News
2009 WNAA Annual General Meeting
Around 40 members attended the WNAA Annual General Meeting, which was held in the Shakespeare Barn at King’s Lynn Arts Centre on Tuesday 17th November. During the meeting, the committee put forward proposals for events next year, which will include the annual Summer Exhibition at St Nicholas Chapel, another coach outing, and the continuation of our monthly meetings and regular Update newsletter. There was agreement that we should in some way celebrate the Association’s 10th Anniversary in October 2010, but exactly how that will be done remains to be finalized.
There were lively discussions about the two motions proposed by Michael Smith, which would have resulted in substantial changes to the future direction of the WNAA, but at the end of the evening votes were taken and both motions were defeated. Resulting from that, the present system whereby the WNAA is open to membership by all arts practitioners will continue. The Summer Exhibition will also continue to be selected by a team of three volunteers, although the WNAA committee will consider ways in which the exhibition can show as much work as is reasonably possible, consistent with keeping the standard to the highest level.
There was one change to the current committee, with Julie Spriggs standing down, to be replaced by John Walker. Our thanks to Julie for all the work she’s put in over the last couple of years, and a warm welcome to John. During his Chairman’s Report, Stephen Martyn indicated that he will be standing down both from the chair and from the committee at the next AGM in 2010, to concentrate on his own arts practice.
After the business of the AGM had been concluded, Michael Bell gave a short talk on how the Association came into being, some nine years ago. It was fascinating to hear how the Association grew out of a very loose group of Open Studios participants, and Michael has promised to write an article about those early times for a future edition of Update. Michael also mentioned his "artists’ retreat" in central France, where all WNAA members would be welcome. We’ll bring you more information about La Colo in the future, but in the meantime the WNAA will forward any enquiries. Use the information on the Contact page to get in touch.
Awards to WNAA Members
At the September ArtExchange meeting, which was held at King's Lynn Arts Centre, WNAA Chairman Stephen Martyn had the pleasant duty of presenting two awards for achievements at the Association's annual Summer Exhibition. The Syd Davison Award for Best In Show was won this year by Helen Breach, who received the engraved glass bowl that is presented to the winner. Syd, the first chairman of the WNAA, sadly died a few years ago, the award being set up by his wife, Joyce. The winner of the award was selected by Russell Boulter and Clare Walker of Doric Arts, Holt.
Visitors to the exhibition at St Nicholas Chapel, King's Lynn, were invited to vote for their favourite work. The winner of the most votes was Lynda Roberts, for her pastel painting "Jack". She received a cheque for £50 from the WNAA. Pictured below are the two winners, each being presented with their award by Stephen Martyn. Lynda's painting can be seen beside her.
2009 Annual Summer Exhibition
Our 8th annual Summer Exhibition took place during the last two weeks of July, as part of the King's Lynn Festival. Held, as always, in St Nicholas Chapel, the exhibition was bigger than ever this year, with ten new display boards for paintings, plus sculpture on plinths and several installations.
Around sixty WNAA members took part, exhibiting a selection of work ranging from traditional paintings and prints, to installations literally at the cutting edge - Tom Sharp's Dinosaw, made out of recycled saws!
Visitor numbers were good and despite the recession a number of works were sold, along with many artists' greetings cards and prints. The official opening by the Mayor of King's Lynn saw the chapel crowded with member artists, their friends, family and clients, some of whom went on to the hog roast organised by the Friends of St Nicholas Chapel.
Selection of works this year was carried out by Martin Skipper, Neil Leggett and Mary Houghton, who faced the difficult task of choosing the works that, together as a body, best represented the Association. In addition our thanks must go to the team who organised and set-up the exhibition, as without the behind-the-scenes work, these events simply could not happen.
The annual Syd Davison award for Best In Show was won by Helen Breach, who will receive an engraved glass trophy, together with a showcase at Doric Arts Gallery in Holt. You can see one of Helen's winning paintings on the right. Winner of the Visitors' Choice award for most popular work in the show was Lynda Roberts, who will receive a £50 cheque from the WNAA.
Most people seemed to agree that this exhibition was one of our best ever. Next year we will strive to improve still further!
A view of the exhibition
Tom Sharp's Dinosaw