Previous page
Table of Contents
| Previous page |
Table of Contents |
Next page |
The Friends have, once again, had a successful and enjoyable year. The continued hard work put in by so many to achieve the results is much appreciated.
Once again the Friends have made a significant contribution to the activities of Kettle's Yard. This was most visible, and audible, in grants to the N01SE and ABCDavid Kindersley exhibitions, but equally valuable in helping to sustain the Gallery Assistant post and the programme to conserve works on paper in the House collection. Funding from the Friends also allowed publication of the Kettle's Yard Newsletter and useful additions to the fine art library in the House.
The revenue grant of £20,000 by the Friends to Kettle's Yard is more than double that of five years ago, reflecting the growth in membership and activities. In addition, the Friends continued to finance the Kettle's Yard Christmas Card.
On 31 July 2000, the Friends' assets exceeded £100,000 for the first time. The holding of Amalgamated Fund Units was unchanged, the value standing at £82,472. Subscriptions and donations increased substantially during 1999-2000. Under the new regulations for charities introduced in the March 2000 Budget, we have been able to reclaim significantly more tax on receipts since April.
Membership of the Friends now stands at a record 1,221, an increase of 63 since the last Annual General Meeting. Life membership has increased to 46 (22 joint and 24 individual) and we have a small but growing number of Patrons paying £100 a year. This compares well with equivalent organizations, e.g., Friends of Bristol City Art Gallery (800 members), Friends of Birmingham Art Gallery (1,500). The membership figures for Kettle's Yard are, therefore, very impressive for an organization of the size of Kettle's Yard situated in a city the size of Cambridge.
The new 'Join the Friends' leaflets and membership renewal forms include an updated tax declaration section, so it should no longer be necessary to chase up so many individual members. Since the budget changes in March we have received tax declarations from nearly half of our members, and we hope to reach about 90 per cent by the end of April 2001, allowing for students and non-taxpayers.
Once again the Friends' past year has been marked by sustained activity. In the past, events could be classified into three categories - those in and around Cambridge, day visits by coach, and longer trips that involved several nights away in hotels. Following on the previous year's inaugural activities, we can now include a fourth category of events, organized for younger Friends.
We continued to explore the treasures of our own region. Parties have been made welcome in Pembroke and Christ's Colleges and the Judge Institute; house visits have, as always, been over-subscribed; artists have opened their studios and spoken about their work; we have also had excellent lectures on public art and Indian pottery. Once the business of the Annual General Meeting had been disposed of, we had an excellent party, co-ordinated this year by Eve Bradford, with the draw for Philippa Hill's highly successful raffle.
Our seven trips to London were unusually varied. We returned to the Royal Academy, National, Whitechapel, Hayward, and Serpentine Galleries, and braved the crowds at the newly opened Tate Modern. We also found our way to the Percival Collection of Oriental Art and University College in Bloomsbury, the Estorick in Islington, the Imperial War Museum in Kennington, and a fine private collection near Hyde Park. We also enjoyed a conducted tour of Docklands and reached the Art Deco Eltham Palace and Kenwood House. The four visits outside London were equally varied. On the first we visited the Cecil Higgins Gallery in Bedford and Rockingham Castle. We explored galleries in the newly renovated centre of Birmingham and attended a concert in Symphony Hall. We investigated churches in deepest Suffolk before attending the centre at Wingfield and ending the evening at a chamber concert in the lovely church. Finally we travelled to the splendid New Gallery at Walsall and continued on to Lichfield. Support for these day visits has increased over the year and two coaches were needed to accommodate the parties that went to the Tate Modern and Walsall/Lichfield.
In the spring Ann Roseblade and Liz Budd led a lively party to Normandy. They used the lovely cathedral city of Rouen as a base for exploring attractions such as Giverny and the Abbey of Jumièges. Reg Prescott and Martin Ballard took another group to the West Country. Dodging heavy showers, participants visited galleries, great houses, and church buildings in Avon, Somerset, and Wiltshire. As well as providing much to see, both these visits proved happy social events.
This year saw a successful first season of events especially aimed at younger Friends. In July a family picnic took place in the beautiful grounds of Hemingford Manor followed by a special tour of the house - the setting for Lucy Boston's children's books. 'Alphabet Soup' in May took the form of a lively, hands-on family sculpture workshop, run alongside the David Kindersley exhibition. In May also, a small group led by Jeremy Musson, architecture editor of Country Life, spent a day in Essex visiting an Erno Goldfinger house and an early Richard Rogers house, where Friends were shown the studio of the house's owner, photographer/artist, Humphrey Spender. Younger Friends have also taken part in the series of Last Chance to See ... evenings, organized by Kettle's Yard, which are designed to help build new audiences for the gallery exhibitions.
During the course of the year more than 350 of our members took part in one or more events. Thanks must go to all members of the Events Sub-Committee, who helped maintain a high standard of organization.
Overall the Friends have had a successful and rewarding year. As a result the Friends continue to find themselves in good shape and look forward, with Kettle's Yard itself, to an enjoyable 2001.
Gillian Beer, CHAIR
| Previous page |
Table of Contents |
Next page |
Cambridge University Reporter Special, 19 January 2001
Copyright © 2001 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.