The Arts Society at 50: the Lecturers’ stories

Veteran Accredited Lecturer Bertie Pearce and new Lecturer Kate Aspinall share their experiences with The Arts Society, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary.

Photo: John Millar

Bertie Pearce’s story:

As a member of the Inner Magic Circle, a select group of 300 magicians, I discovered The Arts Society when a friend of the family asked me to perform a magic show for the Wealden Society. I had never heard of the organisation before and I imagined it to be very illustrious and rather serious, so I decided to give a lecture on the history of magic, performing all of the tricks along the way. I titled it ‘Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion’ and it was my first ever lecture. Little did I know that this first experience would mark the start of my Arts Society journey.
 
After that show, I decided to turn more of my interests into lectures. I put together a second lecture on Punch and Judy shows and, unbeknownst to me, an Arts Society ‘secret shopper’ was in the audience for my first performance. It was volunteer Pat Wood, who gave me the green light on my journey towards becoming an Accredited Lecturer.
 
Ten years ago, I attended my first annual Directory Day for Arts Society Lecturers at Kensington Town Hall. Delivering your two-minute presentation to all the Societies’ Programme Planners is a baptism of fire! With my theatrical background and unusual subject matter, I decided I would burst onto the stage and rip up a copy of The Telegraph newspaper, before making mystic passes and restoring it to wholeness, there and then. From then on, I’ve never looked back.
 
Two lectures on Charles Dickens followed, both of which gave me more scope to perform, and this year I have put together two new talks. One is on theatre and set design and the other is about a bronze faun statue, which once stood in my grandfather’s garden, before (in an extraordinary turn of fate) ending up in The Getty museum in California. It’s a story that even a magician can barely believe!
 
The Arts Society has taken me to every corner of the UK, and abroad to locations including Berlin, Hamburg, the Costa del Sol and Paris. For me, the magic of the Society is the people. I never tire of the thrill of bringing my lectures (or performances, as I call them) to a curious audience. I have so many happy memories of warm-hearted people, of weird and wonderful places, and of celebrations that I have been a part of. It is a privilege and a joy.
 
I have come to love this organisation and to deeply appreciate the way it has influenced my life. 

Kate Aspinall’s story:

I had heard great things about The Arts Society for years, so when I saw the call for its first Lecturing Academy, a five-day residential course for budding Lecturers to develop their skills, I jumped at the opportunity. My research focuses on 20th-century British and American art. It’s a period that encompassed a range of styles, from the Ben-Day dot-printing techniques of Roy Lichtenstein to the impasto painting strokes of David Bomberg.
 
At first glance, works from this period can seem difficult to understand – for example, Francis Bacon’s distorted paintings of the human figure and Bridget Riley’s geometric paintings. I aim to demystify and to make these works accessible. It’s always rewarding to see people engage with artworks they previously found challenging.
 
My initial experience at the Lecturing Academy encouraged me to apply to become an Accredited Lecturer. The Arts Society’s vetting process is incredibly thorough. It took five months and it involved an audition in London and an anonymous observation of a lecture I gave at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.
 
As a new Accredited Lecturer, I am excited to share my passion for 20th-century art and to raise awareness of artwork that remains underappreciated or poorly understood.
 
As told to The Arts Society Magazine spring 2018.