50 years on and going strong for society expected to ‘likely draw members principally from the ranks of housewives or retired menfolk’
Founded in 1974 and now known as The Arts Society Newbury, this 50-year-old group has heard hundreds of lectures, visited historic houses, galleries, gardens, museums and significant artistic locations at home and abroad, and has grown to a membership of 460, current member ALAN CHILDS tells @newburytoday
From the tombs of Ancient Egypt to the street art of the 21st century, the Aboriginal dream time of Australia to the Swinging Sixties, and the Impressionist glories of Arles to the Hell of medieval Europe, The Arts Society Newbury has spanned history and the globe in its 50-year dedication to spreading the joys of all forms of art.
Since its founding among 10 friends in 1974 and its first meeting in the unlikely surroundings of what is now a funeral parlour, the society has heard hundreds of lectures, visited historic houses, galleries, gardens, museums and significant artistic locations at home and abroad, and has grown to a membership of 460.
Among those recently celebrating the 50th anniversary at historic Shaw House, Newbury, was 91-year-old Sue Pring, a founder member still active as the guest secretary, who welcomes new members and the curious to every lecture.
“We needed 100 people to get started in Newbury” she recalled. “Ten of us were asked to ring up ten people. But we all rang up the same 10 because were all friends. So we had another try.”
The society was the brainchild of Evelyn Smith, who had moved to Newbury after being a member elsewhere of what was then the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. As the newspaper report on the founding put it “it is likely that the members will be drawn principally from the ranks of housewives or retired menfolk”.
And while the attitudes might have changed – the ‘housewives’ are now as likely to have had demanding jobs as running a home – the ambition to inform, delight and entertain everybody with a love of art in all its forms is still at the heart of what the society does – along with plenty of tea, coffee and biscuits.
It hosts events throughout the year, with lecturers sharing their knowledge. The subjects of the annual 10 monthly lectures have ranged from Caravaggio and his followers to the history of the tulip, from an analysis of Picasso to ‘Irish Follies (Mad buildings for Madder People)’, from the 12th century composer and abbess Hildegard of Bingen to Punch and Judy.
This year alone has heard about the development of baroque music, the great British paint-off between Constable and Turner, and the dash to save some of the world’s most beautiful mosaics from the rising waters of a Turkish dam.
The society is part of the national Arts Society, which changed its name from the unwieldy NAFDAS in 2017, with 90,000 members and branches across the world.
The Newbury society, which attracts members from across the Berkshire and Hampshire region, has access to the Arts Society Directory, a compendium of more than 350 specialists who are, says the society chair Kate Harwood, rigorously vetted for their knowledge, as well as for their ability to be engaging and articulate.
Sometimes they may need a little help, though. Sue Pring recalls one who didn’t sparkle. “He was so bad in the morning lecture, so boring we could hardly sit through it” she said, with a mischievous smile. “We thought ‘we’ll fill him up at lunchtime with endless glasses of white wine’. And the afternoon lecture was brilliant.”
Nowadays the – sober – lecturers take advantage of the state-of-the-art presentation equipment at Arlington Arts at Mary Hare School, Newbury. The morning and afternoon lectures are also usually on Zoom, so there is no longer a need for the waiting lists for membership that often sent the society hunting for larger premises. Not everywhere was suitable. A committee minute from 1984 remarks sniffily: “The secretary had visited the … Hall and reported that it was unsuitable due to an all-pervading smell of alcohol.”
There have also always been Special Interest Days, which cover the whole range of arts from individual artists to architecture, music, sculpture, jewellery, couture and much more. There are visits to historic and beautiful houses, gardens and galleries, and trips such as this year’s based in Arles, Provence.
Through community grants it supports its Young Arts projects to encourage children to engage with the arts. Local school children have in recent years enjoyed theatre trips to see how a play is produced, and funds have paid for a visiting arts teacher. This year there was a grant to West Berkshire Mencap, based in Newbury, to buy a special cutting machine for use with arts-based activities, to encourage creativity and produce items for sale to help raise funds.
The society also supports Church Recording – not a selection of music, but a project to make a record of the content of local churches in photographs and text, from the ceilings to the wall plaques to the hassocks.
Kate Harwood said: “We are proud to be celebrating our 50th year. We are building on a wonderful foundation, and we have put together an eclectic, entertaining and thought-provoking programme of lectures and trips for the forthcoming year.
“We’re always keen to welcome new members, so come for a coffee and a chat before the lecture. “
And after 50 years Sue Pring is still enthusiastic. “I think the main thing is that I’ve made lots of lovely friends” she said. “And I’ve been to places I would never otherwise have been to, and I’ve learnt things I would never otherwise have learnt.”
How to join
A year’s membership includes 10 lectures at either 10.30 or 1.45 for a fee of £60 per person or £115 for two people living at the same address. The interested-but-not-sure can come as a guest for just £10 - which is taken off the membership fee of those who then choose to join. Full information on lectures, Special Interest Days, and trips can be found at theartssocietynewbury.org.uk
For more information on The Arts Society: theartssociety.org
2024/2025 Season of lectures
September 24 Pepe Martinez: Banksy: Fraud or
Genius
October 22 Anna Moszynska: The Body as a Place:
The Sculpture of Anthony Gormley
November 19 Kathy McLauchlan: Peder Severin
Krøyer: Painter of Northern light
January 21 Lynne Gibson: Alchemy and Adventure: A
History of Exotic Colours and Poisonous Pigments
February 18 - Brian Stater: The Stirling Prize: British
Architecture’s Oscars
March 18 - Simon Whitehouse: Wilde About Oscar: Famous
for being Famous (and Infamous) 1854-1900
April 15 Clive Stewart-Lockhart: Betty Joel: Glamour and
Innovation in 1930s Interior Design
May 20 Amanda Herries: Opium - Seduction, Greed, Art
June 17 Christopher Garibaldi: Treasures of the Turf -The
Fine and Decorative Arts of Horseracing
July 15 Laurie Wickwire: The De Beers Diamond Cartel,
Romancing the Stone
