NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2010

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Welcome to the Winter Programme.  Although we still have the visit to the Anderton Boat Lift and the guided tour of Eton College and Dorney Court to enjoy, September is on the horizon, and the nights are beginning to draw in.  It’s time to make plans.

Your wholehearted support of all our activities has enabled us to donate enough money to help with the purchase of the blue and white meat platter, which has an early scene of the Royal Pump Rooms, and is now proudly displayed in the Gallery, and to fund the acquisition of the picture by Lucy Kemp Welsh of ‘Old Grey Mare with her Foal’ which we also hope to see again as soon as the frame is repaired.

The Gallery has no formal budget for conservation, and so the committee were delighted to say that we are able to give the £1,000 needed to fund the package they have negotiated for the refurbishing of many of their pictures, and so enable them to be shown again.  Again, on the same theme, the modest £100 we donate for the materials used by the N.A.D.F.A.S volunteers to carry out the cataloguing and repacking of the Gallery’s collections, results in value of skilled work worth many times the original sum.

The warm and friendly atmosphere in our Gallery is embodied in their enterprising and imaginative events for the young, so the donation of £150 which we give for the prizes at the Children’s Art Competition, with the added pleasure of catering for refreshments, is, we hope you will agree, money well spent.  £350 is enabling the framing of a work by Tessa Beaver.  We are still holding the £2,000 which we pledged towards a ceramic piece by Edmund de Waal to mark our 40th Anniversary as the rest of the cost has not yet been realized.

Although our speakers’ fees are mainly paid for by the entrance fee and raffles, the ability to keep the annual subscription at its present level is helped by the generous terms we receive for the hiring of the Pump Rooms.  Administration costs for postage, newsletters and programme cards have to be paid for, although they are kept to a minimum.  However, the bulk of the money you raise comes from our Outings and Study Days.  What an enjoyable way to make money!  Many thank yous must go to Lyn, Pat, Maureen and Graham for all the work and inspiration that goes into planning such varied and interesting places to visit, and linking them with study days full of wit and hidden scholarship.  It is not surprising that we generally have a full coach and a waiting list for each event.

Thank you for again voting me in to have the pleasure of chairing such a friendly and purposeful society, and the joy of working with a supportive and energetic committee.

Diana Adams
August 2010





As you will see from our new programme card we have several visits and study mornings arranged.  Please see separate sheets included with this newsletter for details and booking slips for the events up to Christmas and the 2011 holiday.  Details of events planned for the spring will be included with the January newsletter.




ART GALLERY & MUSEUM NEWS

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

Harry Hammond: Halfway to Paradise (2 July – 5 September 2010)

Why not take the last chance to see our current exhibition Harry Hammond: Halfway to Paradise, which closes on Sunday 5 September?  The exhibition is part way through a tour organized by the V & A Theatre Collections, which holds an archive of over ten thousand images by Hammond.  The exhibition has been extremely popular with visitors, especially those who have come to reminisce over these stunning images.  The exhibition has been accompanied by a series of events including a very entertaining talk by Alwyn Turner, the author of the book on which the exhibition is based: Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock.

Touch a site specific installation by Lyndall Phelps (16 September – 28 November 2010)

Our next exhibition Touch a site specific installation by Lyndal Phelps, opens on 16 September.  Artist Lyndall Phelps has worked with the medical history collections and oral history archive to reinterpret the history of the building as a place for medical treatments.  Phelps has created a number of new works for this exhibition.  These will be displayed alongside medical equipment from the collections.

Phelps has previously worked with several museums and galleries including Milton Keynes Gallery and the Natural History Museum collections at Tring.

The exhibition opens with an ‘in conversation’ event on Thursday 16 September, 6 - 7pm.  Entry to this event is free to FLAG members.  There will also be an Adult Craft Workshop on Saturday 6 November, 10.30am – 4.30pm.

Children’s Art Competition

The annual Children’s Art Competition was held on Saturday 7 August.  We would like to thank FLAG for giving £150 to support the event and for providing refreshments for those attending.  All entrants received a sketch book and the winners received WH Smith gift cards.  As ever the quality of the work submitted was very high and judges Chairman Cllr Bertie Mackay, Cllr Susan Gallagher, Diana Adams and artist Fran Godwin had a tough job choosing the winners.  Prizes were awarded to Jessica Ledsham and Joseph in the 6 years and under category, Stella Spadoni and Andrew Hynes in the 7-10 years category, and Anmolpreet Sangha and Rory Whiteford in the 11-15 years category.  This year we had two winners of the Charles Lines award for artistic potential: Emily McLaughlin and Aman Sahota.  This award is supported by Cllr Susan Gallagher.

ACQUISITIONS

Old Grey Mare with her Foal by Lucy Kemp Welch

At the end of 2009 we acquired a lovely oil sketch entitled Old Grey Mare with her Foal by Lucy Kemp Welch.  It is a brilliant addition to the collection and will complement our larger painting by Kemp Welch, Winter’s White Silence.  We plan to hang both works side-by-side in the redisplay in January 2011.  We are very grateful to FLAG members for funding the full cost of this sketch.


Water-shed by Edmund de Waal

Ceramicist Edmund de Waal created water-shed in response to the medical history of the Royal Pump Rooms.  The piece represents a medical cabinet filled with delicate ceramic vessels in aquatic celadon glazes.  We would like to acquire this piece for the collection to mark the 40th anniversary of FLAG.  We are extremely grateful to FLAG for donating £2,000 to help us with the purchase and are progressing towards securing the additional funding that is required.

PROJECTS

Medical History Gallery
Work is now underway on the refurbishment of the Medical History Gallery.  We are working with former Senior Curatorial Officer Nicky McIntosh on content development and local designer Richard Marshall-Hardy will be designing the new gallery.  The gallery will have new displays and will incorporate recent research into the history of the building and of Leamington as a spa town.  The Hammam will have a new memory pool area where visitors can write their experiences of spa treatments and we will use oral history testimonies to give the personal stories of former patients and practitioners.  The new gallery is due to open later this year.

Haddie’s trails
Building on the success of Haddie’s Gallery, in March this year we launched Haddie’s Trails for under fives.  The four trails, Let’s Look, Clever Colours, Nice Numbers and Lovely Letters, encourage young families to explore the museum and Haddie’s Gallery in a fun way.  The trails are free to use and can be collected from the Gallery Reception desk.  They were funded through the Renaissance West Midland’s Coventry and Warwickshire Family Friendly Museum’s Partnership.

Mary Pettipher
We are sorry to report that long standing member of the Art Gallery & Museum team Mary Pettipher died on 5 August.  Mary was recruited as a casual Gallery Assistant shortly after the AG&M opened at the Royal Pump Rooms and was a valued member of the team.  She will be deeply missed by all who knew her, especially her husband Mike and her family.  Mike is also a long standing member of the staff and we look forward to him returning to work with us when the time is right.

Vicki Slade
Curatorial Officer