Landscapes of the Imagination - John Roger Hatton and Brenda McKetty at Oakapple Art Studios

Oakapple Art Studios, July 2013 (closes 14/7)

Apologies to Roger and Brenda for not managing to drop by and add a note about this exhibition until it was closing.  Both artists exhibit regularly locally, so readers will have plenty of opportunities to view their work at other venues (icluding the Open Studios auction at Oakapple this weekend) ...


I really enjoyed the colourful combination of the two artists and their different approaches to the art of landscape.

(Landscapes of the imagination ... exhibitors Brenda McKetty and John Roger Hatton in conversation with a visitor)

Battle Anniversary Pictures

It was nice to see a few Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum amongst the small gathering of heritage enthusiasts for the anniversary of the 1460 battle of Northampton.

Members of the Medieval Siege Society attended in period costume to lay red and white roses in honour of the fallen, then happily posed for a variety of publicity shots and for visitors.

Local battlefield historian Mike Ingram gave a potted account of the battle from golf course side of the monument (from which vantage point the papal legate Francesco Coppini watched and recorded the events) ...

(members of the Friends gathered on the fringe of the golf course listening to the narrative) 

This is the view they enjoyed.   Coppini's account would mean the battle took place between this elevation and Delapre abbey (in the middle background) ...

(a view of the battlefield from the Eleanor Cross today)

(a similar view as it may have been in 1460, in a new reconstruction by artist Matthew Ryan)

The event benefited from a degree of national new coverage (BBC News) which may well prove important as Northamptonshire's diverse heritage seems very much under pressure these days.   Kettering Art News will keep you posted.

Thanks to Northampton Battlefield Society for inviting us along.

Thanks to Matthew Ryan for permission to include his painting of the battlefield (Matthew Ryan Historical Illustrator)

Northampton Battlefield Visit 2013

The Northampton Battlefield Society and Medieval Siege Society are hosting an anniversary visit and walk on the evening of 10th July.  Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum are welcome to attend.

The MSS will be wearing 15th Century costume and will lay a wreath at the Eleanor Cross, and there will be a guided walk on the battlefield (which we can now assume lies between the cross and Delapre Abbey)

Meet at the Delapre Abbey car parking at 6:30 

(contact me by commenting or via the Friends if you need further information - if we know you are coming we can make sure we don't move off without you).   

(the Battle of Northampton reconstructed by Simon Chick)

A collection will be made on behalf of the Battlefields Trust

Dr Roy Hargrave on John Alfred Gotch - Alfred East Gallery 20/06/2013

June's Friends talk was on the centenary message, with Dr Roy Hargrave introducing us to the career of John Alfred Gotch ... architect, architectural historian and, in the '20s, President of RIBA.

It is a mark of his status that he was the first provincial architect to be made President of the Royal Association.   His extensive oeuvre, of course, includes the Alfred East Gallery which is 100 years old this month.

(an early image of the Alfred East Art Gallery which I have restored from a damaged postcard)

The plaza was established, more or less, as we know it now when the war memorial, also by J. A. Gotch, was added in 1921 - one of numerous memorials designed by Gotch's practice.

Gotch was responsible for the greater proportion of Kettering's period monumental architecture, domestic and civic, industrial and institutional, and is often referred to as the man who built Kettering.

As his architectural career flourished, Gotch also wrote and illustrated profusely on the topic of architecture and guides to building heritage.   Dr Hargrave layered his talk with a wide range of illustrations from Gotch's books and brought along an extensive collection for us to browse.

I found this a fascinating insight into the man who contributed so much to the physical appearance of the town we know today.

(the gallery and war memorial in our time:  an iconic backdrop to the Olympic Torch's visit to Kettering)

Addendum ...

Many of you will know of our connections to the Naseby Battlefield project ... and it is, perhaps, no surprise that in following up Dr Hargrave's talk, I see Pevsner's entry on the Cromwell memorial at Naseby:

BATTLEFIELD MEMORIAL.  A column with a ball finial.  1936 by J. A. Gotch.

Having attended the talk, the connections are obvious.

(Naseby Battlefield: the Cromwell memorial by John Alfred Gotch)

Phil

Shameless plug - Northants Heritage Awards 2013

People's Choice Award 2013

Members of the Public (aged 16 and Over) can vote for their favourite museum, as part of the Northants Heritage Awards, recognising excellence in museums and historic houses.

Kettering Museum and Art Gallery are delighted to be on the list of entrants and are inviting you to vote for them.

Please download the form by clicking on the link below.http://www.kettering.gov.uk/info/100009/leisure_and_culture/1607/public_choice_award_2013

Fill in the form and either hand it in to the Museum or Gallery or at the main reception desk in the Municipal offices before 31 June.


We need your Help!

Open 13 at the Alfred East Gallery

The 2013 Open at the Alfred East Gallery


One more week to go ... 72 new works exhibited in open exhibition including a Youth section sponsored by the Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum.

Please make sure you drop in ... this is a refreshing, interesting and cheerful exhibition with some worthy prize winners - and a chance to vote for your favourites.

The Youth section sponsored by the Friends is a real eye-opener and there is some pride in being associated with such genuinely assured young talent.


Also on at the moment is the Public's Choice exhibition - your favourites from last year's Hidden Treasures show on display in the Small Gallery (well, 11 of them plus a really interesting video on the restoration of Alfred East's Sunlit Haven ... worth a trip in, just for that) ...

The 2013 Open closes on the 18th
The Public's Choice is open til 1st June

Friends Kagam AGM 18th April 2013

This year's AGM took place at the Alfred East Gallery on April 18th.

Arrangement were put together under a certain amount of pressure: our speaker had to decline due to ill health ... and then our President Philip Hollobone MP was unable to chair the meeting due to Parliamentary business being rescheduled due to the funeral of Baroness Thatcher.

As it turned out, the business phase took up sufficient time that Phil's 'Yearbook' slideshow had to shown in a much truncated form.

In Philip Hollobone's absence, Richard Makins took the chair, and reviews of the yewar's business were presented by Committee Chairman John Wilson and Secretary Barbara Lewis.   We enjoyed a mixture of media, the Membership debate being moderated by flip chart, the website and social media by slide projections ...

... and the activities review by a display board presentation ...

The main business of the day concerned the financial report which indicated that we had kept within our means other than in funding the year's main project, the new sign boards for the art Gallery ... 

... and the invitation from the Treasurer, who was unable to attend, that we put up the subscription.   a heated debate was unable to resolve for sure when the new subscription fee would apply, so fees for the 2013/14 season remain unchanged pending further considerations and clarifications from the Committee.

The intention is to put the fees up modestly, but the new rate now looks likely to apply from April 2014 - there will be plenty of time to clarify this before it takes effect.

Everyone was thanked for their input and attention was drawn to the range of events celebrating alfred east's centenary.