DAME LAURA KNIGHT AND THE ART OF CORNWALL

A true pioneer for her gender, Dame Laura Knight not only achieved a host of 'firsts' for a women artist, but became arguably Britain's most famous and best-loved artist of the mid-C20th. Her talent showed itself at a remarkably young age - she was just 15 when she enrolled at Nottingham School of Art - and remained with her throughout her remarkable and long life. Focussing primarily on her time in Cornwall, this talk also looks at her incredibly wide oeuvre, taking in ceramics and printmaking as well as painting, and subjects as diverse as circus and ballet to the Nuremburg Trials. A wild spirit, seemingly loved by all who knew her, Dame Laura's work will enchant you, as will her personality, which still shines through from her art and writing.

How to book this event:

Tickets £37 ( £42 for non-members) to include 3 lectures, coffee, lunch, wine and tea. 10.30am - 3pm

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THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Mrs Alison Bevan

Since graduating in History of Art from Nottingham University in 1986, Alison Bevan (née Lloyd) has spent her entire career working in public art galleries. Starting out at the Graham Sutherland Gallery in her home county of Pembrokeshire, she then spent ten years organising and curating exhibitions at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea, where she honed her broadcast media skills, including presenting a weekly Arts News feature on BBC Radio Wales, 1995-6.

In 1999, Alison took up the role of Director of Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance. Here she became an acknowledged expert on the Newlyn, Lamorna and St Ives artists colonies (1880-1940), a subject on which has lectured in the UK, USA and France. She raised the profile of this area of art through initiating national and international touring exhibitions, and contributing to numerous publications and television programmes, and in 2013 was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Cultural Heritage in Cornwall.

From 2013-2024, Alison was Director of the RWA (Royal West of England Academy) – Britain’s only regional Royal Academy of Art: an extraordinary historic institution whose Academicians have included leading figures of the Newlyn School and Bloomsbury Group, and today include Sir Peter Blake, Sir Frank Bowling and Eileen Cooper.

Now based in Chepstow and working as a freelance lecturer, curator and consultant, she is also Chair of Bristol Museums’ Oversight Board; a Fellow of the Museums Association, and an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Bristol.