Events and activities for everyone
A varied programme of events for adults and children, including talks and workshops, accompanies the temporary exhibitions and permanent displays in the Art Gallery & Museum.
Onsite events include gallery tours and artists’ talks which provide visitors with opportunities to engage with the collection and temporary exhibitions.
Most events are free, but there may be a small charge for some, e.g. art workshops.
The Art Gallery & Museum is particularly interested in working with young people and groups which have been identified as under-represented in its existing audience.
Booking - you are advised to pre-book for all events at the Art Gallery & Museum. Please visit the Art Gallery Reception Desk or telephone 01926 742700 for further details.
Visit our Toys & Games and Victorian Leamington websites!
Forthcoming Events:
Art Cart Family Fun
Last Saturday of each month, 1 – 3pm
Join us for family art sessions in the galleries using our mobile Art Cart. Take part in a different activity every month. FREE, drop in and join in.
Suitable for children up to 12 years. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Saturday 4 October, 11am – 4pm
Would you like to make your own cinematic masterpiece? With the help of a professional film maker, you’ll learn how to make a short film which will be screened as part of our Thursday Flickers programme.
£3 per person
Advance booking only, places are limited
Please call 01926 742700
NOW SHOWING ARTIST TALK
Thursday 9 October, 7 – 8pm
Idris Khan creates multi-layered artworks which explore the beauty of repetition and the anxieties of authorship. He will discuss his work and show his latest film.
FREE, no need to book
NEW DISPLAYS
Opening of new the new art gallery displays, Saturday 11 October
Areas of the art gallery will be roped off from 1 - 10 October
It’s out with the old and in with the new as we re-hang our main art gallery space. We aim to do this every two years to ensure the public have the chance to see a wide range of artworks and objects from the Art Gallery & Museum’s extensive collection.
THE BIG DRAW
Saturday 11 October, 12noon – 3pm
Be inspired by the new displays in the art gallery. Explore your drawing skills and try out new techniques. Materials will be provided.
FREE, drop in and join in
Suitable for all ages
Children must be accompanied by an adult
HALF TERM ART CLUB
Thursday 30 October, 2 – 4pm
Create a short comic strip based on your own stories and bring your adventures to life!
FREE, drop in and join in
Sessions last 20 minutes, final entry 3.40pm
Suitable for ages 6 - 12 years
Children must be accompanied by an adult
IN CONVERSATION WITH MARY RILEY
Thursday 27 November, 6 – 7pm
Mary Riley will discuss her work and the current exhibition, Distillations, with artist Simon Lewty. This event is part of the Visual Arts & Crafts programme funded by local authorities in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire.
£3 per person
Advance booking only, places are limited
Please call 01926 742700
LANDSCAPE WORKSHOP
Saturday 6 December, 10am – 4pm
Join artist Mary Riley to sketch on location. Participants will be encouraged to experiment using a wide range of materials and explore new ways to record their experiences. This event is part of the Visual Arts & Crafts programme funded by local authorities in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire.
£20 per person
Advance booking only, places are limited
Please call 01926 742700
MINI PAINTINGS
Saturday 22 November, 1 – 4pm
Build up layers of paint and make marks with charcoal and chalk to create small and energetic paintings.
£3 per person
Advance booking only, places are limited
Suitable for ages 8 – 12 years
SANTA’S GROTTO
Saturday 13 December 12noon – 3pm
Celebrate Christmas at the Royal Pump Rooms. Meet Santa, listen to carol singing and take part in Christmas craft workshops. This event is supported by St. Paul’s Church, Leamington Spa.
FREE, drop in and join in
Suitable for children up to 12 years
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Friday Focus
Every Friday, 1pm
Lunch time will never be the same again!
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum is hosting informal ten minute lunch time talks for everybody who is interested in art, culture and local history.
A new programme of talks for July, August and September 2008 has now been announced. Highlights will include an introduction to the Art Gallery & Museum’s summer exhibition ‘Clocking On: Working Life in the 20th Century’ by social history curator Victoria Slade; an opportunity to find out about the range of conservation techniques used to preserve the Art Gallery & Museums collections; and a talk about the artist L.S Lowry which will include a unique opportunity to view the back of the double sided painting The Mission Room, painted by Lowry in 1937.
You can drop in for a Friday Focus on Fridays at 1pm. All talks are free and no reservations are needed. For further information and a programme please call Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum on 01926 742700.
October Programme
- 03/10/08 Harry Watkin will explore political and artistic issues surrounding the rebuild of Coventry Cathedral (1940 - 1962).
- 10/10/08 Senior Curator, Chloe Johnson will introduce the new art gallery displays which will be officially opened on Saturday 11 October. The re-hang of the main art gallery space takes place every 2 years to ensure that the public has the chance to see a wide range of artworks and objects from our extensive collections.
- 17/10/08 The Chairman of Warwick District Council, Councillor Mrs Judy Falp will introduce her favourite painting from our collection, Where Children Play and Seagulls Fly, by Dorothea Sharp (1874-1955). This talk is part of our Collection Connection programme and will be co-presented by Tammy Woodrow.
- 24/10/08 ‘A Visit From The Doctor – part 2: Women In The Medical Profession’
A talk by Rozi Smith exploring the medical profession in the 19th century.
- 31/10/08 Jonathan Treadwell will talk about Miss Lucie Brown, a portrait by the English painter John Aldridge (1905-1983).
November Programme
- 07/11/08 Jeff Watkin, Heritage & Arts Manager for Warwick District Council and author of the book, Royal Leamington Spa Revisited, will talk in depth about his pictorial history of Leamington Spa.
- 14/11/08 Sir John Egan, Chief Executive of Jaguar Cars and the British Airports Authority during the 1980s and 1990s, will introduce his favourite piece from the Art Gallery & Museum collections. This talk is part of our Collection Connection programme and will be co-presented by Tammy Woodrow.
- 21/11/08 Vicki Slade, Curatorial Officer, will elaborate on the history of Hall & Son, the famous tailor shop which served the residents of Leamington Spa during the 19th and 20th century.
- 28/11/08 Roz Crampton, Head Gallery Assistant, will discuss the life and work of painter Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959). His oil painting, Cookham Rise, is currently on display in the main gallery.
December Programme
- 05/12/08 Dutch van Spall is project manager of the recently opened music venue, The Assembly (www.leamingtonassembly.com). This concert hall is housed in the former Bingo Hall in Spencer Street, Leamington Spa. Dutch will talk about his favourite item from our collection. This talk is part of our Collection Connection programme and will be co-presented by Tammy Woodrow.
- 12/12/08 Suminder Sahota will introduce the oil painting, Chicken Boy, by Gilbert Spencer (1892-1979). This painting was recently featured in the best selling book, 1,001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die, by Professor Steven Farthing.
- 19/12/08 ‘A Town of Magnificent Distances’. Robin Stott, our local historian, will talk about vistas, views and spaciousness in historic Leamington Spa.
Friday Focus Christmas break. The programme will re-start on Friday 16 January 2009.
Thursday Flickers
Thursday Flickers is an exciting weekly film and video event at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum. The screenings provide a platform for film & video makers to showcase their innovative media work to a wider audience.
The new programme includes work from video artists, short-film makers, animators, motion-graphic designers, VJs, and artists using video installations.
During and after the viewings there will be the possibility for the public to ask questions and to discuss the screened work.
Join us Thursday nights from 6.30 to 7.30pm. Free admission.
If you would like the opportunity to show your work contact Tammy Woodrow on 01926 742700 or email prooms@warwickdc.gov.uk.
September Programme
- 25/09/08 Alan Van Wijgerden, avant-garde film and documentary maker, will present an hour long compilation of his work. Alan who currently works as an electronics technician at the University of Warwick, is interested in dreams, 1960s films and theatre and is influenced by the work of directors Lindsay Anderson and Tony Richardson. Alan also approaches the subject of disability in his films.
October Programme
- 02/10/08 Birmingham based painter Graham Kershaw will talk about his new project; a demonstration of self-portrait animation which will be the pre-cursor to a new venture into video-installation, involving animations of portraits set to the words of the regions celebrated poets. Visit www.kershaw-portraits.co.uk for more information. The Birdwatcher by Ross Phillips. Ross has recently graduated from the Animation and Design Course at Sunderland University. Visit vimeo.com/milkteethtv to see more of his work. Foreign Bodies by Carola Klein. Carola is a documentary film maker based in Birmingham, whose films deal with spiritual and ethical issues. Her films from the 1970s and 80s include Girl Zone and Mirror Phase.
- 09/10/08 A screening of short films which were made during the LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! workshop for young people at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum. The workshop leader, digital artist Trevor Woolery (www.trevorwoolery.com), will be present to answer any questions.
- 16/10/08 Emma Jane o’Brien, a Coventry based artist who has recently started her own gallery, will show her latest animation. Visit www.softsculpture.co.uk to find out about her diverse work. Now Showing: New film and video from the Arts Council Collection, 17 September – 2 November. Now Showing will feature a different projection each week for six weeks. By returning to view work by different artists, visitors can gain a compelling insight into current practice in the medium of film and video. Idris Khan, whose film, A Memory… After Bach’s Cello Suites, 2006, features in the exhibition, will discuss his work and film tonight at 7pm.
- 23/10/08 Fabrice Millet, Birmingham based French filmmaker and lecturer, will screen his work and talk about it. He uses video in installations and is interested in the relationships between mental health, human rights and processes of dehumanization. Fabrice has mixed documentary with non-narrative film for this particular video piece that consists of 2 loops with different running times. See www.louterproductions.com for all the details.
- 30/10/08 Cowgirl and The Heroic Outdoors by Jenny Schofield, a Derby based artist. Both films were part of a gallery installation. Jenny will be present to talk about crossing new frontiers, female culture and other projects she is working on.
Appeal for working life memories
As part of research into working life in Warwick District during the 20th Century, Vicki Slade, Curatorial Officer at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, is looking for people who would like to share their memories of working in the region.
Vicki would like to speak to anyone who worked in Warwick District, but particularly those who worked at Ford, Flavels/Rangemaster and Potterton. She has already spoken to several people who have described how working practices changed during the 20th Century and have recalled social activities provided by companies.
The research is being undertaken in preparation for Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum’s summer exhibition, ‘Clocking On: Working Life in the 20th Century.’ During the last Century social reform and the impact of the two World Wars radically influenced what it was like to work in Britain. The minimum wage was introduced, women joined the workforce in greater numbers than ever before and working hours were reduced. This exhibition will explore the impact of these changes on working life in Warwick District.
The recorded memories will form part of the interpretation for the exhibition and will be added to the Art Gallery & Museum’s collection as a permanent record of working life in Warwick District during the 20th Century.
Vicki is very keen to talk with as many people as she can over the next few weeks, so if you are interested in adding your memories, please contact the Art Gallery & Museum on 01926 742700.
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