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.


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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.

Carolyn Bushell - Poets, Poseurs and Paraphernalia

Just closed at Oakapple Studios, Mears Ashby, Carolyn Bushell showed a collection of musically inspired pictures great and small, which drew a lot of enthusiast attention ...

I particularly enjoyed being reminded of the strident imagery of Punk and the Sex Pistols ...

... and I bought several greetings card reproduction of Carolyn's iconic portrait of a mature but ever striking David Bowie.  All very subtle and skillfully created original works.

Keep an eye out for Carolyn's next exhibition.  

(all rights reserved)

'Kettering High School' at the Museum 30 March - 8 June 2013

Barb showed me round the Kettering High School exhibition at the Manor House Museum the other day

It is 100 years since the High School opened at what are now the Council Offices on Bowling Green Road.   Many of you won't need me to tell you that ...

This is clearly an exhibition that will mean a lot to generations of local families and indeed people were trying to spot old friends and family members in some of the period photos on show whilst we browsed.

A big thumbs up to the exhibition team who have done a great job presenting the stories and memorabilia in an interesting and arresting way - I'm a more recent arrival, but even I was fascinated to see Kettering in days gone and the council offices in their former guise.

Definitely worth a visit as when you are at the Heritage end of the town centre ... and if you are a former student, there is a display by the Old Girls association which might interest you - maybe give you a chance to renew long lost friendships ...

Entry is free, as always, and the exhibition runs for a couple of months ...

Arthur Bell: a Friends talk at the Alfred East Gallery

(some of the collected work of Arthur Bell illustrating the Friends Kagam talk)

On Thursday evening, David Boswell presented a fascinating and well illustrated appreciation of the work of Kettering-born artist Arthur Bell (1897-1995) ...

Arthur Bell was born in Kettering and originally studied in the town before attending Bournemouth School of Art after the Great War.    He subsequently had a long and well respected teaching career, first in the South West, then moving to Gloucestershire and the Cheltenham Colleges. 

(Arthur Bell: wartime drawing)

There are a number of Bell's works on the BBC yourpaintings resource   

Arthur Bell was elected an associate of the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol (RWA) in 1935 and exhibited regularly there until 1994.   He specialised in etching and watercolour and had work selected on a number of occasions for the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition.

(Arthur Bell: illustrations)

The talk was illustrated both with slides and a large number of items and illustrated booklets for people to browse and gave an engaging impression of the life and work of one of Kettering's less well-known artists.   

A great contribution to the life of the Alfred East Gallery courtesy of the Friends.

(Arthur Bell: Tuscan watercolour)

Gilty Pleasures opens at AEG

Friday evening saw the opening of the first art show of the New Year ... Gilty Pleasures - a bigger and better version of last year's triumphant Hidden Treasures salon hang.

The largest display of the Alfred East Gallery's Permanent Collection.

The new exhibition embraces all the galleries and displays nearly 400 works from the collection, celebrating diversity in a kaleidoscope of art spreading over every wall.

(John Wilson contributes a few words on behalf of the Friends of the Gallery)

This is an ideal occasion - hopefully annual, now - to get an impression of what is in the town's extensive collection ... so, especially if you missed Hidden Treasures, make sure you call in and have a look around.  Entry is free, and you may well feel you want to come again, there is so much to take in.

Friday's preview was warmly introduced by Gallery Officer, Katie Boyce, Deputy Mayor, Keli Watts, and Chairman of the Friends, John Wilson.   2013 is a big year for Kettering's Alfred East Gallery ...  marking the centenaries both of the opening of the Gallery and the passing of Sir Alfred East whose great idea the project was.

Another first, the opening saw the launch of the first comprehensive guide to the collection - currently available in a limited edition anniversary cover.  192 fully illustrated pages including catalogue details with biographical essays covering the major artists at the heart of the collection and the story of the gallery and exhibits.

 
Collecting so much knowledge in such an accessible single volume format is a great achievement made possible both by generous support from the Friends, KDAS, Alfred East's family as well and the editorial effort of the Gallery Officer and her team.


Gilty Pleasures runs until March 16th and is the first of a high profile series of exhibitions and events celebrating this anniversary year.   It got a very warm reception and has got the year off to great start.

It really is a show not to miss.

(opening night at Gilty Pleasures)