AGM Committee Report 2025
Arts Society Committee Report 2025
This is The Arts Society Gloucestershire’s 44th AGM and I am delighted to see that some of the original members are amongst our audience today. I hope that we have maintained their very high standards. The fact that we now have 250 members, and a waiting list, suggests that this is the case.
2024 has been a great year for our society. Westwoods Hall has been filled to capacity every month, and we have enjoyed fascinating lectures on subjects ranging from the Paintings of Murillo, Palmyra – Bride of the Desert to The Birth of European Porcelain by Lars Tharp. The 2025 season got off to a nervous start when our lecturer cancelled at very short notice, but thankfully our resident Arts Society lecturer Guy Rooker stepped into the breach and gave us a fabulous account of The Life and Work of Leonardo da Vinci. We are so lucky to have such talent in our midst, thank you Guy.
Nickie Clarke has handed over her programme planning responsibilities to Sara Shipway who has slipped seamlessly into the role with an interesting year ahead planned and 2026 on the drawing board. She has also proved that she can cope with a crisis!!
Our Days of Special Interest, organised by Georgie Hayward, have been very popular and well received. We have looked at Post Impressionism and the Art of Art Deco and have been delighted to welcome members from other art societies as well as our own to these Study Days.
Anna Parry escorted a visit to Buscot Park House and Gardens last May which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. In June a small group led by Wendy Stebbing visited The Charterhouse in the City of London and found it to be “one of London’s hidden gems”. Sadly, our Autumn coach trip to Watts Gallery Artist’s Village was cancelled due to lack of support, though a small number of interested members travelled there by car and had a very enjoyable day.
Jill Neilson’s tour to Glasgow in September was a huge success. Charles Rennie Mackintosh featured strongly in the itinerary, but we also spent time visiting The Burrell Collection and Culzean Castle. A very good time was had by all.
Our Community Arts project last year made a significant financial contribution to a new sound system at Henley Bank High School, Brockworth. Their letter of appreciation is printed in our latest newsletter. This year we are sponsoring an after-school Art club at Sherborne C of E Primary school. It has proved to be extremely popular with the children, with 40 turning up for the first class. Apparently, there was paint everywhere! A group of local artists led by Jo Neil are leading the project, the theme of which is the River Windrush.
It would be remiss of us not to pay tribute to Sylvia Coppen-Gardiner who was an original and stalwart member of this society and our long serving President. Her enthusiastic support and interest will be remembered by many of you. Our society was well represented at her funeral in Gloucester Cathedral.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Projection Team without whom our monthly lectures and study days simply would not happen. We greatly appreciate your time, expertise and loyalty to the cause.
And, as I hand over chairmanship to the capable hands of Nickie Clarke, I would like to give a personal thank you to our very hard-working committee who have been a brilliant support to me over the last three years and who are instrumental in the success of The Arts Society Gloucestershire. Thank you
Nickie, I have to break with the tradition established by Etta Howard of giving you an Arts Society brooch which you will see many past chairmen wearing. Sadly, they are no longer available. However, I would like to give you this small gift. I have used the same notebook throughout my three years, and it has been invaluable. So here is a new one for you. All the very best.
Lis Holmes