Bob Nancollis 1947-2021

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It is extremely sad to report the death of Bob Nancollis. Bob lived in Chorlton, Manchester, but he had a studio at Globe Arts at Tollbooth, Stacksteads. Bob was a highly active supporter of all art events in the Valley, and was a familiar face at the Art Trail since its inception. In fact Bob was one of the founders of the Globe Studio Open Days during the 1990s that created the template for the Art Trail.

Bob’s work is unforgettable, and his highly distinctive style was formed early on in his career, during his student years in the Fine Art Department at Manchester School of Art during the late 1960s.

Bob’s powerful sense of fun, and his quirky good humour and positivity will be much missed by everyone who knew him. Rossendale’s art scene will find him impossible to replace.

  • Nancollis, Robert; A Belgian Going for a Walk; The University of Manchester; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/a-belgian-going-for-a-walk-206991
  • Nancollis, Robert; Self Portrait as a Fat Old Bastard; The University of Manchester; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/self-portrait-as-a-fat-old-bastard-206989

MMU study

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Angela Towers, a Senior Lecturer at in Business, Retail and Tourism at MMU Business School visited the Art Trail in 2019 and was blown away by the number of artists and the quality of the work. She bought a few paintings, and wondered if her Post-Grad students could look at the event and perhaps suggest ways of marketing the event more widely.

The brief for the students would be “You should focus on presenting creative ideas for how to increase awareness of this annual event, consider the target audience, and low cost/no cost ways to reach them.  You should also explore opportunities for involvement of Rossendale Borough Council and any other potential partners.”

I can’t see any harm in this, and it could well produce some useful results – especially as I don’t feel I have the time to dedicate as much effort to promoting the Art Trail as it deserves. Megan Eastwood at Rossendale Council has already said that she is willing to participate in helping the students, and also that she would try and find some funding for the Art Trail to help in this process.

If Art Trail participants are keen on helping with this then please let me know, and I’ll pass on details. Otherwise I’ll report back to the group as things develop.

The Dave Pearson Studio

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Dave Pearson died in 2018, but he is still well remembered among the local arts community. Remembered for his warmth and support for other artists, but also because of the quality (and quantity) of his work.

The Dave Pearson Studio still exists and, until recently, it has also been home to Apna Rossendale which supports the local South Asian community. It also the place where Dave’s work is stored (see the Art Venues page on this website) and where, in normal times, exhibitions of his work are held.

The D S Pearson website has been down for a few months, but we’ve now redesigned it. It’s a great place to go for an introduction to Dave’s work. There’s also various writings about Dave, and a link to Derek Smith’s very special film, To Byzantium, about the artist….

www.dspearson.org

Monstone Exhibition – The Boo Sat 24th – Tues 27th Oct.

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The Boo presents an interactive exhibition features two fantastical tales, ‘The Baum Rabbit and The Fairies’ and ‘The Tale of Mother Red Cap’, once associated with the Mon­stone, a large stone found standing on the moorland above Whitworth on the South Pennine Moors. There is accompanying audio to accompany the exhibition. A QR code to access these will be available at the exhibition. Please bring a smart device(s) and headphone(s) to access this.

This exhibition co-insides with the launch of David Chatton Barker’s book featuring the two tales with illustrations by Bob Frith and Lucy Atherton. Copies of the book and record will be available to buy at The Boo during the exhibition. The Boo’s current programme of events is “Pay What You Can” to make all events affordable. However if you are able to donate the price of a ticket this will help The Boo to continue to keep theatre affordable to all.

The Boo holds the ‘Good To Go’ Industry Standard. Meaning we adhere to the government guidance for our industry for COVID-19. They have all the relevant risk assessments and processes in place to maintain cleanliness and social distancing. To find out more about these COVID-19 policies and what to expect when you visit see https://www.horseandbamboo.org/before-you-arrive/

BOOK YOUR SLOT ON FACEBOOK EVENTS ‘Tales of the Monstone Exhibition”

Paddy at the Carpark!

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Paddy Campbell is creating a sculpture as part of a forthcoming series of new works of art to be placed at The Whitaker Museum in Rossendale. The sculptures will utilise several felled beech trees, reflecting their placement and the environment in which they have grown.

While the sculpture is still young and in a state of development there is a definite direction to the works progress. The sculpture is robust and tactile – retaining vigour, catching sunlight and the sounds of wood. There are more on the way over the winter.

“As part of the RAT this year I feel it would be nice to view this work as it develops. The sculpture is outside and you are welcome to stump up and have a look. The sculpture can be viewed at my outdoors studio – the top car park at The Whitaker, Haslingden Road!”

Impressions

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Well worth a visit is the Impressions show at Towneley Hall. The show features work by 25 printmakers from Prospect Studios. The show is planned to run until the end of the year.

For visiting the show here is a little bit of information about how we are working during COVID:

FAQs

To visit, people will need to book a slot with us at Towneley (Mon-Thurs & Sat-Sun):

Book Your Visit

From the October half term our opening hours will change to weekends only – 12-4pm, last entry at 3.30pm

Note: To promote the show on Facebook please do tag Towneley Hall in any posts and use the exhibition link from the website which can be found here:http://towneley.org.uk/events/impressions-a-printmaking-response-to-towneley/

2020 Art Trail

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Rossendale Art Trail as an open studios weekend has been postponed in 2020 as a result of the current Corvid19 situation.
We’re naturally hoping that normal service will be resumed at some point in 2021. In the meantime local artists and craftspeople have come together on this website. In the future it could be that some studios feel able to open their doors to the public, if so, artists and studios may want to open their studios at different times throughout the year rather than wait for the annual open studios art trail in Autumn 2021.

Whatever the latest news, we’ll post it on this site.

Image: View from the Whitaker, Caroline Johnson