Author: Harry Emmett

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Local Lights Open Hollins Photographic Exhibition

The Haworth Art Gallery hosted an event for students, friends, families and local dignitaries to open an exhibition of Hollins students’ photography. The exhibit is the result of a joint venture between The Hollins Cohesion Through Creativity Initiative and the Friends of the Haworth, in which students were given free rein to photograph aspects of the Haworth from a young person’s perspective.

Student photographers unveil their works for friends, family and other Haworth visitors

Councillor Kath Pratt was notable among the guests who attended the opening of ‘Haworth Through the Lens’, a wide-ranging photographic exhibit captured entirely by Hollins students, and now on display in the Haworth’s Education Room. Other guests included Blackburn University Senior Lecturer Martyn Pearson and Peter Graham, a student in the Photographic Media Degree Programme who is making the first formal photographic record of the interior architectural detail of the Haworth Art Gallery. The Haworth Artists’ Network was represented by Clare Drew, who helped prepare the exhibition, along with members of the Friends of Haworth Art Gallery. Continue reading “Local Lights Open Hollins Photographic Exhibition”

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Photography workshop for The Hollins pupils

A productive afternoon for The Hollins photography project group. We started the session with a discussion about themes for the images to be created.  Members of the group can choose to work alone or with other members in a joint project.  Lots of ideas were bouncing around – shapes, colours, angles, exteriors, nature, people, the list grew as pupils explored the possibilities.
Continue reading “Photography workshop for The Hollins pupils”

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Friends First Public Appearance

 

The Craft Fair last Sunday presented the Friends with an opportunity to “go public”. Families proved extremely generous in providing prizes for a tombola stall which kept busy all afternoon. There was plenty of interest shown in the aims of the Friends and several visitors expressed an interest in joining. In fact one lady actually filled in her form AND paid her first year’s subscription after having her go at the tombola. A win-win situation.

The Friends will be in evidence on Sunday December 17th when Father Christmas visits the gallery. Marilyn was the driving force behind the tombola stall and has already started collecting prizes for December

Harry

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Our first curator

A portrait of our first curator Mr Abraham Naboth Imlah Whiston who was valet to Mr William Haworth and continued in employment at Hollins Hill until the death of Miss Anne Haworth .

Harry

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Tea party at the gallery

We are indebted to Janet Duhan who is the great granddaughter of Abraham Whiston for this photograph  we believe to show the celebration of the opening of the Haworth Art Gallery in 1921.

No doubt there could be other similar photographs tucked away in the backs of drawers in Accrington homes and we hope that their owners will loan them to us to copy and include in future publications and biographies. Eventually  we look to producing a pictorial history  of the gallery.

Harry

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Staff biographies progress

The biography of Joseph Taylor is now finished. It has been a fascinating journey unearthing all the life history of the chauffeur to William and Anne Haworth. The book contains many copy documents relating to Joseph’s occupations, his military service and his social life.

Nearing completion are the biographies of Billy Beech the coachman, and Abraham Whiston,  initially valet to William Haworth, and latterly the first curator of the gallery.

It has been a revelation to recognise the impact that Hollins Hill has had in the area. Descendants of the staff still live in the area and their input has been invaluable. We hope to make contact with the families of other members of the Hollins Hill household as our research progresses.

Jean

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Friends meeting

A good meeting this week with lots more info being unearthed in the archives. Also contact from June who used to work at the gallery in the days when Jennifer Rennie was the curator.  A carrier bag full of articles and notes together with a copy of the research done by the American descendants of Joseph Briggs. There are some notes about documents held by the Borthwick Institute which will need further investigation.
We welcomed Melinda to our group.  Melinda moved here with husband 12 years ago and the gallery was the first building they visited, and have kept contact ever since.  Her involvement in other charitable trusts means she brings valuable expertise to our group.
Lots of discussion about applying for funding.  A scheme exists for sums of £3000 to £10000 and funds are available for an assortment of uses.  The need for IT equipment and training into its application into archive recording, research and investigation was acknowledged.  A draft application form was studied and will be subject to further discussion in the very near future.
the photographic project with mature student Peter Graham has produced the firsts set of images and these indicate the businesslike manner he has approached the task.  Peter is currently recording all the fine detail of carvings within the Music Room.
The Friends will have their first public appearance in a Craft Fayre proposed by the gallery management.  We will have the opportunity to explain our aspirations and recruit new members to the group.

Harry

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September Progress

The Friends group is now taking shape. The archives are being explored, recorded and categorised. A heritage trail between Scaitcliffe Mill and the Haworth is under investigation . Similar Arts and Crafts buildings such as Dyke Nook are being sought out. Other examples of the work of Walter Brierley and Simeon Marshall are being recorded, and whilst this may seem that we are stretching in a myriad of directions, we are assembling a list of projects for future research. The building and park are a treasure which has not been marketed.

By promoting the architectural importance of the Haworth we attract another market sector of visitors to add to the already growing number of visitors. The Gallery Kitchen is playing its part in the present success of the Haworth and shows that promotion to a different sector of the market will bring additional visitors. The recent rebranding plays a vital role in helping identify the various market sectors which can be targeted.

 

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Will it all come flooding back?

This dinosaur was impressed and educated into the mysteries of media technology.

The facility for storing information was the first consideration and this I now realise can be done using wordpress.  However, having acquired the data it was explained that it can be used in a variety of ways, in whole or in part. The post to the site can include links to another article or another website. Links obviate the need to copy items into the post.

This post is helping crystallise my understanding and cement my new found knowledge. More newsworthy articles will follow.

Harry