Become a Friend of the Swindon Museumand Art Gallery

For only £15 a year, you can become a Friend and receive information about our talks. To become a Friend or find out more about us, go to the website www.friendsofmas.org

Monday, 29 December 2014

The Latest Frameworks Events in Swindon, Bath, Bristol and Cheltenham

Frameworks-Great Art in the West is an Arts Council funded organisation that aims to create links and build audiences in the West of England. It incorporates Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, The Holburne Museum and Victoria Art Gallery in Bath and The Wilson in Cheltenham.
Their latest flyer introduces 4 new exhibitions and a series of talks, it is available at any of the venues and reproduced here.
And last but not least, the contact details:

Sunday, 28 December 2014

A Visit to Sasha Ward's Studio

We are eagerly anticipating Sasha Ward's talk on 26th March at 7.30pm to tell us about her summer at Kelmscott Manor where she was their first Artist in Residence. I missed the talk she gave in Oxford, and fortunately we're getting a second chance to find out about her residency.
 We are thrilled that we have her coming to share with us what it was like to be working in the fabulous location, I want to say 'walking in the footsteps of William Morris', but ought to resist that!
Sasha's blog also gives us an idea of what she has been thinking about at: www.sashaward.co.uk/blog
I snapped away with the camera in the studio where there were some lovely glass pieces against the large windows, some from the residency:


Below the glass cutting table:
 The glass kiln:
Below a test piece showing according to Sasha how easy it can be to make wonderful pieces by using lots of different coloured  stained glass
So make a note of the date in your diary and come along to find out more.
I'll add the poster of the Oxford talk although it's a bit blurry:

Thursday, 18 December 2014

2015 New Talk Series for February - April

Set your new year diaries for the 2015 first series of talks, something for everyone and not to be missed.

Jeremy York lived during difficult and fascinating times in Poland.

Sasha Ward has recentley finished as Artist in Residence at nearby Kelmscott Manor, see her Kelmscott blog to get a taste of her interests while there.  www.sashaward.co.uk/blog

David Cuthbert was a pupil of Cecil Collins, a much loved artist from the Swindon Collection.


Also at SM&AG - exhibitions:

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Swindon In The Great War – One Town’s War

Tuesday 02 September - Saturday 31 January

​A moving exhibition commemorating and bringing to life the stories of Swindon in the Great War.

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Present Tense: Contemporary British Painting & Photography From The Swindon Collection

Wednesday 14 January - Saturday 18 April

​‘Present Tense’ showcases contemporary painting and photography.

And 4 talks and presentations:

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An Introduction to Contemporary British Art

Thursday 29 January at 7pm

​Curator, Sophie Cummings will introduce you to the fascinating contemporary British art in the Swindon Collection.

Monday 2 February 

Artist Lisa Milroy talking 'On the Pleasure of Painting'
                                     

Lunch Time Talk with Sophie Cummings

Thursday 05 March

​Join us for an informal lunchtime tour of our current exhibition.

Lunch Time Talk with Sophie Cummings

Thursday 02 April

​Join us for an informal lunchtime tour of our current exhibition.

Monday, 1 December 2014

Bryn Walters' Talk 28.11.14

Last Friday, 28th November, we were lucky enough to have secured Bryn Walters to talk about the 3 important towns in North Wiltshire, namely Durocornovium- Wanborough, Cunetio - Mildenhall and of arguably lesser importance, Verlucio at Sandy Lane.
Above here's Bryn when we're setting up aided by Tracey White who kindly ensured the projector etc was in good working order, and set up so we got really good images on the screen.
Bryn began by talking about the fact that Lower Wanborough was a real hub in the 2nd Century, he has found Roman wall plaster, mosaic paving, and most of the artefacts in the museum were found there by Bryn. At the same time there were stone quarries at Old Swindon Hill and villas at Swindon.
He touched on the fact that  Silbury Hill at this time was the centre of a water based cult centre that people made pilgrimages to visit. Richard Atkinson found 100 coins thrown into a water feature there.
There was a brilliant turn out for this fascinating talk from the consummate expert on the archaeology of this fascinating area.
When I advertised the talk on Facebook, Barry Leighton kindly sent me this link on the Romans in the area:
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10552743.Friends__Romans__Swindonians/  
 Our next Friends talk will be on February 26th, yes a Thursday, by popular demand, although I know it's not popular with everyone.
The next Museum talk by Sophie Cummings will be this Thursday 4th December at 7pm:
And will feature among others this LS Lowry painting, Winter in Pendelbury which is also the featured pick of the month:
 With a bit of information along with it.
And lastly, don't forget you have until 13th December to see the current exhibition, if you haven't seen it, come along soon.
For details on opening times etc: www.swindon.gov.uk/museumandartgallery

Swindon Remembering 1914-18

Following on from the AGM on the 7th November, we were fortunate enough to have Mike Pringle talk about the First World War. His talk was extremely engaging and down to earth, giving real examples of how people were affected by living through this time, and of course many didn't live through this time, but sadly died.
I sat back and relaxed through the talk as Mike brandished a sword to make a point, and show things on the screen when he showed us slides.
The beautifully illustrated book on WWI is available form Pen and Paper, the museum, and many other places around the town. I would highly recommend it, if you are not in Swindon it's ISBN number is: 987-0-7509-5610-9 and it's published by the History Press
 I went to the book launch and was lucky enough to be given some special chocolate:
The talk finished with what was given to soldiers before they went over the top out of the trenches- a tot of rum. A very nice way to end the talk.
More on Mike Pringle at http://www.greenrook.co.uk/about.html
Also see his exhibition at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery:

Exhibitions at Swindon Museum & Art Gallery
Until Saturday 31 January 2015

Turner – Watercolours from the West and Modern British Landscapes
15th October – 13 December 2014
Swindon Museum & Art Gallery is spread over several floors with no lift facilities. Please contact us with any details of specific access or mobility requirements.
 T: 01793 466559