PEN Gallery is the kind of individual, very local business that might just be the future of the high street.

Half the premises is devoted to exhibiting the work of a succession of contemporary artists, while the other sells the work of a host of local “makers”.

It caters for all budgets and is running a programme of events to draw in the local community.

Pen Gallery is one of the new ventures that opened earlier this year at the Kingland shopping parade in the centre of Poole.

Bournemouth University graduate Emma Rowland started the business as a community interest company and runs it with the help of Arts University Bournemouth graduate Emma Laird.

“I had always wanted to do something like this but it wasn’t until I was made redundant and had got a temporary job that I thought about what I really wanted to do,” says Emma Rowland.

She was struck by the support she received when she suggested the idea to Legal and General, landlord for the Kingland units and the neighbouring Dolphin Centre.

“I messaged the lady running it and said ‘What do you think about a contemporary gallery and store space?’. She opened the door and was kind of ‘You can have it if you want’,” she said.

The gallery is now on exhibition number seven and a roster of local 90 makers are selling their wares in the shop.

Many of the artists studied at Bournemouth University or Arts University Bournemouth, while others studied elsewhere but live locally.

Five of the exhibited artists so far have been women. “We’ve had a lot of female artists and female artists of colour,” says Emma Rowland.

The first exhibited artist was photographer Lauren Forster, an acclaimed photographer and lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth.

“She has shown her work all over the world – her work is internationally known. By having her for our first exhibition we definitely sat the bar high,” says Emma.

The current exhibition is Midsummer Roses, a series of photographs by Ben Jeffery.

Emma Rowland has been proud to encourage as many local creatives as possible.

“If you’ve got passion and make something, we want to work with you,” she says.

She was keen that there should be something for every budget in the shop, attracting passers-by as well as those who have heard about the place on social media.

Smaller purchases include a candle for as little as £3.50, postcards, handmade earrings, art magazines and modestly-priced prints which are likely to be unique.

“You could brighten up a room for £20 and jazz yourself up for a fiver,” says Emma.

A programme of events aims to appeal as widely as possible.

This coming weekend, October 23-24, the gallery will host the Mug-O-Mat – a mobile portrait booth in which people can have their likeness captured by artist Eleanor Wilkinson for just £5.

Pen Gallery is hosting a VIP opening night with Barefaced Brewery on Friday, October 22, 7-11pm, with drinks, a DJ and early access to the portrait booth.

Other events include a bookbinding workshop with Opus Collective on Thursday, October 21, 7pm, for £38; pumpkin decorating for children on Wednesday, October 26, 11am-12noon, for £8 including materials and snack; and a beaded bracelet workshop on Sunday, November 7, 10am, for £40.

Throughout November and December, a succession of makers will “pop up” to sell their wares and often provide workshops or practise their craft live.

And in December, the gallery space will be given over to a Christmas market featuring some of the business’s most popular sellers.

“Instead of having that as a gallery space, 10 sellers will have full tables,” says Emma.

The aim is that the casual shopper, as well as the dedicated art lover, will find something to visit for.

The pandemic has seen an increasing interest in supporting local, independent businesses, as well as in mindful pleasures such as browsing a gallery. And with the prospect of some mass-produced items being in short supply this Christmas, it may be that hand-crafted items produced with little or no waste receive a further boost.

Emma hopes this might all boost the local high street.

“You can support the arts and their presence on the high street and support the high street too,” she says.

“If you want shops to stay on the high street, then you have to come in and buy things.”

Pen Gallery is at 28 Kingland Crescent, pengallery.co.uk and on social media, particularly Instagram.