglar alarm, burglar-proof door and 24x7 CCTV surveillance.

2. Profile of the Gallery

The LIFT Art Gallery was opened on 14th March 2004 with a vernissage of Madonnas and Totems, a Kora Jackowska and Kamil Sipowicz exhibition. The Gallery was initiated by Magdalena Kusztal, a Managing Director of the Kielce Cultural Centre. Because of a specific type of interior (industrial, very modern indeed), the Gallery is focused on presenting various forms of modern art, but we are not partial to presenting works of historical or collector's value. Space of the Gallery offers an opportunity for truly comprehensive activities in a wide cultural context. Apart from exhibitions, we also organize author's meetings, discussions, film screenings, fashion shows etc. Although we are a young Gallery, we can be proud of many achievements. Obviously, a beginner must try harder. That is why we make every effort to complement each exhibition with a beautifully published catalogue. The Gallery has an experienced art curator. We also take advantage of our own technical staff and we are able to adjust the interior to requirements of each and every exhibition. We can prepare a few lighting arrangements.

WE ARE ARTISTICALLY INDEPENDENT!!!

Internationally renowned artists with great achievements like Wojciech Fangor, Piotr Naliwajko, Jan Wołek and many others had their exhibitions in our Gallery. We have displayed works of art, i.e.:

- Albin Brunovsky & Friends, a Slovakian graphic exhibition under the auspices of the General Consulate of the Republic of Slovakia in Cracow;

- Dancing Figurines from the Alain Bernard collection under the auspices of M. Kareński-Tschurl, the Honorary Consule of Germany.

We take part in a lot of international artistic projects such as:

- Suitcase ( a photographic exhibition). It is a travelling exhibition initiated on 13th April 2005 in The New York Public Library's Art Collection Galleries as a presentation of 10 American and 10 Italian artists' works.

-Ways of Freedom and Dignity - an exhibition organized in collaboration with the International Movement ATD Fourth World.

- Chapeau Bas, a vernissage of unique headgear.

Our exhibitions are shown within the frame of joint projects in Serbia and Budapest.

• CHRISTMAS CRIB - The Lift Modern Art Gallery has been collaborating with the Monastery of the Missionary Oblates at the Holy Cross Mountain since its establishment. Each year in Christmas season, we present Bethlehem Cribs made in our visual arts and dressmaking studios in the oldest Polish monastery. The Cribs with life-sized figures of the Saint Family are placed in the Main Altar of the Monastery. Each year we add new figures to the Crib. The Bethlehem Crib made by our Gallery is extremely popular with the people of the Świętokrzyskie Region, and its inventiveness has been noticed by Polish media.

• THE HOLY CROSS 595 exhibition - The Lift Art Gallery has a permanent collection of beautifully framed coloured photographs (77x105 cm) by Krzysztof Pęczalski, documenting the Holy Cross as a place of religious cult and national heritage. Holy Cross 595, a perverse title of the exhibition refers to the height of the site of the oldest Polish monastery. The exhibition was created both as a labour of love and on the occasion of the Świętokrzyskie millennium. The first vernissage was held in the exhibition hall of the Polish Parliament on 7th June 2006. The exhibition was later displayed, among other locations, in galleries in Lublin, Budapest, Hungary, and it will be presented in 2008 in London. This is a multimedia exhibition. Films about the Holy Cross are screened, there are backlit nets - 294 cm x 300 cm (2 pieces), 270 cm x 300 cm (1 piece), as well as a replica of a sculpture of Saint Imre in a 1:1 scale made by the visual artist Maciej Miernik.