Progress towards development took a dramatic turn one September night in 2003 when fire swept through the adjoining former sub-Post Office building. Despite evidence of arson, the police have made no arrest. However, the incident allowed Kettle's Yard to take possession and begin to plan its future more firmly.
Meanwhile we are preparing for tougher times with the ending of certain funding streams coinciding with lower investment income and increased costs of staff pensions.
In exhibitions and music we pursued our policy of mixing the contemporary with the modern historical, established with up-and-coming artists, British with international. The fertile relationship between house and gallery was developed during the year with two artists continuing the series of interventions in the house and two exhibitions, Immaterial and The Pier Arts Centre Collection, extending our view of collection artists.
Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern continued to chair the Committee. Mr John Talbot and Mr Steven Morris (in place of the University Treasurer) were welcomed as new members.
Mr Michael Harrison continued as Director, assisted by Ms Susie Biller, Marketing and Events Officer, Mr Sebastiano Barassi, Curator of Collections, Ms Julia Tozer, Education Officer, Mrs Maree Allitt, Bookshop Manager, Mr Paul Allitt, Technician, Dr Elizabeth Haslemere, Administrative Assistant, Ms Deborah Owens, Ms Mary Conochie and Ms Sabrina Rippon, Gallery Assistants, and Mr Hywel Evans, Cleaner.
Ms Elizabeth Fisher replaced Mr Rob Tufnell as Exhibitions Organizer, and Ms Lara Gisborne replaced Ms Penelope Stuart as Administrative Secretary. Ms Lara Sellen provided maternity cover for Ms Biller.
Planning towards the development of new educational facilities and a café proceeded. An architectural group, comprising members of the Kettle's Yard Committee and the Director, conducted a limited competition with fourteen architectural practices invited to submit portfolios; six were invited to interview and three were commissioned to develop proposals. Jamie Fobert Architects were selected and are currently preparing more detailed plans. Preparations are in hand for a dual campaign to raise capital and endowment money.
The following works were lent to temporary exhibitions:
To Barbara Hepworth (Tate St Ives, 19 May - 12 October 2003):
Barbara Hepworth, Three Personages (BH 2)
To Mad Modernity: Futurism and the British Avant-Garde 1910-1920 (Estorick Collection, London, 4 February - 18 April, and Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, 7 May - 25 July 2004):
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Door-Knocker (HGB 11a)
To Ben Nicholson (The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, 7 February - 28 March; Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, 9 April - 23 May; and Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo, 29 May - 25 July 2004):
Ben Nicholson, Goblet and Two Pears (BN 20)
Ben Nicholson, Painted Box (BN 19)
Ben Nicholson, Painted Relief (BN 8)
To Between Poetry and Art: Christopher Wood. His Life, Art, and Friendships (Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 21 February - 15 May 2004):
Christopher Wood, Jean Bourgoint with Cat (CW 25)
Winifred Nicholson, Seascape with Two Boats (WN 6)
Alfred Wallis, Sailing Ships and Two Steamers, Newlyn Harbour (AW 62)
The following works by Elisabeth Vellacott were given by Mr Tobias Thompson:
Study for 'Christ Driving the Photographers from King's College Chapel', 1981 (circa), graphite on paper (EV 18)
Study for 'The Concert', 1977 (circa), graphite on paper (EV 19)
Three figures seated at a table - study for a painting, n.d. graphite on paper (EV 20)
Twelve figures - study for a painting, n.d., graphite on paper (EV 21)
Six figures standing on a hill - study for a painting (?), n.d., graphite on paper (EV 22)
Sketch of the Scilly Islands, n.d., pen on paper (EV 23)
Trees, n.d., lithograph (EV 24)
Orchard, n.d., lithograph (EV 25)
Following her death, Elisabeth Vellacott's executors gave her archive, consisting of letters, books, photographs, and ephemera, to Kettle's Yard.
The following works were restored or treated:
Paintings: William Congdon (WC 13), Ben Nicholson (BN 3 and BN 4), Winifred Nicholson (WN 2 and WN 7), Italo Valenti (IV 7), Alfred Wallis (AW 1), and Christopher Wood (CW 3 and CW 7).
Works on paper: David Jones (DJ 6), Elisabeth Vellacott (EV 2, EV 3, and EV 9), Mario Sironi (MS 30) and Alfred Wallis (AW57).
Applied Arts: Moroccan mirror (032 1985 F) and two Staffordshire plates (003 a-b 1985 C).
A full survey of the paintings on display in the house was carried out by Sally Woodcock in November. The ground floor of the cottages was redecorated in December. A pest management programme was initiated in July, with grants from Cambridgeshire County Council and EEMLAC.
112 students participated in the scheme on a term-by-term basis, borrowing a total of 169 works.
As in previous years, the great majority of exhibitions was originated inhouse. The highlight was an ambitious historical exhibition, Immaterial, involving loans from collections in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and England. Three senior English artists were given one-person exhibitions and an international line-up of younger artists made up the balance. The following exhibitions were held during the year:
Alan Reynolds (9 August - 21 September 2003)
A retrospective exhibition of the English constructive artist.
Marion Coutts and Claude Heath (27 September - 2 November 2003)
The incoming and outgoing Kettle's Yard Artist Fellows.
The Unhomely (8 November 2003 - 11 January 2004)
An international exhibition taking its cue from Freud's essay 'Das Unheimliche'.
Dwelling (8 November 2003 - 11 January 2004)
Hiraki Sawa's video of a flat taken over by miniature passenger aircraft, shown in the house.
Immaterial: Brancusi, Gabo, Moholy-Nagy (17 January - 14 March 2004)
A major loan exhibition exploring the dematerialization of the sculptural object, including sculpture, graphic works, photographs, photograms, and film. Later shown at Southampton City Art Gallery. Supported by Arts Council England and the Henry Moore Foundation.
Attila Csörgö: Platonic Love (27 March - 9 May)
Geometric explorations from polyhedral puppetry to specially commissioned global photographs of everything around us. Supported by the Hungarian Cultural Institute.
Ian McKeever: recent paintings and ten years of drawing (15 May - 4 July 2004)
A new series of Sentinel paintings accompanied by a retrospective of works on paper. Organized to coincide with exhibitions at Newlyn Art Gallery and Alan Cristea Gallery, London.
The Pier Art Centre Collection (10 July - 12 September 2004)
Highlights from the collection given by Margaret Gardiner to Stromness in the Orkneys, including works by Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon, and other St Ives artists.
Douglas Allsop (10 July - 12 September 2004)
Works using reflective materials to question our processes of perception, including works specially made for the house.
Marion Coutts was in residence at St John's College throughout the year. Professor Simon Biggs continued his collaboration with Dr Eugene Teventjov in the Cavendish Laboratories.
Again we provided more than one educational activity for every day of the year; 375 sessions took place, of which 95 were for schools, colleges, and universities.
Wednesday Club, the weekly practical session for children, and the fortnightly Saturday Drawing, for older children and adults have continued to be popular, as have almost all the holiday and weekend workshops. Family sessions, led by the Cambridge Centre for Creativity and Imagination, have been particularly well attended; inspired by the pioneering early years work in Reggio, Italy, adults are encouraged to play creatively alongside their children. Events for 'The Big Draw' and the 'Cambridge Science Festival' were also popular.
Two other regular activities have been reviewed. In to Touch will be replaced this year by descriptive talks, suitable for all, including people with limited vision, and Young Kettle's Yard will be reborn as KY:create, a fortnightly weekend meeting for young people
We endeavour to welcome as wide an audience as possible to Kettle's Yard. During 2003-04, new and, hopefully, long-term relationships have been forged with several organizations. Through Cambridge University Counselling Service, students visit the house and gallery and make work in a relaxed environment once a week throughout term. To make new contacts, more outreach work has been necessary than in previous years: a slide talk at a lunch club in Fulbourn for people suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, a visit to a Cambridge Alzheimer's art group, and sessions for patients at Fulbourn Hospital and at The Clubhouse, a Cambridge Day Centre for people with mental health problems. All these groups have since visited or booked a date for the near future and regular contact is planned.
Work with Addenbrooke's Hospital has begun in collaboration with the Fitzwilliam Museum. The project 'Art and Wellbeing' started with sessions for consultants and nurses in Oncology to be followed by visits from outpatients and their carers and work on the wards with young people suffering from leukaemia. This project will be carefully monitored with a view to seeking funding to develop and expand it over the coming year.
We were able to follow up the 2002 workshop for GCSE music students at Chesterton Community College led by The Delta Saxophone Quartet with a visit by the Sans Souci Ensemble through the New Music Fellowship. Some of the students attended Sans Souci's subsequent performance here.
Kettle's Yard has joined forces with the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Museum of Classical Archaeology to offer workshops and we are hoping to work with the Sedgwick Museum in 2004-05. Kettle's Yard was also involved in the Cambridge Film Festival, hosting the opening evening of a course based at Cambridge Regional College on video art for artists and teachers. We were also able to work with the Cambridge Film Consortium, helping to arrange a workshop in film making for people in hostel accommodation at 222 Victoria Road as part of our on-going monthly programme of work with them, now in its second year.
In addition to its use by schools during the week, and as a drop in art room during weekends and holidays, the Education Room housed two exhibitions during 2003-04. Darren Florio, a young artist with a history of mental illness showed his work and sold six paintings. He has subsequently had an exhibition at The Junction and his work has appeared on the cover of their leaflet. Work by children from Kings Hedges, Fowlmere, Arbury, and Icknield primary schools was displayed during the Primary Vision scheme organized by Stagecoach. Children and their families, mostly first- time visitors to Kettle's Yard, had a private view and a tour of the house and gallery.
The exhibition Immaterial proved to be hugely popular, with 25 school and college groups booking talks and workshops. We produced a resource pack with slides and notes for teachers which was borrowed by 19 schools and colleges. There was a great deal of informal activity at the weekends and during half term, with people using materials available in the art room. Through a grant from the University's Active Communities Fund we worked with volunteers who gained valuable experience helping with workshops and talks.
We continue to welcome teachers and people involved with education to their own private view which accompanies each exhibition. This year we produced a guide for secondary schools. This is to help GCSE art students use Kettle's Yard artists in the contextual studies module of their course work. 16 art teachers from City schools came for lunch and a meeting to discuss the guide, which is now in circulation.
Meanwhile, our work within the University continued. The Director joined the Board of the Faculty of Architecture and the History of Art and served as an adviser to the New Hall Art Collection. The Curator of Collections continued as Director of Studies in the History of Art at Fitzwilliam College and helped with admission interviews to New Hall. He delivered two lectures to Part I History of Art students, three seminars to Part II, and a postgraduate seminar. He lectured to the University History of Art Summer School. Works in Kettle's Yard provided the subjects for five third-year long essays. The Immaterial exhibition was well used by University and Anglia Polytechnic University courses. We have been consulted over the restructuring of Year 3 of the Tripos and the inclusion of a course on the display of art from 2005-06 to which Kettle's Yard will contribute. 75 Film and Communication Studies students from APU used the Unhomely exhibition and the house as part of a second-year module, relating to Freud's essay 'Das Unheimliche'. Visits to the house will continue to be part of this course. The New Music Fellow contributed to teaching in the Faculty of Music.
There were 16 concerts in the subscription series:
| October | 30 | Belcea Quartet |
| November | 6 | Thomas Carroll - cello, Carole Presland - piano |
| 13 | Tom Poster - piano (The Max Forbes concert) | |
| 20 | Nash Ensemble with Mark Padmore - tenor | |
| Robin Holloway 60th birthday concert | ||
| (In association with the Cambridge Music Festival at West Road) | ||
| 27 | Red Byrd: Anna Maria Friman - soprano, John Potter - tenor, Richard Wistreich - bass, and Elizabeth Kenny - theorbo |
| January | 29 | Christopher Willis - piano |
| February | 5 | Michelangelo Quartet (The Jim and Helen Ede concert) |
| 12 | So-Ock Kim - violin and Tom Blach - piano | |
| 19 | Florestan Trio (In association with the Friends of Kettle's Yard at West Road) | |
| 26 | Composers Ensemble - Kenneth Hesketh, Kettle's Yard Music Fellow 03/4, Portrait Concert |
| April | 29 | Daniel Tong - piano, Benjamin Nabarro - violin, Lawrence Power - viola, and Jonathan Cohen - cello (Dvorak Centenary Concert) |
| May | 6 | Sarah Leonard - soprano, Susanne Stanzeleit - violin, and Julian Jacobson - piano |
| 13 | Lucy Wakeford - harp | |
| 20 | Ronan Collett - baritone, Lindy Tennent-Brown - piano | |
| 27 | Simon Crawford-Phillips and Phillip Moore - piano, four hands duo | |
| June | 16 | Kettle's Yard Ensemble |
The rates of subscription in 2003-04 were as follows:
| Subscribers: | £75 per annum, £30 per term |
| Students: | £25 per annum, £10 per term |
| Guests: | £8 per concert |
The Friday lunchtime student concerts during 2003-04 were organized by Benjamin Moore who is at Peterhouse studying History of Art. There were 26 free concerts during 2003-04, which consistently drew strong audiences.
The composer Kenneth Hesketh took up the Kettle's Yard and Corpus Christi New Music Fellow. He has been keen to pursue connections between the music and visual arts programmes in the new music concert series and in his own composition, The exhibition Immaterial has prompted him to write new works based on Naum Gabo's monoprints and Moholy-Nagy's film Lichtspiel. He organized the following programme:
| January | 25 | Continuum Ensemble |
| February | 8 | Talk - Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Douglas Young - Barbara Hepworth and Priaulx Rainier |
| 15 | Kreutzer Quartet | |
| March | 7 | Sans Souci Trio |
| May | 2 | Galliard Quintet and Andrew Zolinsky |
| 16 | Sarah Nicholls - piano; preceded by a talk on French music by Caroline Potter | |
| 30 | Talk - Edward Roxburgh | |
| June | 13 | Marie Vassilou - soprano, Zoe Martlew - cello, Huw Watkins - piano |
| February | 1 | Cambridge University New Music Society (CUNMS) |
| February | 22 | Live Experimental Arts Performance Society (LEAPS) |
| February | 29 | Mechanical Electronic Musical Experience (MEME) - Anglia Polytechnic University |
| May | 9 | Cambridge University New Music Society, Live Experimental Arts Performance Society, Mechanical Electronic Musical Experience |
| 23 | Cambridge Gamelan Society and Mechanical Electronic Musical Experience |
Cambridge Modern Jazz Club concentrated all its programming at Kettle's Yard with nine concerts during the year.
The Kettle's Yard Amateur Music Network, which provides the means for musicians in and around Cambridge to make contact with each other, held two informal concerts.
42,146 visits to 9 exhibitions over 276 days.
20,767 visits to the house over 310 days.
6,923 participants in educational activities, talks, lectures, and group visits.
5,812 attendances at concerts.
798 attendances at corporate events and late-night viewings.
The figure of 42,146 for exhibitions compares with 43,975 last year; 20,767 visits to the house compare with 20,666. The overall attendance of 76,446 compares with 77,246 in 2001-02 and 72,832 in 2000-01.
Summary accounts for 2003-04 for each of the main areas of activity are shown in the table below:
| Income | Expenditure | Surplus/(Deficit) | |
| Recurrent account | 309,837.79 | 261,357.29 | 48,480.50 |
| Exhibitions account | 109,129.08 | 160,588.73 | (51,459.65) |
| House account | 7,385.33 | 8,723.21 | (1,337.88) |
| New Music account | 25,046.10 | 28,380.74 | (3,334.64) |
| Education account | 13,485.65 | 13,909.66 | (424.01) |
| Trading account | 63,357.17 | 33,632.96 | 29,724.21 |
| Surplus/(deficit) for the year | 21,648.53 | ||
| Carried forward from 2002-03 | 90,092.22 | ||
| Accumulated surplus | 111,740.75 | ||
| Income | Expenditure | Surplus/(Deficit) | |
| Music account | |||
| Surplus/(deficit) for the year | 27,708.28 | 31,617.40 | (3,909.12) |
| Carried forward from 2002-03 | 10,582 | ||
| Accumulated surplus | 6,673 | ||
| Appeal account | |||
| Surplus/(deficit) for the year | 6,462.19 | 46,680.57 | (40,218.38) |
| Carried forward from 2002-03 | 68,783 | ||
| Accumulated surplus | 28,564.62 | ||
The year has been a full one of exciting exhibitions and musical performance, and significant developments in broadening our public, particularly in areas of disadvantage.
None of this would be possible without the help of our funders. We thank, in particular, our regular supporters: Arts Council England, the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Henry Moore Foundation, Cambridge City Council, the Isaac Newton Trust, and the Friends of Kettle's Yard, whose founding father, Dr Derek Taunt, sadly died this year. Nor would we manage without the long hours that many volunteers devote to Kettle's Yard in support of the staff.
The new year will be a challenging one in which we set about the task of ensuring that our plans for development, to build upon the foundations we have laid, can be achieved and sustained. We shall be appealing to our supporters to help in whatever way they can and will warmly welcome their advice and enquiries.
MARILYN STRATHERN, Chair
September 2004