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| HISTORY
- ONE |
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story begins in 1945 with the launch of a summer art exhibition
by Southwold and District Art Group in the old Drill Hall. (This was
later to become the Conservative Hall) Subsequently the exhibition
moved to the large ground-floor room at the Homestead on South Green.
This building had originally been a shop. Today it has been converted
into apartments. In 1961, the exhibition moved back to the Drill Hall.
In 1966, the activities of the Art Group, including
the exhbitions, were taken over by the Southwold Art Circle which
had been founded in 1960. The Summer Exhibition which the newly
combined society held that year was the first of an unbroken line
stretching to the present day.
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| Minutes
of the founding meeting of the Art Circle on Feb 3 1960.
"A general meeting was
held at Mrs Bourne's house on Wednesday Feb 3rd 1960. It was
agreed that an Art Circle should be formed.
Mrs Bourne was made President,
Mrs Kettle, Vice President, Mrs Ratcliffe, Honorary Secretary,
Mrs Teale, registrar, Mrs Newton, treasurer.
Mrs Kettle was put in charge
of working afternoons assisted by Mrs Bourne. It was agreed
that Mrs Bourne should continue her efforts to arrange visits
by artists, and working afternoons under the sponsorship of
the East Suffolk County Education Authority.
These meetings were to be
held in the St. Edmund's Hall Committtee Room from 1.45 to
3.45 each Thursday... the charge to be six shillings for the
course ... It was decided to ask Captain Russell, Mr Benner
and Mr Baldwin as the visiting artists."
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| In
August 1967 the selection committee, as reported in the local
newspaper, comprised Alwin Adcock, Kenneth Cuthbert, Richard
Constable, Guy Nichols and Peggy Somerville. The panel were
each allowed to enter three pictures of their own, free of payment
of the 2/6d entrance fee - a fact which might be expected to
raise a few eyebrows these days. Prices were mainly around 30
guineas with Peggy Somerville's River in Suffolk commanding
a small premium at 35 guineas. |
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1967
Committee pictured with the Mayor and Mayoress,
Mr and Mrs N.C. Field, at the opening of the Art Circle's Summer
Exhibition. |
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| The
Art Circle possesses an archive of documentation, including
committee minutes, exhibition catalogues etc dating back to
1960. To see a full inventory, click here. |
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More
history this way  |
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