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.

'Seriously ...' FMAS Choices and the Process

 I am really pleased to let you know about an exhibition opening on Tuesday 25 February, of works chosen by members of the Friends of Museum and Art Swindon which will be displayed in the small gallery where an exhibition of Wessex Landscapes was shown alongside the Hardy exhibition. Those involved will be giving a talk to the Friends on Thursday 24 April so I don't want to give away too much of the process by which items were selected, or talk too much about the works selected because it will be good for most of it to be a surprise. 

The first call outs via email went out to the Friends in August 2024 asking for volunteers to get involved in selecting artworks and ceramics from the collection. There were six of us initially involved and then this whittled down to a regular three of us meeting Katie Ackrill, Collections and Exhibitions Officer to suggest works and then vote on them. This was a fascinating process which went on seemingly for weeks as we kept meeting and trying to reach a consensus and respect differences in taste without getting too personal. We learnt a lot about the collections and to appreciate works we had never really looked at properly. 

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited by Katie for a day to help hang the exhibition, what a fabulous opportunity! Naturally I took a few photos to remind us of the day and share with others. I'll start with a serious shot of three of the main selectors: from the left Miles Franklin, Claire Parsons and me, Linda Kasmaty. Although Claire was wearing a gorgeous red coat, we decided that black and white looked good.

                 

I'll now add a few of the hanging day photos:

Some paintings had the correct fixings for the hanging system, others didn't

Some of you will recognise Andrew Cross Chair of the Friends who joined us to help on the day

In the background you'll see John Wood, Collections and Exhibitions Manager, as well as Katie Ackrill

It was a real treat to be able to see the reverse side of paintings

Miles and Andrew in action

and looking at 'Monument'

This is the reverse side of the Bomberg

above more fitting fixing

Above one of my favourite ceramic pieces some of you may remember on display at Apsley House. It is made by Laurance Simon and one of 50 ceramics gifted by Mark Golder and Brian Thomson in 2015 in memory of Ron Sloman . There was much discussion about this piece.

It takes four people to hang a painting!!

Appreciating the work once it's on the wall

'Jerusalem' by David Bomberg was chosen by John Walsh, a long standing member of the Friends who played a large role in the committee at one time. The frame was really heavy.

We also described, said what we liked about 3 works on another day. Katie will edit what we have said down to 5minutes I think and it will appear on Bloomberg Connects. Also look out for descriptions of works by those who chose them which will appear beside the works, possibly.

More on this exhibition in the next blog post.