The Fry Art Gallery Society is a charitable organisation established in 1985 to manage the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden, Essex. Registered as charity number 1167717, it oversees the gallery's operations and maintains public access to its collection. The society played a central role in reopening the gallery in 1987 after its closure in the early 1970s, transitioning it from the former "Gibson Gallery" into its current form.

History
Originally part of a family-owned art collection established by Francis Gibson and later managed by the Fry family, the gallery became a public institution under the society's stewardship. In 2015, the society secured the gallery's long-term future by purchasing its freehold. The venue houses the North West Essex Collection, comprising over 3,000 works by artists associated with Great Bardfield and the surrounding area, including Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, and Tirzah Garwood[1][3][4].

Collection and exhibitions
The gallery's holdings focus on 20th-century British artists, particularly those linked to the Great Bardfield Artists movement, known for their modernist approaches to design, printmaking, and illustration. Works span paintings, prints, wallpapers, and decorative objects. Publications such as Artists at the Fry (2012) and Rothenstein at the Fry (2017) document the collection[1].

Governance
The North West Essex Collection Trust, a separate charity formed in 2002, collaborates with the society to preserve and exhibit the artworks. Annual visitor numbers exceeded 11,000 as of 2016[1][3]. The society maintains the gallery’s tradition of showcasing historic and contemporary art, reflecting its roots in both the Fry family’s legacy and the Bloomsbury Group’s artistic circles[1][5].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry_Art_Gallery [2] https://fryartgallery.org [3] https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Fry_Art_Gallery [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bardfield_Artists [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fry