Autumn/Winter 2019-20
Watts On Exhibitions | Events | Contemporary Art | Family Activities | Courses
CREATIVE COURSE: The Artist & Studio Painting the Figure in Space (pg. 5)
WATTS CONTEMPORARY GALLERY: In Print: Capturing Light (pg. 3)
Cover image: The Studio (oil on canvas), Orpen, William (1878-1931) Leeds Museums and Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery) U.K. Bridgeman Image. Images (clockwise from left): Beatrice Offor, Miss B. S. Bruce Castle Museum; Phil Greenwood, Estuary, etching with aquatint; Tim Patrick.
TALK: Women Artists at the Slade (pg. 12)
Explore the Artists’ Village Join us this season for talks, creative courses, contemporary art and children’s workshops inspired by our exhibition, William Orpen: Method & Mastery. Visit the exhibition to see Orpen’s expressive portraiture, before learning more about his impact on artists today in our contemporary exhibition, The Show Goes On: A Theatre of Portraits by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, as well as at our evening talk by the society. Create portraiture of your own in our Artist & Studio and 3D Portraiture workshops, or sign up to our Evening Drawing Course. The programme will begin with the opening of our annual contemporary printmaking exhibition, In Print, with this year’s theme, Capturing Light, where you can discover affordable art. Start the festive season at our Celtic Christmas Weekend and celebrate the return of the roaring twenties at our concert, From Hot Jazz to Swing with the Enrico Tomasso Quartet, in the New Year.
Exhibitions 1 Contemporary Art
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Creative Courses
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Guided Tours & Drop-ins Talks & Music
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Events
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Children, Families & Young People
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Community
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Your Visit & Access
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Exhibitions
William Orpen: Method & Mastery
Unto This Last: Two Hundred Years of John Ruskin
Celebrated for his career as an official war artist, the Irish-born painter Sir William Orpen KBE RA (1878 – 1931) is best known for his rapid and expressive painting style. President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1924 – 1930, Orpen became one of the leading portraitists of his age.
A complex and often contradictory figure, John Ruskin stands as one of the most influential thinkers of the nineteenth century. A pioneering art critic and an accomplished draftsman, he believed that art had the power to transform society and that nature inspired the most meaningful art. Two centuries after his birth, this exhibition examines Ruskin’s legacy as a social reformer, ecological thinker, and educator.
19 November 2019 - 23 February 2020 Admission | Friends free | Under 18s free
Featuring a selection of striking portraits alongside closely observed pencil studies and anatomical drawings, this exhibition provides new insights into Orpen’s evolving and innovative artistic process, underpinned by new research and technical analysis of his techniques and materials. Inspired by the perceptible significance of artist studios, this exhibition will situate Orpen’s work within the evocative space of ‘Oriel’, William Orpen’s studio at South Bolton Gardens, London. In an examination of Orpen’s evolving and experimental artistic practice, this exhibition will re-examine his fascination with light and space throughout his career. Watts Gallery Trust is deeply grateful to the Exhibition Circle for their support of this exhibition.
Exhibition Tour
Tuesdays, 3 & 17 December, 7 & 21 January, 4 & 18 February 2 - 2.45pm Admission + £5 | Friends £4.50 Join an expert guide to explore the drawings and paintings of William Orpen, with an opportunity to ask questions and look at works in closer detail.
Image: William Orpen, RA. Le Chef de l’Hôtel Chatham, Paris, ca. 1921. Oil on canvas. Photo credit: ©Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer: John Hammond.
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10 March - 31 May 2020 Admission | Friends free | Under 18s free
Unto This Last: Two Hundred Years of John Ruskin features paintings, drawings, and manuscripts largely from collections at Yale University - the Yale Center for British Art and Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library - together representing one of the most important repositories of Ruskin’s work in the United States, much of which is to be exhibited in the UK for the first time. The exhibition has been curated by three PhD Candidates in Yale University’s Department of the History of Art: Tara Contractor, Victoria Hepburn, and Judith Stapleton; with Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Centre Professor of the History of Art at Yale; and Courtney Skipton Long, Acting Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Yale Center for British Art. Watts Gallery Trust is deeply grateful to the Exhibition Circle for their support of this exhibition.
The De Morgan Collection
Decoration or Devotion? Admission | Friends free | Under 18s free William and Evelyn De Morgan were regular visitors to the Watts Gallery, when it was the countryside studio-home of their friends, G F and Mary Watts. The new exhibition of De Morgan ceramics and paintings, Decoration or Devotion?, considers the symbols and symbolism used by Evelyn in her ambitious oil paintings, and by William in his lustrous ceramics.
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Steve Edwards, Lambeth West, etched and cut lino.
Discover Affordable Art
James Hague, David Morrissey, oil on board.
CONTEMPORARY ART
The Show Goes On: A Theatre of Portraits by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
11 January - 23 February 2020 Watts Contemporary Gallery Free admission Supporting the art of portraiture by offering a personal commissions service Cabaret and showmen, actors, comedians, musicians, dancers and playwrights all appear in a series of beguiling paintings by the current membership of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The exhibition includes portraits and studies of well-known faces including Sammy Davis Jnr, John Osborne, David Morrissey, Tilda Swinton and Celia Imrie. Founded in 1891 by artists who The Magazine of Art called ‘the front rank of outsiders’, the RP boasts G F Watts as an enthusiastic early member and William Orpen as a past President (1923 - 31). Both of these men painted the faces of their day and, in this exhibition, the RP continues to highlight portraiture’s enduring popularity and the continuance of this tradition in British Art.
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All works for sale
In Print: Capturing Light
25 October 2019 - 5 January 2020 Watts Contemporary Gallery Free admission | All works for sale The next instalment in our distinguished In Print annual exhibition series features over 50 beautiful and atmospheric prints depicting reflections, shadows and changing light on landscapes and interiors. Featured techniques include etching, wood engraving, linocut and screen printing.
Watts On Next... Norman Ackroyd CBE, RA 28 February - 19 April 2020 Watts Contemporary Gallery Free admission | All works for sale This highly anticipated exhibition will be presenting a series of etchings by one of Britain’s foremost landscape artists and contemporary printmakers.
Meet the Artist Artists from Watts Ceramics 2019 Saturdays, September & October, 12 - 3pm Watts Contemporary Gallery Free admission
Meet the artists behind Watts Ceramics 2019 (on until 20 October), our first group ceramics exhibition in Watts Contemporary Gallery. Featuring all women artists, the exhibition is inspired by the legacy of ceramic artist Mary Watts (1849 - 1938), who taught clay modelling to local villagers and helped them to establish the Compton Pottery. Learn about the diverse ways in which our contemporary ceramicists work and gain an insight into the inspirations behind their ceramics. Saturday 21 September Saturday 28 September Saturday 5 October Saturday 12 October
Penny Green Sophie MacCarthy Felicity Jones Lucy Burley and Stephanie Robinson
Contemporary Art Interventions Artist in Residence: Louise Grundy
Tuesdays, 10.30am - 1pm & Thursdays, 1 - 5pm Artist in Residence Studio Free with admission G F Watts was a portrait painter and sculptor, famed for depicting ‘ideas, not things’. In a similar way, local artist Louise Grundy explores the words, records and stories behind both famous and not-sofamous faces. Louise is best known for her Ancestry Heads project, a series of sculptural heads drawing on the themes of history and memory. Throughout her residency, Louise will be making art inspired by G F Watts’s Hall of Fame portrait series, as well as our two seasonal exhibitions, William Orpen: Method & Mastery and The Show Goes On: A Theatre of Portraits by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
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CREATIVE COURSES & STUDY DAYS
Pre-booking required for all courses
DayTIME Courses
EVENING Courses Mary Watts established the tradition of Thursday evening courses at the Artists’ Village. Over 100 years later these continue to take place in our historic galleries and purpose-built studios.
Pottery Metalpoint
Saturday 11 January, 11am - 4pm £85 | Friends £76.50 Led by Dr Alixe Bovey The medieval art of silverpoint - the technique of using a metal stylus to draw on a mildly abrasive ground - was revived in the 19th century by artists who enjoyed the precise quality of its line. Inspired by Old Masters and 19th-century revivalists, this workshop introduces you to the materials and methods of the medium, teaching you to draw with silver and gold.
3D Paper Portraiture Two day course: Friday 7 & Friday 14 February, 11am - 4pm £150 | Friends £135 Led by Louise Grundy Working with our Artist in Residence, create an intricate papier-mâché sculpture of someone you love, admire or want to commemorate. This twoday workshop will encourage you to tell their story layer upon layer, using recycled materials, as well as copies of family photographs, birth and death certificates and pages from books.
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The Artist & Studio Painting the Figure in Space Saturday 18 January, 10.30am - 4.30pm £95 | Friends £85.50 Includes refreshments Led by Tim Patrick From G F Watts to William Orpen, John Singer Sargent to Paula Rego, artists have often painted sitters in their studio spaces. This workshop will help you confidently observe figures in space and produce a finished painting to take home.
Daring Women Dinner Service
Part of International Women’s Day, Sunday 8 March 11am - 1pm or 2 - 4pm £30 | Friends £27 Design and decorate a hand-thrown ceramic plate to commemorate a daring woman in history. Find out more on pg. 14. All courses suitable for beginners and offer you the opportunity to take your creations home. Materials and refreshments included. Spaces are limited and must be pre-booked.
Thursdays, 9 January - 13 February & 27 February - 2 April (12 weeks) 6.30 - 8.30pm £330 | Friends £297 Led by Joshua Schoeman Try your hand at making beautiful objects in clay to take home - with guidance on a range of techniques including throwing, hand-building, surface decoration and glazing. This course also covers modelling sculpture in clay, with the opportunity to create a portrait bust.
Drawing
Thursdays, Term 1: 9 January - 13 February Term 2: 27 February - 2 April 6.30 - 8.30pm £165 | Friends £148.50 (6 weeks) £330 | Friends £297 (12 weeks) Led by Jane Allison From the basics of anatomical drawing to more refined portraiture, gain confidence in drawing the human form. In the first six weeks, learn the essentials, exploring line, tone, anatomy and proportion and working from life models and casts made by G F Watts. In the second term, master the use of different materials and drawing techniques, working in charcoal, pastels, chalk, watercolour and oils and studying from sitters, sketches and photographs.
History of Art Course Artists in their Studios: History, Images & Art
Mondays, 13 January - 10 February, 11am - 1pm £150 | Friends £135 for full series of 5 classes £35 | Friends £31.50 for single lecture The history of artists’ studios reflects the changing status of artists. From the private workshops of medical patrons to sites of co-production in the early 20th century, artists’ studios are conflicted spaces. Drawing on the significance of William Orpen’s studio in his work, this course will explore the evolution of the artist’s studio, as well as its impact on artistic practice and the many ways in which it has been portrayed. Monday 13 January Workshops and Guilds – The Beginnings of the Artist Studio Nerissa Taysom Monday 20 January The Artist Studio: Home and Abroad Hilary Underwood Monday 27 January Celebrity, Spectacle and Self in Victorian Home Studios Helen Victoria Murray Monday 3 February William Orpen: From a Workroom to a Swagger Studio Professor Louise Campbell Monday 10 February Women in the Workshop Olive Maggs (Independent Scholar)
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Guided Tours & Drop-INs
Guided Tours
Drop-ins
Limnerslease: The Arts & Crafts Home
Art Talks
Tuesday - Sunday, 2 - 3pm Additional tours at 12 - 1pm on Tuesdays & Saturdays £5 | Friends £4.50 Discover the Grade II listed Arts & Crafts home of G F and Mary Watts, completed by Sir Ernest George in 1891. Learn more about the history of the building, see the original gesso ceilings and hear about the foundation of Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village.
Visitors & Friends: The Wattses at Home
Thursdays, 21 November, 12 December, 16 January & 13 February, 12 - 12.30pm £5 | Friends £4.50 In 1891 G F and Mary Watts moved into Limnerslease, the Arts & Crafts home that they had designed by Sir Ernest George and lived in together for over a decade. In this thirty-minute tour, hear more about their home life and the artistic and literary guests who visited them, with readings from Mary’s lively diaries.
Watts Chapel Tour
Fridays, 29 November, 20 December, 31 January & 28 February 11.30 - 12.30pm £5 | Friends £4.50 Join an expert guide and explore this beautiful Grade I listed Arts & Crafts masterpiece, created by Mary Watts and the local community of Compton.
Fridays, 12 - 12.15pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free Watts Gallery Gain an insight into an artwork in Watts Gallery, Watts Studios or our temporary exhibition in these weekly 15-minute talks led by the Curatorial team.
De Morgan Collection Talks
Mondays, 12 - 12.30pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free De Morgan Collection Join De Morgan Foundation Curator, Sarah Hardy, and explore the what, where and why of the motifs and symbols in the work of William and Evelyn De Morgan as part of the new redisplay, Decoration or Devotion?
Conservation Open Studio
Thursdays, 12 - 12.30pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free David Pike Conservation Studio Visit the working studio of de Laszlo Paintings Conservator, Sally Marriott and hear about her research, recent discoveries and the materials and tools of a museum conservator.
William Orpen: Materials in Focus
Thursdays, 11.30am - 12.00pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free
Smartify
David Pike Conservation Studio
Watts Gallery & Watts Studios
Gain a unique insight into William Orpen’s use of materials and techniques with de Laszlo Conservation Fellow, Sally Marriott.
The Smartify app is free to download, from Google Play and the App Store, to use in our gallery spaces. The app uses advanced image recognition technology via your smartphone to unlock extra information, including rarely seen images from our archives, specially created audio interviews, curatorial research and more of the inspirational stories behind our collection.
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Find out about our William Orpen: Method & Mastery exhibition tour (pg. 1).
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watts on: at a glance
October Fri 25 Oct - Sun 5 Jan In Print: Capturing Light Watts Contemporary Gallery | Free admission (pg. 3)
Sat 25 Jan From Hot Jazz to Swing with the Enrico Tomasso Quartet | 7pm | £20 | Friends £18 (pg. 12)
Tues 29 Oct - Sun 3 Nov October Half Term, 10.30am - 4pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free (pg. 15)
Wed 29 Jan Portraiture Now: The Legacy of William Orpen’s Painting in Portraiture Today, 7pm | £15 | Friends £13.50 (pg. 12)
November
February
Sun 10 Nov Armistice Day, 10.30am - 4pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free (pg. 20)
Fri 7 & Fri 14 Feb 3D Paper Portraiture 11am - 4pm | £150 | Friends £135 (pg. 5)
Tues 19 Nov - Sun 23 Feb William Orpen: Method & Mastery Watts Gallery | Admission | Friends free | Under 18s free (pg. 1)
Wed 12 Feb Women Artists at the Slade 7pm | £12.50 | Friends £11.25 (pg. 12)
Sat 30 Nov - Sun 1 Dec Celtic Christmas Weekend, 11am - 5pm Adults £13 | Friends £6.50 | Under 18s free (pg. 13)
December Thurs 19 Dec An Evening with... Edmund de Waal Watts Gallery | £25 | Friends £22.50 (pg. 11)
JANUARY
Tuesdays, 3 & 17 December, 7 & 21 January, 4 & 18 February Exhibition Tour: William Orpen: Method & Mastery Watts Gallery Admission + £5 Friends £4.50 (pg. 1)
Sat 11 Jan - Sun 23 Feb The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Watts Contemporary Gallery | Free admission (pg. 3)
March
Sun 8 March Daring Women Dinner Service 11am - 1pm & 2 - 4pm | £30 | Friends £27 (pg. 14)
Sat 18 Jan The Artist & Studio: Painting the Figure in Space 10.30am - 4.30pm | £95 | Friends £85.50 (pg. 5)
Book now at wattsgallery.org.uk
Fri 28 Feb - Sun 19 April Norman Ackroyd CBE, RA Watts Contemporary Gallery | Free admission (pg. 3)
Sun 8 March International Women’s Day, 10.30 - 5pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free (pg. 14)
Mondays, 13 Jan - 10 Feb History of Art Course: Artists in their Studios, 11am - 1pm | £150 | Friends £135 (pg. 6)
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Tues 18 - Sun 23 Feb February Half Term 10.30am - 4pm | Free with admission | Under 18s free (pg. 15)
Tues 10 March - Sun 31 July John Ruskin: Unto This Last Watts Gallery | Admission | Friends free | Under 18s free (pg. 2)
Sat 11 Jan Metalpoint, 11am - 4pm £85 | Friends £76.50 (pg. 5)
Sat 18 Jan Volunteer Open Morning 11am - 12pm | Free admission (pg. 20)
Mon 17 - Wed 19 Feb Spring Art School £150 | Friends £135 (pg. 19)
Sat 14 March Volunteer Open Morning 11am - 12pm | Free admission (pg. 20) Fridays, 8 Nov, 6 Dec, 17 Jan & 7 Feb Watts Tots £5 per child Friends £4.50 (pg. 18)
Thursdays, 9 Jan - 13 Feb & 27 Feb - 2 April Evening Course: Drawing £330 | Friends £297 (pg. 6) or Evening Course: Pottery £330 | Friends £297 (pg. 6)
Did you know? Friends receive 10% off workshops, courses, tours and talks, as well as unlimited admission to the Artists’ Village. Find out more wattsgallery. org.uk/friends
Exhibitions
Families
Young People
Contemporary Art
Talks & Music
Community
Creative Courses
Events
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MUSIC
TALKS
An Evening with... Edmund de Waal
Portraiture Now: The Legacy of William Orpen’s Painting in Portraiture Today
Thursday 19 December Doors open 6.45pm | 7pm £25 | Friends £22.50 Pre-event mulled wine in the Old Kiln
Wednesday 29 January Doors open 6.45pm | 7pm £15 | Friends £13.50
Join internationally renowned artist and best-selling author, Edmund de Waal, OBE, as he explores the relationship artists have with their studios. Examining the interweaving of making and writing in his own practice, Edmund will also reflect on how other artists have used their most intimate and creative spaces, from Cy Twombly and Sally Mann to Anselm Kiefer and Agnes Martin.
In association with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, exhibiting in Watts Contemporary Gallery from 11 January - 23 February 2020 (pg. 3).
Edmund de Waal is best known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels housed in minimal structures and his critical engagement with historic archives, architecture, music and poetry.
He has exhibited worldwide, with exhibitions at The Frick Collection, New York; Jewish Museum, Venice; Schindler House, Los Angeles, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Turner Contemporary, Margate; and the Kunsthaus, Graz, where he cocurated an exhibition with Ai Weiwei.
Pre-booking required for all talks. Under 18s must be accompanied.
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De Waal is also renowned for his family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010), which won many literary prizes including the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Costa Biography Award and has been translated into more than 30 languages. His second book, The White Road, was published in 2015. The same year, he was awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for nonfiction by Yale University.
Sir William Orpen was President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1924 - 1930. During this time, many other of the period’s influential portrait painters also became members, including Sir Augustus John and Ambrose McEvoy. Drawing on the techniques and stylistic changes to portraiture in the early part of the 20th century, this panel discussion will explore the influence of Orpen and his contemporaries on portrait painting today. Chaired by Brice Curator, Dr Cicely Robinson. Speakers will include members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and Charlie Schaffer, winner of the BP Portrait Prize 2019.
Women Artists at the Slade Wednesday 12 February Doors open 6.45pm | 7pm £12.50 | Friends £11.25
From its earliest days, the Slade School of Art admitted women students on equal terms to their male counterparts - much to the amusement, and even distaste, of many of their male peers. Art historical studies of the most famous of these women abound - Gwen John, Dame Laura Knight, Dora Corrington, and Gluck. Yet comparatively little exists about the women who came before them by barely a generation Beatrice Offor, Mina Bergson and Annie Horniman. Dr Charlotte de Mille will reconstruct the experiences of these three friends and the possible inspiration they offered to those wishing to follow them.
From Hot Jazz to Swing with the Enrico Tomasso Quartet Saturday 25 January Doors open 6.45pm | 7 - 9pm Interval at 7.45pm £20 | Friends £18
To welcome in the 2020s, return to the roaring 1920s for this alternative Burn’s Night concert in association with Guildford Jazz. In the decade when William Orpen was at his most productive and commercially successful, the music scene of London was undergoing a transformation. With an influx of new musical genres from America, the beginnings of the jazz age filtered into the city. Initially called ‘hot’ or ‘straight’ dance music, jazz music shook the music halls and theatres and gained enormous popularity for its ‘riotous’ sound that defied British musical tradition. Featuring music by Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Teddy Wilson, the Benny Goodman small bands and others, join trumpeter and fourtimes winner of the British Jazz Awards, Enrico Tomasso, together with his quartet for a joyous evening of jazz.
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EVENTS
Celtic Christmas Weekend Saturday 30 November & Sunday 1 December 11am - 5pm | Adults £13 | Friends £6.50 Under 18s free
Set against the wintry backdrop of our Watts woodland, start your festive celebrations with the sights, sounds and smells of our Celtic themed Christmas Weekend, inspired by Mary Watts’s Celtic crafts.
Craft
Celtic crackers Winter wreaths Christmas cards Pine cone Christmas trees Tartan printed wrapping paper Clay reindeer Iced shortbread snowflakes Foil-embossed stars
International Women’s Day Sunday 8 March, 10.30 - 5pm Free with admission | Friends free Under 18s free
Mary Watts was a daring woman. As an artist, designer and teacher, she pioneered the art and social concerns of the Arts & Crafts movement and created new routes into craft education. In 1900, Mary founded the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild as a place to train apprentice potters and as a commercial enterprise. Her greatest legacy is the Watts Chapel, created with members of Compton Community and now a Grade I listed building. Join us to celebrate the daring women of the past and present. We will be running workshops, talks and drop-in activities through the day.
Talks
Listen to pop-up 10-minute talks in the gallery about daring women in history.
Fearless Voices
Meet Father Christmas Advent Calendar Trail Music and carols
Join artist Mary Branson for conversations about womanhood and equality. Ask and answer questions about how daring women in history have shaped the experience of women today, what feminism means to you and what equality looks like in the future.
Shopping
What She Said Next
Makers’ Market
Daring Women Dinner Service
Activities
Drop into our Shop to buy original gifts and stocking fillers for all the family. Buy affordable art in Watts Contemporary Gallery.
Visit the craft stalls of local makers, producers and artisans.
Food & Drink
Enjoy seasonal food and drink from our award-winning Tea Shop.
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We recommend pre-booking, as this event is extremely popular
Make a badge with quotes from famous women throughout history or write your own words of wisdom. Sunday 8 March 11am - 1pm or 2 - 4pm £30 | Friends £27
Pre-booking required | Led by Penny Green Design and decorate a hand-thrown ceramic plate to commemorate a daring woman in history. Drawing on the Famous Women Dinner Service by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant – contemporaries of Mary Watts – create a special reminder of the women, past and present, who have inspired you.
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CHILDREN, Families & YOUNG PEOPLE
October Half Term
Tuesday 29 October - Sunday 3 November, 10.30am - 4pm Drop-in to our Clore Learning Studio throughout the week and weave colourful fabrics, yarns and ribbons to create a decorative wall-hanging. 8 - 17 year olds can book onto our Colourful Clay Pots workshop and explore the ancient tradition of coil building. Visit our website for more information.
February Half Term Tuesday 18 - Sunday 23 February
Be inspired by the portraits of William Orpen and G F Watts across the Artists’ Village.
Making Faces
Tuesday 18 - Sunday 23 February, 10.30am - 4pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free Clore Learning Studio | Drop-in | All ages Step into our pop-up portrait studio to experiment with drawing using mirrors and perspex. Add to our growing Hall of Fame and create portraits to take away.
Every picture tells a story...
Friday 21 & Sunday 23 February, 10.30am, 11.30am & 12.30pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s go free Watts Gallery | Pre-booking advised | Aimed at ages 5+ G F Watts wanted to paint the most interesting faces - you can see some of them in the galleries. Who are they, what did they do and how do they feel about being on display? Join Storyteller, Olivia Armstrong, to hear the stories of some of the characters, wake up the paintings and animate the Gallery.
Digital Portraits
Spring Art School
Monday 17 - Wednesday 19 February, 11am - 4pm £150 | Friends £135 Foyle Pottery Studio | Pre-booking required | Ages 13 - 17 Gain a taster of art school at this new three-day course led by an artist over February Half Term. Visit pg. 19 for more information.
Easter
Tuesday 7 - Sunday 19 April Inspired by John Ruskin: Unto This Last, bring the outside in with an exploration of nature this Easter.
Nature Prints
Tuesday 7 - Sunday 19 April, 10.30am - 4pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free Clore Learning Studio | Drop-in | All ages Help to create an indoor forest, using tracing and printing.
Watts Woodlands Audio Trail
Tuesday 7 - Sunday 19 April, 10am - 5pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s go free Limnerslease Woodland | All ages Pick up a map and follow this new audio trail through our grounds and woodlands. Discover the sights and sounds of nature in the spring and hear from the Wattses’ Victorian gardener George Andrew. At the end of the trail, collect a chocolate egg from the Visitor Centre.
Nature Clay
Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 February 10.30am - 12.30pm (8 - 12 year olds) | 2 - 4pm (13 - 16 year olds) £10 | Friends £9
Tuesday 14 - Sunday 19 April 10.30 - 12.30pm (8 - 12 year olds) | 2 - 4pm (13 - 16 year olds) £10 | Friends £9
Foyle Pottery Studio | Pre-booking required | Ages 8-16
Foyle Pottery Studio | Pre-booking required | Ages 8 - 16
Explore the possibilities of using smart phones and iPads creatively to draw portraits in this digital masterclass led by artist Wilson Yau.
Make a clay dish inspired by the organic shapes and natural forms that surround Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. With the guidance of a potter, experiment with imprinting, scratching and different coloured slips.
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CHILDREN, Families & YOUNG PEOPLE
Families
Watts Tots
Available Daily
£5 per child | Friends £4.50 Accompanying adults go free Pre-booking required
On any day of the week, pick up one of our self-guided trails and explore the Artists’ Village.
Clore Learning Studio | For under 5s Children must be accompanied
Portraits: Eye Spy
Join our monthly workshop specially for under 5s to play with and explore materials together, led by artist Charlie Betts.
Painting
Friday 8 November, 10 - 11am Create fantastic firework paintings and experiment with stencils, patterns and glitter.
Journey through the galleries and meet the many faces on display across Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village.
Discover Mary Watts
Explore the work of Mary Watts in this new trail, created by Art Forum, our young curators group. Available from Saturday 21 December.
Every Sunday, 10.30am - 4pm Free with admission | Friends free | Under 18s free
Sculpture
10 Things to Find
Clore Learning Studio | Drop-in | All ages
Sculpt, shape and decorate beautiful festive ornaments and giant baubles to take home.
5 Things for Under 5s
Friday 6 December, 10 - 11am
Portraits
Friday 17 January, 10 - 11am
No space at home to make? Head to Watts Studios to see where G F and Mary Watts made their art, then make your own arts and crafts to take home in our Make Space. All activities are inspired by our collections and exhibitions.
Experiment with paper plates and other materials to create portraits, play with faces and make masks to take away.
Textures
Friday 7 February, 10 - 11am NOVEMBER Sunday 3 Sunday 10 Sunday 17 Sunday 24
DECEMBER Sunday 1 Woven Sunday 8 wall-hangings (pg. 15) Felted poppies (pg. 20) Sunday 15 Sunday 22 Modroc tiles Wax-resist portraits Sunday 29
JANUARY Sunday 5 Sunday 12 Sunday 19 Sunday 26
FEBRUARY Sunday 2 Sunday 9 Sunday 16 Sunday 23
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Printed notebooks Collage portraits Modroc tiles We make pots!
Book now at wattsgallery.org.uk
Celtic Christmas Weekend (pg. 13) Patterned paperweights Children’s Christmas Party Festive ornaments Wintery watercolours
Wax resist portraits Printed notebooks Collage portraits February Half Term (pg. 15)
Explore different textures, colours and shapes and cut and stick beautiful collages inspired by nature.
See if you can find all 10 objects across the Artists’ Village. Explore the collections together with our popular multi-sensory bags.
Artists’ Village Backpack
Take a journey around the Artists’ Village with quizzes, games and tactile objects.
Verey Playwood
Enjoy swings, stepping stones and making camps in our enchanted woodlands.
Forest School
Mondays during term time 10.30 - 11.30am | £5 per child | Accompanying adults go free Limnerslease Woodlands | Pre-booking required | For under 5s Join Little Rays Forest School in our enchanted woodlands for a stay and play session. Explore and experience nature with bug hunting, collecting, mud painting, shelter building and more. Contact pauline@littlerays.co.uk to book
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Young People: Ages 13 - 17
Spring Art School Monday 17 - Wednesday 19 February, 11am - 4pm £150 | Friends £135 Foyle Pottery Studio | Pre-booking required | Ages 13-17 Gain a taster of art school at this new three-day course led by an artist over February Half Term. Draw from the artworks, spaces and natural environment surrounding Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village and work alongside others to develop your creative skills. Test and experiment with different materials and techniques in a relaxed and creative environment.
Art Forum
Community
Armistice Day
Sunday 10 November, 10.30am - 4pm Free with admission | Friends free Under 18s free Join us for two minutes silence in the Watts Gallery, as well as commemorative music at Watts Chapel and felted poppy making in our Clore Learning Studio. Visit our website for more information.
Volunteer Open Morning Saturday 18 January & Saturday 14 March, 11am - 12pm Free admission
Meet our staff and volunteers in the Old Kiln and find out more about becoming a Watts volunteer. From welcoming visitors into our historic galleries, gardening on our beautiful estate to getting hands-on in our creative workshops and leading fascinating tours of the site, our volunteers provide us with vital support.
Thursdays fortnightly during term time, 5.30 - 7pm Free | Pre-booking required | Year 10 - 13 students Learn creative and museum skills and have a say in our young people’s programme at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. Find out about careers in the arts, write and publish reviews, co-develop events and take part in and plan workshops and activities. For further information contact learningassistant@wattsgallery.org.uk
Our Charity - Art for All
Art for All is a continuation of the inclusive ethos that G F and Mary Watts, our founders, believed in and worked for. Just as Mary Watts opened the doors of her home studio and welcomed local people in to learn new creative skills and participate in social enterprise, we work in partnership with local charities, organisations and prisons to offer artist-led workshops to young people and adults who would otherwise face barriers in accessing art and museums. To find out more please contact communitycurator@wattsgallery.org.uk
Bursary Places
We offer a number of bursary places to young people and adults for our ticketed workshops and courses. To find out more please contact communitycurator@wattsgallery.org.uk
Schools
We run a popular programme of interactive tours and practical art workshops for primary and secondary schools. We also deliver multi-sensory activities to groups with MLD and PMLD. Find out more at wattsgallery.org.uk/learn
Group Visits 19
Groups receive discounted entry, tailored tours and private dining. Contact groups@wattsgallery.org.uk or phone 01483 813589 for more information. Book now at wattsgallery.org.uk
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your visit
YOUR VISIT & ACcess OPENING TIMES Gallery & Studios 10.30am - 5pm Daily, including bank holidays Watts Chapel 9am - 5pm daily Tea Shop, Visitor Centre, Shop & Contemporary Gallery 10am - 5pm daily We are closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Please visit our website for opening times on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
ADMISSION Adults £11.50 (£12.70 with Gift Aid) Under 18s Free Students & under 25s £5.75 Bank Holiday Mondays Adult tickets £5.75 (£6.35 with Gift Aid)
TRAVEL Free parking onsite Nearest train station Guildford Bus 46, from Guildford Town Centre Follow us @WattsGallery @wattsgallery /wattsgalleryartistsvillage
BECOME A FRIEND Join us today, visit all year. Friends enjoy unlimited free admission, discounts on workshops, signature events and save 10% in our Shop.
ACCESS The Gallery, Studios, Shop and Tea Shop are fully accessible. Dedicated parking spaces are available for visitors and wheelchairs are available. We regret that Limnerslease, Watts Chapel and Contemporary Gallery are not currently wheelchair accessible. There is a short uphill walk to Limnerslease, the Studios and Watts Chapel. View our accessibility guide: wattsgallery.org.uk/visit/access We are located in the village of Compton, which is home to a host of local businesses, including Old Barn Antiques Centre, KD Fine Art and the Withies Inn.
wattsgallery.org.uk 01483 813593 Down Lane, Compton Guildford, Surrey GU3 1DQ
Watts Gallery Trust is an independent charity that relies on voluntary donations to continue our work. Your support is essential to us. Charity No. 313612.