The Arts Society Chichester Evening enters 2020 with confidence

They have already managed to get 100 members; the hope is to hit around 180 by April.

The idea behind the new evening group, which has been meeting monthly at Chichester’s Assembly Room in North Street since September, is to help provide access to the arts with a particular slant towards working people and those unavailable during the day.

As Dave Betts, one of the organisers, explains, the three other local Arts Societies present lectures during the day-time, making it difficult for some people of working age with an interest in the arts to get involved.

The Arts Society is an international charity with currently 90,000 UK members and nearly 400 societies, providing lectures, given by curators of national museums and galleries and university lecturers, as well as arranging daytime outings, holidays and social events for members.

“Subjects cover a broad range of the arts, from fine art, ceramics, jewellery, architecture, music, dance and much more.

“Members also carry out conservation work in stately homes and National Trust properties and provide schools with access to workshops and events for pupils.

It’s all a package which is clearly appealing: “I always had faith because of the enthusiasm of everybody involved,” Dave says.

“We have been able to encourage people to talk to each other about it, and word has spread.

“Also, the programme that we have got is extremely good.

“I don’t think people have understood the purpose of the umbrella society,

“The Arts Society, and we have had to explain the process. We have been talking to a lot of people, and the local cafes have also been very supportive (in letting people know about the group).”

Membership secretary Charlotte Joseph confirmed that the group is currently looking for a chairman. Anyone interested should get in touch with Dave on [email protected]

Annual membership is £50 and will include entrance to ten lectures, a quarterly Arts Society magazine and an invitation to the society’s summer social. Lectures are generally on the third Thursday of every month and members are welcome to bring along a guest for £10 each with prior notice.

To join, email [email protected] or call Charlotte on 07845 206385.

Programme details 2020:

January 16: Nicola Moorby: Turner vs Constable: The Great British Paint-off! The story of two creative geniuses and their epic rivalry which transformed the art of landscape painting. Their diverse backgrounds and styles are examined head to head.

February 13: Martin Lloyd on Napier –How Napier became the Art Deco Capital of the World. An earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Napier in 1931. The audience will be taken through the quake, rescue operation and the factors influencing rebuilding.

March 19 (to include AGM): Paul Chapman: Post-War Australian Painting. The lecture looks at the naïve and expressive stylists of the Heide School, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, while John Brack’s figurative paintings give a post-war social critique of Australian culture.

April 16: James Russell: A garden like no other – Edward James & Las Pozas. In the depths of the Mexican jungle lies what looks like the remains of a lost civilisation, with arches and stairways which tower over waterfalls and pools. However, these were built only in the last century by a rich English eccentric and Surrealist, Edward James.

May 21: Adam Busiakiewicz: The Lute within Old Master Paintings. Busiakiewicz a lutenist himself, will look at the lute in painting – in the Renaissance, played by angels, and in the 16th century, by educated courtiers (Holbein, Titian).

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