Category: Friends’ Outing

Posted on

Raising the Roof to Raise Funds!

Diner-style delights. No Amercian Graffiti on these walls please!

Friends and family rocked around the clock at a fifties fun night Saturday to raise funds for a good cause. The Friends of Haworth Art Gallery joined forces with the Gallery Kitchen and Haworth staff to raise an impressive £800 towards a defibrillator for Haworth Art Gallery and grounds.

Nice duds dudes!

 

The fun kicked off with raspberry cocktails to complement the American diner delicacies, and guests geared up to an evening of fifties festivities with a charity auction and raffle. Generous gifts of paintings by Haworth Stable Block artists Heather Ashton, Catherine Lansdale and Steve Crowther, and a team shirt signed by Accrington Stanley players were just some of the brilliant buys on the block.

 

Roll over Beethoven, Elvis and Buddy Holly..

Guests got into the swing in some great 1950’s era gear to bring the rock ‘n’ roll vibe alive. DJ Michael Sixsmith and his partner Kyla Louise got the party started with their dance demos and some lightning lessons in jive and twist. The mood was buoyant as people found their stride and stepped up to the beat. Even the air guitar was period perfection!

 

Could Bill Haley have matched this performance with one Comet?

Sales and donations were off the charts and the total raised was a real shot in the arm for the target amount. An enormous ‘Thank you!’ to Accrington Stanley for their superb support, to our generous artists and all our kind donors, bidders, guests and everyone who helped to make the evening such a huge success, not least the Haworth and Gallery Kitchen staff.

Here’s to the next one!

 

 

 

Posted on

Get your Grease on!

Fascinated by the fifties? Always find your feet tapping to a jumpin’ jive? Fancy learning a few steps to make those moves sing with the swing? If the answer to any of these is ‘yes’, make sure to grab your tickets NOW for the Friends’ Fifties Diner & Rock ‘n’ Roll night. A real throwback to the days of diners, drive-ins, juke boxes and soda fountains, our fifties night will make your heart beat to the sweet sounds of rock ‘n’ roll. You’ll be going ape on the floor before you can say: ‘Let’s go, Daddy-O!’

Kicking off with a cocktail, you’ll have an evening filled with fifties favourites and served up with a delicious two-course dinner from the Gallery Kitchen. If the dance steps are new to you, there’s a primer to get you started and fistfuls of floor-fillers to put your moves into practice. There’s even a dance-off for any Sandy or Danny wannabes! What a blast, baby!

Organised jointly by the Friends and Management of the Haworth and the Gallery Kitchen, this fabulous fun-fest is held in aid of the Haworth’s defibrillator fund, which will be a valuable resource for visitors to the park and gallery. Tickets are £25 a head; doors open at 7pm, Saturday, March 23rd.

So peel a wheel and punch it straight to the door for your trip to the floor – the bash in Bash’ll be peachy keen!

Posted on

Kickstart for the Heart ❤️

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and the Friends are sharing a matter of the heart. With a twist. 

Along with some very kind collaborators, we’re raising funds for a worthwhile cause: a defibrillator for Haworth Art Gallery and Park. A valuable asset for the gallery and grounds, a defibrillator could be a lifesaving proposition in a moment of need, so please help us support this critical target.

Nigel Airey with his painting, Enchanted Forest, generously donated to the defibrillator fund

To give our funding a boost, we have a couple of initiatives to get you up out of your seats. First, a fabulous opportunity to buy a striking piece of art, generously donated by Rishton artist Nigel Airey. Enchanted Forest is a large abstract work in a style that echoes Jackson Pollock’s drip technique, executed in a vivid, evocative pallet. The purchase will take place by silent auction, in which would-be buyers submit undisclosed bids. The highest bid submitted by the deadline of March 6th wins the painting. The work is on view now at Haworth Art Gallery, so get along as soon as you can for a viewing and then, ladies and gentlemen, place your bids, please!

Beat those feet

A prize we can all win is a Saturday night of nosh and nostalgia at the 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll dinner-dance, March 23rd at Haworth Art Gallery. The Gallery and Kitchen management have put together a too-cool-for-school night of music and moves for anyone who fancies a bit of fifties-era fun!  

The bird’s the word, so just beat feet and get your classy chassis to the spot that’s hot! You don’t have to be a veteran of the vintage to swing along to these slick stylings. Lucky ticket buyers will snaffle a two-course dinner at the Gallery Kitchen and a hep-cat’s haven of ‘50s music & dance. The ‘50s specialist DJ will even give a dance demo of classic moves for your feet to follow and fill the floor.

Dust off your dirndls and full-circle skirts!

So dust off your dirndls and full-circle skirts, and creep back into those crepe soles – it’s bound to be a blast!

Tickets are £25 per person. 7pm for 7.30 dinner. A raffle and auction on the night will raise further funds for the defibrillator. And if the ‘50s aren’t your thing, please spread the word to anyone you think would enjoy this fun-filled evening with a bit of a twist – or, rather – a jive . . . 

Let’s go, Daddy-O!

 

Posted on

Wednesday World Cup Window! Baxenden Heritage and Social Evening

Football image courtesy of Freepik

It’s a footie-free Wednesday window this week and The Friends of the Haworth are diving into the area to host our first local heritage and social evening. Join us at the Baxenden Village Club, (formerly the Conservative Club) on Manchester Road this Wednesday, 4th July at 7pm for an evening of culture, conversation and a coffee or two.

It’s set to be an interesting, relaxed and sociable evening with two speakers from our group sharing their fascinating research into the lives of those who lived at Hollins Hill and of the history of Baxenden and the surrounding area.

The event is free for anyone who would like to attend and we’ll even throw in a cuppa (but not through the window)!  Hope to see you there.

And, oh, yeah: come on, England!

Posted on

Friends attend Talbot Conference showcasing major photographic archive

Friends were offered a fascinating glimpse into 20th century Lancashire working life and culture at a February conference highlighting exhibits from a major photographic archive. The inaugural Talbot Conference showcased the extensive works of Blackburn-based photographers Wally Talbot and his son Howard, whose commercial photography was widely commissioned by regional and national news media from the 1930s to the 1990s, creating a vivid documentary of local life and social history of the period.

The archive ranges in subject from industrial life in the early part of the century and bucolic scenes of the Lancashire countryside to major news and events of the times, including visiting music stars and celebrities. It is the subject of a major digitisation project in collaboration with Blackburn`College. Peter Graham, a student in the Photographic Media Degree Programme at Blackburn and a key contributor to this project, is also undertaking a ‘live brief’ photography project at Haworth Art Gallery as part of his curriculum.  Stay posted for more about Peter’s work on the Friends’ blog.

The inaugural Talbot Conference covered a range of subjects including the social, political, historical and technical contexts of the archive and provided an excellent opportunity to view this eclectic mix of images, some of which have never previously been published. To see these images and read more about the Wally & Howard Talbot Collection, visit  www.cottontown.org

A meaningful insight into local history and culture and a very welcome introduction to this amazing archive which more than merits a visit. A big thank you to Peter for the invites to the conference for our group!

Alison