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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, 27 February 2012

Visit to the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre on Friday 24th February at 2pm

About 10 members of the Friends gathered at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre last Friday to have an informative guided tour.
What an amazing place it is; situated five minutes walk from the station in Chippenham, the History Centre is a gem.
It's literally a fabulous building, it cost 11 million to build, the same amount as our Central Library in Swindon has state of the art facilities, whether you are interested in researching family history, finding out more about the local area having relics analysed, or reading an old back copy of the Wilts and Herald Gazette.
Here's the notice board outside.
A close up of a Sarsen stone and a photo showing it in the context of the outside of the building.
We were given a very interesting insight into how old books and paper are restored, the oldest we saw was from the 14th Century. The artefact photographed above is a delightful seal, part of which was missing and has now been added very sympathetically.

And here below, photographed through
venetian blinds is the Highworth pot.
Above is an attempt at a photo of the etched horse that appears on every window on the outside of the building.
 And finally on the way back to the station, I took a photograph of the tree in the middle of the main road. Traffic passes on either side of the tree, that's not very clear from the photo, I needed to get two cars going in opposite directions.
 If you missed this trip, have a look on the website below to find out more, and treat yourself to a short trip on the train to get there.
www.wshc.eu

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

The Up to Date Programme of Talks and Trips for Spring 2012

The flyer Paul produced is wonderfully illustrated. I have cut and pasted it to put it here and 'lost' the pictures.
Friends of Swindon Museum & Art Gallery
Talks & Trips Spring 2012

24th February - 2.00pm
Visit to Wiltshire and Swindon
History Centre

There will be a talk, probably by Mike Marshman with a
guided tour of the centre’s resources, public search
rooms, the library area, the archeological department,
the old buildings record and a chance to see behind the
scenes.
Maximum numbers = 20.
Please let Paul know if you want to come on the trip. *

30th March 7.30 pm
‘Parliament’s Pictures:
an insider’s guide to the
Parliamentary Art Collection’


by Edward Hodges Baily
A talk by Melanie Unwin, Deputy Curator Palace of
Westminster Collection will talk about one of the largest
collections of publicly owned art in the United Kingdom
with items that have been acquired at all stages of
Parliament’s existence. She will take you on a tour of
Parliament’s works of art, which includes historic and
contemporary paintings, sculpture, works on paper,
textiles and 3-D objects, and give an insight to its care
and management’.

30th April - 2.30 - 3.30 pm
A walk round the gallery
with Denys Hodson
Following his talk in November Denys Hodson, who was responsible
for many of the purchases of work in the Swindon Collection will
walk round the new exhibition -'They Take Art Seriously in Swindon'
and talk about some of the individual paintings in much greater
detail than time allowed during his previous talk. This is the
exhibition that was hung for the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit.
Maximum numbers = 20.
Please let Paul know if you would like to come. *

April 27th 7.30pm
Women in the GWR Works,
A talk by Rosa Mathieson
on the part played by women
in the GWR works, especially during wartime. This is
the subject of her latest book and is a follow up to the
very popular talk she gave to the Friends on Swindon
Trip week.

May 25th 7.30pm
Conservation of the Highworth
Pot.

Beth Werrett will talk about her work at the Wiltshire
and Swindon History Centre on the conservation of the
Highworth Pot, which will be on display in the Museum
by May, and on the history of the pot with details of its
original usage, its recent discovery in Highworth and the
results of the analysis of the residue paid for by the
Friends.

May 31st - 10.00 am
Visit to Kelmscott Manor

Kelmscott Manor, a grade 1 listed farmhouse adjacent to
the River Thames, built around 1600. William Morris
chose it as his summer home, signing a joint lease with
the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the
summer of 1871. The house - perhaps the most evocative
of all the houses associated with Morris - contains an
outstanding collection of the possessions and works of
Morris, his family and associates (Benson, Burne-Jones,
Rossetti and Webb amongst them), including furniture,
original textiles, pictures, carpets, ceramics and metalwork.
We need to arrive at 10am, hopefully we can car share. We will gather at the local pub for lunch after the visit to Kelmscott Manor. The cost will be £10.50, please ring or email Paul if you would like to come on the trip. *

*To contact Paul by phone ring: 01672539688
or email him at: paul.unhinged@macunlimited.net or PRicketts@swindon.gov.uk
Phone the museum on 01793 466556 for info on tickets and access.
Tickets for talks will be available from the beginning of March.
Tickets from Swindon Museum and Art Gallery cost £4.50 (£3.50 for members of the Friends)
Note: There is a discount of 50p per ticket for buying three or more tickets either for the season or for a single talk.

Monday, 30 January 2012

Excitement at the Gallery last Week, and Friends talks and visits Update


 The Duchess of Cornwall opened the new exhibition in the Gallery last Wednesday with a flurry of gorgeous brochures, the title and first pages are reproduced above. If you go to the Gallery soon, Weds-Sat 10am-5pm, you may be able to purchase a copy.
Also the Friends have got their talks and visits for the next few months sorted out, here they are:
Talks and Visits

24th February Visit to Wiltshire and Swindon History  Centre 2pm
There will be a talk ,possibly by Mike Marshman who runs the centre.
Maximum numbers = 20.
Please let Paul know if you would like to come on the trip.

Talk by Denys Hodson Date to be arranged on selected paintings in the new exhibition -'They Take Art Seriously in Swindon'

30th March Talk by Melanie Unwin, Deputy Curator Palace of Westminster Collection 7.30pm  in the Art Gallery. Melanie will talk about ‘Parliament’s Pictures – and insider’s guide to the Parliamentary Art Collection’. 

She will take you on a tour of Parliament’s works of art, which includes historic and contemporary paintings, sculpture, works on paper, textiles and 3-D objects, and give an insight to its care and management’.

April 27th
  A Talk by Rosa Mathieson will about Women in the GWR Works, 7.30pm in the Art Gallery.
This is the subject of her latest book.

 April 30th 2.20-3.30pm A Walk round the Gallery with Denys Hodson

May 25th A Talk by Beth Werrett on Conservation of the Highworth Pot.
7.30pm in the Art Gallery
Beth will talk about the analysis of the residue paid for by the Friends.

May 31st
Visit to Kelmscott Manor
We need to arrive at 10am, hopefully we can car share.  We will gather at  the  local pub for lunch after the visit to Kelmscott Manor. The cost will be £10.50, please ring or email Paul if you would like to come on the trip.

To contact Paul by phone ring:  01672539688 or emailing him at: paul.unhinged@macunlimited.net or PRicketts@swindon.gov.uk
Phone the museum on 01793 466556 for info on tickets and access.

Tickets from Swindon Museum and Art Gallery cost £4.50 (£3.50 for members of the Friends)
Note: discounts for buying three or more tickets either for the season or for a single talk.




Tuesday, 22 November 2011

TALK on FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER at 7.30

This Friday the talk series continues with a visit from Simon McKeown, keeper of antique books at Marlborough College.  He is going to talk about the amazing collection of Bibles owned by the college and even bring along some of the collection for us to look at.


COME ALONG FOR A GREAT TALK, GOOD COMPANY and FREE GLASS OF WINE. 

Saturday, 5 November 2011

Denys Hodson Talk was Enjoyed by All last night

If you were there, you'll know what I mean, if you did not attend, you missed out on a fascinating insight into Swindon's history and the gathering of some fine 20th Century paintings.
I have mentioned some of the ones Denys talked about in my Open Studios blog:
www.swindonopenstudios2011.blogspot.com
but he also said the small L.S. Lowry on display at the moment is one of his finest pictures, and also recounted how the Lucien Freud was purchased.
I resisted the temptation to ask Denys to talk about each painting in the exhibition, but maybe we can ask him to return and talk about some of the others as we are looking at them.
 Denys in the centre of the photograph.
 Waiting to begin.
Pam and Judith to one side of the Maggie Hambling painting

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Friends Talk this Friday 4th November by Denys Hodson on the current 'Builder's Choice ' exhibition.

This talk will be held at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery on Bath Road at 7.30pm, £3.50 for Friends and £4.50 for non members.
This promises to be an excellent evening.
Here is a list of paintings in the exhibition:
Julian Trevelyan  The Potteries
L.S. Lowry   Winter in Pendlebury
Augustus John   W.B. Yeats
Sir George Clausen  The Reapers
Lucian Freud   Girl with Fig Leaf
Gwen John   Portrait of a Lady
Leonard McComb  Elizabeth Cooper in her wedding dress
Raymond Mason  Ginette Neveu
Walter Richard Sickert Study for Vernet's. Dieppe
Sir William Rothenstein Barn at Far Oakridge
Mark Lancaster   Cambridge, July 1969
Lisa Milroy   Small Objects
Richard Hamilton  Interior Study (a)
Richard Long   Two Walks
Tom Phillips   Play: Here We Exemplify
Richard Smith   Once
Gillian Ayres   Florestan
Vanessa Bell   Nude with Poppies
John Skeaping   Study (Roe Deer)
Kenneth Martin   The Bed
Duncan Grant   Standing Woman
Ben Nicholson   Composition in Black and White
Michael Ayrton   Roman Window
Maggie Hambling  Descent of the Bull's Head
John Bellany   Self Portrait with Julia
Edward Wadsworth  Bright Intervals
Terry Frost   Grey Red and Black Verticals
Howard Hodgkin  Gramophone
William Turnbull  Mask
David Bomberg   The South-East Corner, Jerusalem
Ivon Hitchens   Spring in Eden
Henry Moore   Three Women and a Child
Cecil Collins   The Sibyl
Graham Sutherland  Landscape with rocks
Stephen Tomlin  Virginia Woolf
Christopher Le Brun  Hyperion
Leon Kossoff   Booking Hall No.6
William Roberts  Study for 'Bank Holiday in the Park'
Hubert Cook   Electric Welder
Jack Smith   Night Sky

Thursday, 13 October 2011

FREE TALK Friday 14th October

PRESS RELEASE. 13 October 2011
The Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery present

FREE TALK
Friday 14th October 7.30 pm.  


THE WILTSHIRE HERITAGE MUSEUM
A talk by David Dawson, director of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes, on the museum, which houses the best Bronze Age archeology collection in the UK, as well as many Neolithic finds associated with Avebury and Stonehenge, more recent history and an extensive natural history collection. The talk will also cover items that have been found in the Swindon area that are kept in Devizes; and will look at the funding model that allows the Wiltshire Heritage Museum to exist as an independent museum.

Friday 14th October After the talk
FRIENDS OF SWINDON MUSEUM & ART GALLERY AGM
There will be a break for refreshments followed by the Swindon Museum Friends’ AGM, giving plenty of time to have a drink and then shoot off. However people can stay for the AGM at little risk as we already have enough people to sit on the committee and they won’t be strong armed into doing work. However this is the best opportunity for member of the Friends and for non-members to have their say about the activities of the Friends and about how they would like to see the Museum develop.

FRIENDS OF SWINDON MUSEUM & ART GALLERY BLOG
There is also now a Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery blogspot, which currently only contains this press release, but which will soon be much more informative. It can be found at:
http://www.FriendsofSMAG.blogspot.com

-ENDS-


Notes to Editors:

∑ Venue info:
Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, Bath Road, Old Town, Swindon, Wilts SN1 4BA. Tel. 01793 466556.

General Admission: Free. Opening hours: Mon – Sat 10am – 5pm. Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays. Museum and art gallery on several floors, please contact for access details.

Phone the museum on 01793 466556 for info on access.

For further information please contact the museum on 01793 466556
or Paul Ricketts, Friends of Swindon Museum & Art Gallery chairman.
Tel: 01672 39688 E-mail: paul.unhinged@macunlimited.net