Private View 14 March

 It was wonderful to attend the Private View celebrating the opening of two exhibitions, Seriously... and A Very British Art Revolution, at Museum and Art Swindon on 14 March. The Friend's exhibition called Seriously... runs from 25 February until 13 September is something I am very proud to say I have been involved in helping put together, along with other members of the Friends. Friends who curated the exhibition will be giving a talk on the exhibition at 7.30pm on 24 April. The other exhibition, A Very British Art Revolution runs from 11 March until 5 July, it was curated by Katie Ackrill and Kirsty Hartsiotis, and is a great exhibition of works from the Swindon Collection, with a focus on the first decade of the twentieth century.

I took a few photographs of the event and have also used some photos taken by Claire Parsons and will indicate when this is the case, although it's fairly obvious.

We started downstairs at the Civic Offices with drinks provided by the Friends and served by them as well. After a bit of mingling and drinking, there were speeches, starting with Kirsty Hartsiotis, Collections and Exhibitions Officer seen above.

Next we heard from Andrew Cross, Chair of the Friends about how pleased he was with both exhibitions. Below you can see there was a quick shot of the audience. I'm not sure howmany attended, but it seemed pleasantly full.

Finally Frances Yeo, Museums Manager talked about how pleased she was with the turnout and the exhibitions.

We then went upstairs and looked at the two exhibitions and chatted. I took a few more photos

It was lovely to see so many people enjoying the exhibitions and chatting to each other

You will recognise some people. It was lovely to see Barbara Swann, who was Deputy Chair and writer of the newsletter, among other things had travelled from Swansea to be at the PV.

The following photos are much less 'point and see what you get', and are by courtesy of Claire Parson,  one of the curators of the Seriously... exhibition and part of an unlocking collections team and also member of the Friend's committee.

Above setting the scene

Below Barbara looking at the Robert Priseman's.

and below, Jeremy Lune appreciating a painting.

So there we are, a great evening celebrating lots of the Swindon Collection being on display for the first time in 5 years.