If you have an interest in the arts and would like to learn more, join the Arts Society Dukeries. They are the local group of the National Arts Society Association. Usually, they have monthly lecture meetings at the Civic Centre in Carlton-in-Lindrick (on the first Wednesdays of the month, except for summer and winter breaks) and two extra, Special Interest / Study Days. They have trips out to places of interest, newsletters, a national magazine and a holiday for members.
The committee has stayed in touch via Zoom meetings and kept members entertained with interesting arts issues, various newsletters and joined other societies for their Zoom talks and art programmes on You Tube, etc.
Obviously, their normal meetings cannot take place during the COVID-19 pandemic and it may well be sometime before they will meet in person again. Virtual lectures, using Zoom, have been organised. They start at 11.00am on the first Wednesday of the month, last for approximately one hour and non-members are invited to join in and watch for a small fee. In December, they have an extra Christmas lecture. Upcoming dates are:
- Wednesday 2nd December, 10.30am for 11.00am: ‘The Changing Image of Mary Magdalene’ by Sophie Oosterwijk
Who was Mary Magdalene? The saint as we know her in the West is actually a conflation of four different female characters from the Gospels, including the sister of Martha and Lazarus (Luke 10), the woman who was cured of seven demons (Luke 8), and the woman to whom the risen Christ first appeared (Mark 16). Moreover, there are also medieval legends such as the story that she was the bride at the biblical wedding at Cana or that she travelled to France after the Crucifixion and ended her life in penitent seclusion in Provence. This lecture will explain the fascinating stories and startling depictions of this popular saint in western art. - Friday 11th December, 10.30am for 11.00am: ‘With a Little Help from their Friends: the Beatles and their artists’
This is a journey through the 60s in music and images, following the Beatles from the Hamburg Reeperbahn in 1960 to Abbey Road in 1969. The band was always fascinated by the visual arts – the ‘fifth Beatle’, Stuart Sutcliffe, was a prodigiously talented painter – and they also learned very early on that artists and designers could help promote their image and their music. The innovative covers for releases such as Rubber Soul (Bob Freeman) and Revolver (Klaus Voormann), the White Album (Richard Hamilton) and Sgt Pepper (Peter Blake and Jann Haworth) turned album design into an art form in its own right.
For further details call Suzanne on 01909 290488, Gill on 01909 540506 or contact Gordon on gordonpmcdougall@gmail.com. Alternatively, visit www.theartssociety.org/dukeries.