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Compton Verney
Summer 2014
Canaletto: Celebrating Britain Art from Ammunition: Trench Art from the First World War
Viva Italia! 2 - 28 September 2014 We will be celebrating Italian culture throughout September. Join us for art, music, gallery tours, a special talk series and Italian-inspired food and drink in the Restaurant.
Italian month talks Migrating Con Gusto:
Italian Taste in 18th century Europe 2 September, 3pm Palladio in Britain
9 September, 3pm Canaletto in Britain
16 September, 3pm The Italian Car
23 September, 3pm Price per talk £18, concessions £17, Members £10. Buy all four tickets and get one free.
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Celebrate the desirability and influence of Italian art. There will be ‘Rat Pack’ style music with Me and My Shadow and The Mad Hatters dance troop will teach you how to dance to it. Make a 3D replica of yourself and your family with our craft activities. Join us for Italian Baroque music on the 14th with Cabinet of Curiosities. Included in collections and grounds admission.
Concert and Cream Tea 7 September Italian Aria: a celebration performed by The Rocco Quartet. This concert tells the story of 18th century opera from its early roots in Naples to its flourishing throughout Western Europe. Includes arias written by Vincci, Glück and Mozart. Followed by a delicious cream tea. Tickets: £23.50, concs £22.50 and Members £15.
To book call 01926 645 500
Gaspare van Wittel, Posillipo with the Palazzo Donn'Anna, about 1700-1702
Page 3 News Bites and New Catering Partners
Page 12 Behind-the-Scenes at Compton Verney: Creating a Living Work of Art
Page 4 Canaletto: Celebrating Britain
Page 13 Start a Passion for Art at Compton
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Viva Italia!
Italian Weekend 13 - 14 September
Art from Ammunition: Trench Art from the First World War
Verney Page 14 New Volunteer Co-ordinators
Page 10 Music at Compton Verney; Fundraising Opera a Success
Page 15 A Day in the Life: Alice Kirk, Learning Programmer
Page 11 Tell us what you think: Consultation about Re-Viewing the Landscape
Page 16 Fairport Convention Bunting Boost Page 17 Spreading the Word Cover photo: Start programme participant
News Bites Recent Grants We are incredibly grateful to the following for supporting a range of activities: Arts Connect West Midland Who generously donated £5,000 towards researching and developing an “early years” Forest School. This will enable parents and young children to explore the outdoors together through facilitated activities with our Learning Team and Forest School leader, Vix Curtlin. The Ratcliff Foundation Who recently awarded £2,000 towards our four week-long summer learning programme, ARTspace, with daily drop-in creative activities inspired by our current Moore Rodin exhibition. Arts Council England Which recently awarded us a very generous grant of £123,412 towards installing Wi-Fi throughout our galleries, and improving our gallery environmental with new lighting and air handling units. This project is due to be completed by March 2015, and should have a significant impact on how visitors experience and engage with our collections and exhibitions, as well as our energy efficiency.
Marketing staff prepare giraffes for installation
Giraffe Attack! Visit the Ice House Coppice and meet some new friends. Ten giraffes decorated by staff and local artists are waiting around corners and tucked under the trees. Bring the children or grandchildren and see how many you can find, then enjoy our ARTspace summer activities in the Learning Centre.
Polymath Director Strikes Again Noted architectural historian, expert in the history of gin and now chronicler of the auto, Dr Steven Parissien, Compton Verney’s Director, is publishing a new book entitled The Life of the Automobile. The book is receiving rave reviews such as that from the New York Times: “Parissien takes the reader on a fascinating ride through the topsy-turvy makes, models and marques of yesteryear to explain how we’ve arrived where we are today.”
New Catering Partners Ampersand is delighted to be Compton Verney’s new catering partner. Serving visitors in the café and restaurant, as well as corporate hire and wedding guests, can be challenging in a new setting, but we are committed to getting things right. As one of the UK's leading venue and event caterers, our portfolio of prestigious locations spans museums, stately homes, royal palaces, restaurants and many esteemed establishments in London and across the UK. Why not stop by and try out our summer menu featuring summer garden tagliatelli with fresh baby plum tomatoes, garden peas, pesto and boccaccini, or Thai salmon with cucumber salsa and summer salad?
Visitors enjoying lunch on the terrace
In September, for Italian month, we will have themed specials and a selection of Italian wines. Join us! - Stuart McNeil, Catering Manager
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Canaletto: Celebrating Britain Canaletto: Celebrating Britain
Giovanni Antonio Canal, London: The Old Horse Guards from Saint James’s Park c.1749. The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768), known popularly as Canaletto, is today remembered as one of Italy’s greatest view painters. Born in Venice, he was the son of the painter Bernardo Canal – hence his unintentionally prescient nickname of Canaletto: ‘Little Canal’. Canaletto served his apprenticeship with his father and brother as a theatrical scene painter but, inspired by contemporaries such as the Roman artist Giovanni Pannini, began to paint urban architectural vistas. These works proved – as Pannini’s had done over the previous decades – very popular with rich, aristocratic Grand Tourists from Britain. By the late 1720s Canaletto made much of his money by providing British visitors to Venice (or, conversely, British aristocrats who liked to pretend they had been to Venice) with suitable views of the city and its teeming canals. Thus from his earliest years, Canaletto was very familiar with the tastes and habits of British milordi. Canaletto was happy to stay in Venice for most of his early life. According to his earliest biographer, Antonio Maria Zanetti, he only left his native city once during his formative years, travelling briefly to Rome in 1719-20 to help his father design and make opera stage sets. His next journey further afield was not until 1742, when, with his nephew and pupil Bernardo Bellotto, Canaletto went on an Italian sketching expedition. Having made a number of drawings in Padua and in the town of Dolo, both of 4
which were close to Venice in the Veneto, the pair then proceded to Rome, where Canaletto made sketches for six large architectural scenes for his principal British patron, Joseph Smith – banker, connoisseur, collector and, from 1743, the British Consul in Venice. It was Smith who effectively acted as agent for Canaletto for six years after 1729, and who helped to build the latter’s reputation amongst the British aristocracy. However, after 1742 the flow of British and other wealthy visitors coming to Venice as part of their quasi-cultural Grand Tour began to dry up as the War of the Austrian Succession, which had erupted late in 1740 in the form of an Austro-Prussian struggle over Silesia, spread across Germany. (In June 1743 a pro-Austrian allied army commanded by King George II defeated the French, who had allied with the Prussians, at Dettingen in Bavaria – a battle long celebrated in Britain as the last time a reigning British monarch led troops into battle.) Grand Tourism ceased almost completely during the winter of 17434, when the French began to assemble an invasion armada at Dunkirk, designed to support the landing of a French army in
England supporting the Catholic Jacobite claimant to the English throne, ‘Bonnie Prince’ Charles James Stuart – the ‘Young Pretender’ to the British government and King Charles III to his Jacobite adherents. As the antiquarian George Vertue noted in the mid-1740s, ‘of late few persons travel to Italy from hence during the wars’. In an attempt to revive his fortunes, Canaletto – urged by both his friend, the artist Jacopo Amigoni, and, as we shall see, by his English patron Hugh Smithson – decided to follow his former supply of patronage to its source. In 1746 Vertue noted in his journal that, at the ‘Latter end of May, there came to London from Venice the Famous Painter of Views Cannalletti [sic]’, and that ‘the Multitude of his works done abroad for English noblemen and Gentlemen has procured him great reputation & his great merrit & excellence in that way, he is much esteemed and no doubt but what Views and works He doth here, will give the same satisfaction.’ Canaletto stayed in Britain for almost nine years, returning to Venice just once, for 18 months in 1750-1. Canaletto’s decision to come to Britain was swiftly vindicated. He was as busy in England as he ever was in Venice’, and soon attracted wealthy clients from the City of London and the aristocracy – among them the affluent City merchant Richard Neave, the multitalented writer and minister the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, and the Whig grandee Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, for whom Canaletto painted a large panorama of the Thames and a view of Whitehall in 1747, and who is now perhaps best remembered as the Godfather of English Cricket.
The vast majority of his works were instead specifically designed to celebrate the latest achievements of British architecture and engineering – and, by implication, the impressive accomplishment, success and wealth of the rising British nation. Ironically, given the attention that Canaletto had inevitably paid to the architectural landmarks created by the sixteenth-century Paduan architect Andrea Palladio in Venice, the same artist’s programme in Britain did not centre on the latest ‘Palladian’ architecture – which, as a native of Venice wholly familiar with Palladio’s buildings, he might be expected to do – but an eclectic mix of the very latest British buildings, whether they were couched in a Palladian, Baroque or even Gothick style. The result was a series of astonishing canvases and drawings which celebrated a newly-confident Britain, works whose vigorous and infectious patriotism mirrored emerging nationalistic trends in popular culture during the 1740s – a decade which witnessed the rediscovery and canonisation of William Shakespeare as a British hero; the creation of G F Handel’s Messiah and Thomas Arne’s immortal ‘Rule Britannia’ (written to celebrate the British capture of Porto Bello); and the propagation of the nationalistic cults of King Alfred and, in Bath, of King Bladud. The growing sense of confidence, pride and nationhood in the
What is fascinating about the paintings and drawings which Canaletto executed between 1746 and 1755 was that the Italian master was not just documenting scenes and landmarks of his own or his patrons’ choice in the manner of a traditional painter of views. Compton Verney’s celebrated Canaletto The Grand Walk, Vauxhall Gardens, about 1751 . © Compton Verney
Britain of the late 1740s was perhaps best epitomised by the canvases and prints of William Hogarth. Hogarth’s pugnacious, Eurosceptic philosophy was best revealed in a work which embodied the spirit of the age more forcefully than any other artistic production of the time: his 1749 oil Calais Gate – popularly, and appropriately, known as O The Roast Beef of Old England after the celebrated patriotic ballad whose lyrics had been written by Henry Fielding in 1731 and which had been set to music by Richard Leveridge in 1735. When Canaletto arrived in the land of old English Roast Beef in 1746, Britain was a more stable and assured place than it had been even twenty years before. As a result of the Treaty of Aix of 1748, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, Britain had both held onto its new colonial gains and had succeeded in forcing Spain to open up South America to British traders. Equally importantly, at Aix, the French king Louis XV agreed to drop its support of the Jacobite cause once and for all, and indeed to expel the Jacobite Stuarts and their adherents from his country. The Jacobite threat, much reduced since Culloden, now evaporated almost overnight – a welcome development represented by the figure of the indigent, starving Scots Jacobite in the foreground of Hogarth’s Calais Gate. For the first time since 1688, Britain was no longer dreading the prospect of a French invasion in support of a Catholic claimant to the throne. The outlook for Britain both at home and abroad was more tranquil, indeed, that at any time over the previous two centuries.
Britain was at peace. The economy was booming. And a new, more assured midGeorgian generation, increasingly assured by Britain’s manifest status as a major European and world power, was now prepared to be less timid and more vocal about its opinions and its choices. 6
This new national confidence was, by 1750, becoming increasingly apparent in the fields of architecture and design. The new cohort of patrons and architects was less prepared to be dictated to by Italian precedents, and less regimented by Palladian rules, than their forbears of thirty years before. By 1750 the first generation of Palladian architects and patrons – men like Lord Burlington, Colen Campbell, Rioger Morris and William Kent – were dead, and the nation was ready for a more liberal attitude to architectural design. As a result, from 1750 Britons tended to more eclectic in their architectural patronage. Gothick, Rococo, and even ‘Chinese’ styles proliferated alongside the Palladian classical forms made popular in the 1720s. This, in turn, can be seen in Canaletto’s British views. His paintings were never intended as a manifesto for Palladianism, but included the work of Baroque masters such as Christopher Wren (notably Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral) and recent Gothick commissions such as the rebuilt church of St Mary’s in Warwick and Nicholas Hawksmoor’s soaring west towers at Westminster Abbey – work on which was only completed in 1745, a year before Canaletto’s arrival in London. Perhaps the crucial prerequisite for the majority of Canaletto’s views was that they were intended to showcase buildings which had either just been erected, or which had recently been remodelled or refurbished. The style of the building was irrelevant. Canaletto celebrated new construction or refurbishment that had taken place both at great Palladian piles such as Badminton House, where William Kent was employed in 1745-8; at Baroque confections such as Greenwich Hospital, completed in 1742 by the Comptroller of the Royal Works and Surveyor of Greenwich Hospital, Thomas Ripley; at medieval monuments such as Eton College, whose library had been completed in 1729 by Thomas Rowland; and at Gothic seats such as Northumberland House and Warwick Castle, both of which were substantially remodelled in the 1740s.
Britain was the ferment of activity, the eclectic building boom which was a very tangible expression of Britain’s wealth, optimism and economic potential, and which marked the nation out as the modern equivalent of the golden-age Venetian Republic, which was the real subject of Canaletto’s British views. Moreover, almost every British view created by Canaletto focused on a new piece of architecture or a recent (or possibly impending) urban development. Breathtaking panoramas of the River Thames were intended a tribute to the post-Fire City of London, glorying in the forest of Wren church towers and, sailing above the rooftops, Wren’s majestic St Paul’s Cathedral – completed as recently as 1714. And although Canaletto painted London in exhaustive attention to detail, he could always see the wood for the trees, and ensured that the magnificence, wealth and scale of the capital were evident in almost every canvas.
Canaletto cast London as the new Venice: of Canaletto’s 48 English views, 35 featured London subjects. Canaletto was particularly fascinated by the capital’s contemporary triumphs of engineering – notably the new bridge at Westminster, constructed to the design of Swiss architect Charles Labelye and completed in 1750. Westminster Bridge was not only one of the major European engineering feats of the age; it also guaranteed the future development of London as a great world port and vastly improved communications within the city. It was thus an ideal symbol for the aspiring painter of London’s expansion and development. Dr Steven Parissien Canaletto: Celebrating Britain is staged between 14 March and 7 June 2015. It will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated book by Paul Holberton. Canaletto’s The Interior of the Rotunda, Ranelagh, 1754 © Compton Verney
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© John Cleary photography
Art from Ammunition: Trench Art from the First World War When the First World War began in Europe in the summer of 1914, the Arts and Crafts movement and the Art Nouveau style were the height of fashion.
Particularly striking is the length of time it would have taken to create these objects, many of which have place names, dates and other details painstakingly etched onto them.
The armies that faced each other on the Western Front included all kinds of craftsmen and collectors from across the world. Almost immediately, souvenirs were created and distributed, as soldiers and civilians on both sides began to make objects as a way of recording and dealing with their experiences.
Trench Art continues a tradition of creating wartime souvenirs that dates back to the early eighteenth century and which continues to this day. The pieces exhibited often reflect the very personal stories of individuals behind the experience of modern warfare.
As the fighting continued over the next four years, and more countries became involved in the war, a huge variety of Folk Art objects were made on an unprecedented scale, which soon became known as ‘Trench Art’. The industrialized nature of the first truly global war meant that ammunition was used on a scale never previously seen; this in turn provided the raw materials needed to create an extraordinary array of trench art. This exhibition displays the wide variety of objects created during the First World War by soldiers, prisoners of war, civilian internees and refugees. The objects here come from over 25 of the countries directly involved in the war, and most are by unknown artists. 8
Below: matchbox cover depicting hands clasped across the sea with the legend ‘Made from the lifeboat of SS Arranmore, Glasgow, torpedoed 21st March 1916’ on the reverse
Left: Shellcase decorated with an image of injured soldiers returning to Blighty; Above: Beadwork by Turkish Prisoner of War ©James Gordon-Cumming; Below: Photo frame carved from section of a propeller ©James Gordon-Cumming
Related events in our public programme: 11 September and 9 October Talk, Tour and Tea Director Dr Steven Parissien in conversation with private collector James Gordon-Cumming about his vast collection of Trench Art. 29 November Memorabilia Roadshow Bring photographs, postcards, family mementoes and other objects from the First World War to discuss with lender James Gordon-Cumming, and be part of Compton Verney’s contribution to the Imperial War Museum’s national project, Lives of the First World War. On the same day we are staging a lecture by First World War expert Paul Atterbury, most widely known for appearing on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. He will also be signing his forthcoming publication about the First World War. 15 July - 4 December Discovery Room: Trench Art Visit the first floor Discovery Room to find out more about the First World War and join in with Trench Art-inspired activities. Make your own shell case from gold paper, engrave your own message on it and add it to our display.
Music at Compton Verney: Fundraising Opera is a Success
On Saturday 12 July, Compton Verney hosted an opera gala fundraiser in a marquee in the Gallery’s grounds amongst eleven major pieces of sculpture by Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin (part of our major exhibition Moore Rodin).
watch the story of the ill-fated Don unfold.
Whilst staff scurried around behind-thescenes, fending off geese making a beeline for picnics, on stage, the Don (played by South Korean-born Changhan Lim), aided by his servant Leporello (Matthew Sprange), proceeded to grow increasingly reckless, attacking and killing the father of Donna Anna (Ana James), who swore her vengeance as the first half came to close. Upon the arrival of the interval, guests adjourned to their respective dining locations
Over 250 guests in black tie came to hear Britain’s foremost chamber opera company, Diva Opera, dazzle in their beautiful costumes, with a spectacular performance of Don Giovanni, all in a bid to raise vital funds towards the restoration of the ‘Capability’ Brown designed parkland and accompanying Grade I-listed Chapel. As formal diners made their way to the Champagne and canapé reception in the Naples Galleries, self-catering guests nestled in the landscape, setting up various combinations of gazebos, chairs and hampers, before heading under canvas to
with formal diners taking to the remarkable Adam Hall, as others collected pre-ordered bento boxes, retrieved their own picnics, or made their way to the Chapel, illuminated with Table Art candelabra, and playing host to the High Sherriff of Warwickshire, Claire Hopkinson, and her party (above). Thanks to the committee led by Bridget Barker and Christine Archer and the generosity of our guests, the evening was an overwhelming success raising over £20,000.
Tell us what you think; Re-Viewing the Landscape Consultation We are in the midst of a major consultation with a wide range of different groups including home educators, teachers, artists, writers, wildlife enthusiasts and individuals with physical and other access issues. The aim of this exercise is to identify how our five-year Re-Viewing the Landscape activity plan and develop our interpretation proposal so we can achieve our objectives:
To encourage the wider local community to use and connect with Compton Verney and foster a sense of ownership and pride
To build strong local partnerships with community groups to support delivery of a programme of history and heritage-related activity
To use the increased activity and facilities in the grounds to develop new audiences
To develop opportunities for local people to become actively engaged as volunteers and to learn new skills
To use the landscape to address issues surrounding health and wellbeing
To create new resources for education and life-long learning.
With the help of participants, we are planning a variety of new and enhanced activities such as Tai Chi by the Lake; a Forest School outreach package for schools; health and wellness coffee mornings; boulevard of artists; bat, bee and badger watching opportunities; and many more. In addition, throughout the grounds and in the planned new Welcome Centre, there will be interpretation that aims to provoke, relate and reveal. The estate provides endless opportunities and spaces to refresh the mind, body and soul and we want visitors to find their own Compton Verney. Within this we propose the following interpretive messages:
Fascinating Families and Changing Estate. People have shaped the landscape here for centuries, from Saxon communities and Capability Brown to World War II soldiers and the visitors today. What will you do?
Lawns, Leaves and Lily Pads. The rich landscape of Compton Verney has changed and developed over time and now provides a home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. What will you see?
Create, Inspire and Feel. The picturesque landscape and innovative art at Compton Verney provides an endless source of creative inspiration. What will you create?
As one of our participants commented, “It is a space for imagination to grow and breathe. It is an inspiring and creative place.” We hope you feel the same and will continue to visit, enjoy and spread the word as we enhance your Compton Verney. As part of the consultation we will be running a taster session. Join us for Tai Chi in the Park Sat 20 September, 10am— 12 noon This event will be an outdoor Tai Chi Walk through the park which includes demonstrations from three instructors in different areas. Instructors will talk about the history of the landscape and its trees, birds and animals - relating Tai Chi moves to what you are seeing. Afterwards, enjoy a cuppa and tell us your thoughts on the potential for such activities in the future. Visit this link to book or just turn up!
Behind-the-Scenes at Compton Verney: Help us Create a Living Work of Art In Summer 2015 we are staging The Arts and Crafts House: Then and Now, an exhibition looking at the Arts and Crafts Movement in relation to the Home and its enduring influence. Celebrating a high point in design which would integrate the house and garden at the same time as architecture with craft, the exhibition will bring together key historic designers alongside the UK’s leading current designers. A key theme within the exhibition is the garden, and Compton Verney has approached leading garden designer Dan Pearson, to commission a new work inspired by the Arts and Crafts. Pearson was brought up in an Arts and Crafts house, surrounded by William Morris designs, and worked on an important Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll contemporary garden, so his work reflects these two influences. Externally, the project will take the form of a mown parterre (a formal garden) based on the designs of William Morris, within a wild flower meadow developed by Pearson specifically for the exhibition. The meadow, which will have a long-term life after the show, will also encourage new species of native wild flowers (of particular interest to Morris and Ruskin, who are featured in the exhibition), and therefore have huge benefits to wildlife for years to come. This project has been chosen for the Art Fund's new crowdfunding platform Art Happens. The aim is to raise the needed £15,000 by 30 September 2014 via online donations to make the project happen. For every donation the giver will receive specially created Rewards which reflect the project and the exhibition. These range from Pearson’s conceptualisation of the West Lawn meadow. ©Dan Pearson Studio 10
limited edition artworks to a drinks reception with Dan Pearson on the opening night of the exhibition. To find out more and help us reach our target for this exciting new project please follow this link. Pearson will unveil his work with a new film which will capture his work at a historically significant but private Arts and Crafts garden throughout the seasons. The footage will be shown alongside historic images taken by Country Life and give a rare opportunity to experience Pearson’s ambitious and much celebrated reinterpretation of Gertrude Jekyll’s designs. These two project elements will give audiences the chance to fully appreciate the history of the Arts and Crafts Garden at the same time as celebrate its continuing contemporary influence with one of our leading designers. Find out more about this project at a free talk with Curator of The Arts and Crafts House Antonia Harrison and Grounds Manager Gary Webb on Saturday 30 August at 12 noon. The Arts and Crafts House: Then and Now runs from 27 June to 13 September 2015.
A Passion for Art at Compton Verney the exhibitions and the gallery which demonstrated a growing interest in, and understanding of, the art.
In 2013, Compton Verney was awarded a prestigious grant from The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts’ through their Start Programme. This enabled us to foster new partnerships with three local secondary schools who do not traditionally visit cultural organisations, subsidising visits to the gallery as well as conducting follow-up activities in the school setting. We have now completed year one of the programme and are delighted to report that all three schools responded well to the opportunities provided. It was clear by the reaction of the students that this was a unique experience for them. Teachers also benefitted by having contact with art educators and looking at artists and disciplines outside of their areas of expertise. This has encouraged them to expand their own practise and programmes of study back in the classroom. It was noticeable that through participating in a gallery tour and practical activity, students who were apprehensive or uninterested on arrival left having had a positive experience and had begun to build more informed opinions of art as a subject and galleries as venues. Students who visited twice were keen to compare one exhibition with the other and had questions about the technical aspects of
A teacher from Stratford upon Avon School said, “Our mixed ability Year 7’s overwhelmingly benefitted from visiting an art gallery in such unique surroundings. For most it was the first time setting foot in a gallery space. The opportunity allows the Art Department to give its pupils the experience of interacting with Art and Artists beyond the confines of the classroom and yet another PowerPoint. Pupils were able to explore a range of art and respond to it via the workshops held at Compton Verney and back at school. Accompanying teachers and staff were also able to use the experience to reinforce teaching and learning in school thus, as a result of the soap carving workshop, we are now introducing stone carving to our GCSE students. It has also provided schools with a hook to engage pupils for the rest of their time in Key Stage 3 which may help with the take up of GCSE Art in Year 9.” Congratulations to the Learning Team who have secured a second year of funding for this exciting programme which could well be a template for future outreach.
Image top: Practical activities at Compton Verney. Above: Pupils get hands on back at school. 11
Our Volunteer Co-ordinators
As part of Volunteering Week, we held an afternoon tea which was a wonderful opportunity for the volunteering and management teams to get together, and most importantly for us to say a big ‘Thank You’. We now have a chat with our existing volunteers once a week to check they are happy, and this means we can receive regular feedback from the team. Our volunteers kindly took part in a volunteering survey and the results are now in. We received extremely high scores in many areas, and most people wish to continue with us for as long as they can because they enjoy the work and value the camaraderie here.
We are delighted to introduce our two new Volunteer Co-ordinators. Anni Hawkins did a brilliant job volunteering for us last year as our first Membership Steward, and Imogen has grown up with us having attended workshops when younger, been a regular visitor and past volunteer. Anni explains their new role: Imogen Hobson and myself, Anni Hawkins, are currently in a six month job share funded by Heritage Lottery Fund as Volunteer Coordinators. We both started our time here as Membership Stewards in the lodge, so we have a good understanding of volunteering at Compton Verney. The role involves recruiting volunteers to work at Compton Verney by attending external events to promote our new and varied volunteer roles. We have been to Waitrose and talked to their customers, and we have many other opportunities in the pipeline, including stalls at three other supermarkets. We are also in regular contact with the local volunteer bureau who tell us Compton Verney has a good track record of volunteering, as set up by Emily Medcraft, our Front of House Manager. We were lucky enough to attend a volunteer management training course at the start of our new roles, which was a wonderful opportunity to learn some new skills and to gain an insight into volunteering at other organisations. We are so lucky to have such a willing team of volunteers, and we are incredibly proud of their loyalty and commitment to Compton Verney. 12
As part of the HLF Project, Compton Verney has been working hard to try and break the world record for longest line of bunting. We have, therefore, attended a variety of local events to make bunting, including Warwick Museums at Night and the Stratford River Festival. This really appeals to the public and gives us a chance to tell people about us if they have not visited before. The first three months have gone very quickly, and we are now half-way through our six month term. We have lots of ideas we want to explore, and we
We need you! are looking forward to developing the role even further over the next three months. Join our team of friendly and enthusiastic volunteers and help make a real difference to Compton Verney. We pay travel expenses up to £11 per day and several other benefits as well as the chance to meet new people and experience life in a busy visitor attraction. Use these links to look at our current opportunities and see if there’s one that catches your eye:
Membership Steward
Gallery Support
Grounds Steward
Shuttle Drivers
Event Support
Marketing Support
To learn more or get involved, visit the website or call Emily on 01926 645 516.
A Day in the Life: Alice Kirk, Learning Programmer
My job is very varied and that’s one of the best things about it, no two days are the same. One day I could be in the collections with a primary school exploring Tudor history, the next down at our Forest School site hunting for mini beasts and manning the campfire, another meeting with the rest of the Programming Team to plan future exhibitions, followed by a screen printing session and setting up an adult workshop. During term time, myself and the other two Learning Programmers, Joanna Essen and Moira Walters, can usually be found working with school groups either in the galleries or the Learning Centre. The summer term has been particularly busy due to our Moore Rodin exhibition programme, Investigating Sculpture, so recently I have spent most of my time touring the exhibition in the morning and then soap carving in the afternoon. Working with the public, especially children and young people, is my favourite part of the job and it was great to work with such a wide age range on the same programme. No matter how many times you’ve seen an exhibition or an artwork, the students always have new insights that give you a fresh perspective. In the summer holidays we’re busy with our family activities including ARTspace, where we’re sculpting body parts from clay and adding them to a large collaborative installation, again inspired by the current Moore Rodin exhibition. As well as delivering the drop-in activities, it’s really important to check the backpacks, resource rooms and other gallery activities on a daily basis to make sure everything is as it should be.
With changing exhibitions and projects like the HLF landscape restoration, we are always developing new workshops and activities. At the moment I am working on four new schools programmes for the launch of the new national curriculum in September: one using the Chinese collection to study the Shang Dynasty, one using our Forest School to explore life as a settler in early Britain, and a new primary and secondary programme for the upcoming British Folk Art exhibition. I also work with other departments, for example working on school’s postcards or the What’s On with Marketing, writing funding applications and reports with Development and coordinating logistics with our Front of House Team for a busy day in the galleries. Like everyone at Compton Verney, my days are always busy and usually full of surprises so when you get up in the morning you never really know what will happen which, makes every day different and is ideal for me. If you want to know more about the day to day life of the Learning Team or wider Programming Department please take a look at our blog. Alice Kirk
Why not support our Learning Programmes by upgrading your membership? By phone on 01926 645 547 By post via Compton Verney, FREEPOST NAT9520, Warwick CV35 9BR. By annual or quarterly Direct Debit with the Direct Debit form you can download here. Online at www.comptonverney.org.uk Or come visit and upgrade in the ticket lodge! 13
Fairport Convention visiting Compton Verney. Left to right: Chris Leslie, Ric Sanders, Simon Nicol, Gerry Conway and Dave Pegg.
Fairport Convention Bunting Boost Compton Verney is attempting to break the world record for the longest line of continuous bunting to celebrate our10th anniversary. As part of this effort, we have been contacting artists and local festivals to ask for their support. “We originally got in contact with Fairport Convention to see whether we could have a stand at their annual music festival, Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. The idea was to get festival-goers to create bunting over the three days. The band quickly agreed to give us a stand but when they said that they wanted to create their own pieces of bunting, we were delighted.” said Sam Skillings, Head of Marketing Compton Verney. “It was more than we could have hoped for.” On Friday 30 May, the legendary British folkrock band Fairport Convention dropped in to
Compton Verney to deliver the first pieces of celebrity bunting and also signed bunting on site in support of our recordbreaking attempt. Fairport Convention band members Simon Nicol (guitar and lead vocals), Dave Pegg (bass and backing vocals), Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki and lead vocals), Ric Sanders (violin) and Gerry Conway (drums and percussion) were not all strangers to the gallery. Ric and Chris had visited in 2004 for the Peter Greenaway Luper at Compton Verney exhibition; and the others, who also live locally, couldn’t understand why they hadn’t visited before and promised to come back with friends and family again as they enjoyed their visit so much. Simon Nicol said “We thought that attempting to break the world record for bunting was a great way to celebrate Compton Verney’s tenth anniversary. It also sounded like a fun way for us to support the
gallery which is a local charity. So we got out the crayons and the paint box – in fact, we enjoyed decorating the flags so much we’re going to invite the other acts at our festival to have a go too.” When we turned up at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention to set up our bunting stand we were delighted to find that we had been given a prime spot opposite the main stage in the children’s area. We were also amazed to find that bunting had been put on the cover of the souvenir programme along with a special feature and lots of kind words about us from the band members. Even more of a surprise was that bunting appeared on the festival tee-shirts. During the three days of the festival we talked to lots of people. Some local and some who had travelled long distances (including Australia). It was heart-warming to hear that many of the locals already knew about us and visit regularly. For those who hadn’t, it was a great opportunity to talk to them about all the fantastic things we have to offer and persuade them to come along and see for themselves. The creative contribution of festival goers resulted in 3,050 flags decorated, which exceeded our expectations by a long way. We have also visited a number of other festivals and local events, including the Stratford River Festival and Warwick Folk Festival, and have been able to engage with many local groups and societies as part of the bid. We were even invited along to Tesco’s in Stratford upon Avon. Overall, it has proved the perfect way to celebrate our birthday and help us and others share and demonstrate their passion for art. Sam Skillings, Head of Marketing
Bunting update In the time we have been challenging the world record it has been broken twice. Most recently by Yorkshire villagers who created 12,115 meters (7 miles 930 yards) of bunting along the tour de France route.
Our target is to go beyond this, but we need a little more time and a lot more help to achieve it. As the grand finale to our 10th anniversary year we will now be displaying the full length of bunting at Compton Verney from Saturday 6 December until the end of our 2014 season on 14 December.
Spreading the Word The Ambassador scheme was set up at the beginning of the 2014 season and its main aim is to support the work of the Marketing department. As you can imagine with an organisation dependent on visitor numbers for its financial sustainability, marketing is a key function, and these volunteers are a tremendous help. There were three stages of recruitment, firstly we invited all those on our email list within a certain drive time to apply, we then reviewed applications and invited those who we felt suited the role to a meeting to discuss the scheme. We originally hoped for 10 Ambassadors and ended up with roughly 35. The Ambassadors assist with reaching new audiences for exhibitions, increasing awareness of Compton Verney as a family friendly venue to encourage a broader range of visitors and reinforce the message that we are welcoming to all. Alongside this, they help us to develop new partnerships with various groups and engage further with our local community. Through the distribution of publicity materials and social networking, they introduce Compton Verney to people not familiar with us, identify new sales possibilities and aid us in recruiting new Season Pass holders and Members. We have also used the group as a forum for consultation (e.g. title testing, print designs, new ideas). Anyone can help us spread the word, of course. If you’d like to put up a poster in your town, or encourage friends and neighbours to visit by giving them one of our two-for-one vouchers, please just contact Sarah Clark on sarah.clark@comptonverney.org.uk or 01926 645500.
Thank you for your support Thank you to all our Benefactors, Patrons, Supporters and Corporate Members for your continued support. Your membership makes a huge difference to us and contributes towards all aspects of Compton Verney, from our exhibitions and collections to our grounds and educational work.
Benefactors
Lady Goodhart Dr Catherine MS Alexander Kirsten Suenson-Taylor Adrian and Jacqui Beecroft
Patrons
David & Jill Pittaway David & Sandra Burbidge Peter Gregory-Hood Roger Cadbury Lord & Lady Willoughby de Broke Mrs Susan Bridgewater Pam Barnes Dr & Mrs Munchi Choksey David & Catherine Loudon Sarah Stoten Mrs Joanne E Perry Mr & Mrs Ludovic de Walden William & Jane Pusey Mrs Christine Archer
Wyn Grant Alex and Mary Robinson Paul Cooney Anonymous
PE Shirley Margaret Fraser Mrs Michael Markham Sir Martin & Lady Jacomb Victoria Peers The Brook Family Nicholas & Marie-France Burton Professor Robert Bluglass CBE & Dr Kerry Bluglass Bridget Barker & Simon Herrtage Richard Shore Mrs Patricia Trahar Helen Rose and Roger Salmons Janet Bell Smith
Supporters Clive Barnes Lady Butler Mr Peter Boycott Graham Greene CBE Jenny Grimstone-Jones Sarah Holman David Howells Howard & Melanie Jackson Bob & Sandy Marchant N Meades Dr James Mooney Mrs Penny Perriss Andrew & Julia Pick
Michael Robarts Christopher Trye Sir Robert Wade-Gery Benjamin Wiggin Tim and Penny Cox Lizzie Cariss Peter Thompson Jan Maulden Mike & Joan Broad
The Four Pillars When you purchase a membership at any level and/or make a donation, you are welcome to specify an area of your own interest which your membership/donation will contribute towards:
The Exhibition Fund for our exhibitions and collections.
The Adam Fund for our built heritage.
The Inspire Fund for art education.
The Capability Fund for our historic landscape.
For further information, or if you would like to support The Four Pillars of Compton Verney, please call Aly Grimes on 01926 645 547 or donate online now via the Big Give.
Other ways you can help Consider leaving us a legacy, organising an event or naming a tree, artwork or room for yourself or a loved one! Call 01926 645 547 or visit the website for more information.
and 40 others who wish to remain anonymous, or have not yet specified how they would like to be listed.
Corporate Members Martinspeed Ltd Bonhams Farrow & Ball
Aquarelle Publishing Blackwall Green Fred Winter Ltd Goldcrest Cleaning Ltd Lightmedia Communications Ltd Mitchell Gallery
Renaissance Creative Wright Hassall Perrywell Computer Systems Ltd Larch Consulting Ltd Audley Binswood Hall James Butler Ltd Avidity IP Limited Healthcare Development Services Ltd
Help has been received from all sources to accomplish out worldrecord attempt bunting challenge!