Spring 2026 Newsletter from Richard Barrett available here.

Sampson and Sidmouth
Although Sidmouth is described as a Regency town it was the architect RW Sampson (1866-1950) who shaped its appearance between the 1890s and 1930s. The sheer range of his building styles is staggering and included Arts & Crafts, Cottage Orné, Queen Anne and Brewers Tudor. Craftsmanship and attention to detail were his hallmarks. In addition, he was an accomplished watercolourist and fine singer. In this talk, Nigel Hyman will show how Sampson’s legacy is still highly visible in Sidmouth today.

Admission £2.50. Non-members £5.00
Includes Tea & Biscuits

A new film documenting a collaborative project for all to enjoy and to support the careful stewardship of our river and its biodiversity, is shared.

A short film telling the story of the Riverside Walkway Revitalised project is available to view to bring attention to this wonderful riverside wellbeing space made accessible through art. 

The film can be viewed on the Sidmouth School of Art project page Riverside Walkway Revitalised | Sidmouth School Of Art or on YouTube https://youtu.be/NhKAxDJaEbo

The new walkway has had new railings, bat friendly lighting, new benches and planters, new wayfinding signage, a brass rubbing trail and provides a new outdoor gallery exploring historic and contemporary themes.  The new gallery features an introductory board and 11 artboards – each telling a story from Triassic to today.  The stories are highlighted through art and printmaking, woven together through graphic design and each has a QR code to find out more detailed information.

The walkway is the result of nearly two years of work and a huge amount of community participation led by Artist Printmaker Emma Molony https://www.emmamolony.com

Readr More here

A revival of a regular newsletter is overdue please see this as an early dawn.

Dr Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe’s lecture ‘Caravaggio is not the only artist’ - the second in our series of lectures held on November 6th - was a masterpiece which I hope you all enjoyed.

The Radway Cinema programme has screenings of

Cinderella (RBO production).         10th December

The Nutcracker (RBO production) 17th December

Continuing Anthea’s carefully chosen lecture series our next : 

‘Great Operatic Rivalries - handbags at dawn.’  4th December

Tim Mirfin, a distinguished Arts Society Lecturer, barrister-turned-opera singer promises to illustrate his talk with song. This is, our last lecture of 2024, is not to be missed! Doors open at 1000 and please be seated by 1030.

Sidmouth’s World of Trees .  6th December.  A talk by Ed Dolphin from the East Devon Branch of  the Devonshire Association. Manor Pavillion 1430 hrs.

Isca Ensemble at Sidmouth Parish Church

7th December A Christmas Concert with Julian Trevelyan (piano) in a programme featuring:

       Shostakovich

       Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto ‘Emperor’

       Delibes Coppelia

       Tchaikovsky ‘Nutcracker Suite’

9th December a Virtuoso Recital with Julian Trevelyan (piano) and Joel Munday (violin) with music by:

       Lilli Boulanger 

       Schubert

       Sibelius

       Cesar Franck  

Thursday 12th December: Sidmouth Arts Society Christmas Lunch

Victoria Hotel 1230 for 1300hrs.

Our Website: sidarts.org.uk.

A sorely needed refresh of our website is slowly taking place, and some of you may have noticed. It’s a valuable resource not only for members but for ‘would be’ members and visitors and we’d like to think it’ll become the point of reference for you to keep you informed and up to date.

We are setting up nominal email addresses, eg chairman@ sidmouthartssociety (illustration purposes only), for the committee so in future you will be able to contact us directly.

Membership:

Arts Society membership is falling nationally. In the South West some local organisations are struggling financially as a consequence. Fortunately Sidmouth has one of the largest memberships and our numbers are slowly recovering post-Covid although we are still short of our capacity of 340. A point made at a recent SW Art Society forum was: you the members are the best recruiting sergeants ambassadors and publicists for your Society. Please spread the word!  Meanwhile your committee will continue to do all it can to ensure a financially buoyant, vibrant future.

Volunteering

Finally. Whilst your committee works tirelessly for you the membership, exploring and promoting the arts in Sidmouth, the more observant will have noticed vacancies on the committee. This means some of our constitutional obligations are unfulfilled. Moreover some committee members, having served faithfully for seven years or more, are looking to stand down now. We will retain a wealth of experience to continue to serve you when they do retire, however, put simply no committee means no society.

We encourage interest from anyone within our membership willing to give up some time to work with us and to expand our remit to expand the arts in local heritage, in the wider community, in schools and colleges. 

Richard Barrett

EMIL NOLDE
GERMAN EXPRESSIONIST GENIUS
or NAZI OPPORTUNIST

Sid Vale Association
presents
An Evening Talk
By Nigel Hyman
Introduction by Barbara Farquharson

Tuesday 22nd October at 6.00 pm

FREE ADMISSION & GLASS OF WINE
At Sid Vale Association Headquarters
12 Church Street, Sidmouth
Donations to Museum
Numbers Limited - Booking Essential
Book at Sidmouth Museum
or online at
info@sidmouthmuseum.co.uk

11:00am – 12:00pm Wednesday 9th October 2024
Sidmouth Parish Church

Tony Lidington
On Illusion and Delusion – Performance Science and Quackery

Full details click here

Banksy at The Arts Society Sidmouth

What if a Banksy stencil appeared on your garden wall in Sidmouth ?

Probably a croquet set: a wooden mallet, some hoops and coloured balls. Not only a serious badge of honour, but you'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

Love him or loathe him, Banksy is an artistic presence to be reckoned with.

This week's Art's Society lecture, given by Pepe Martinez, a Blue Badge Guide and himself an artistic speaker to be reckoned with, was called " Banksy - Fraud or Genius ? "

Pepe took us through Banksy's colourful and edgy career, his art work, exhibitions and publicity stunts. He has had no formal training in art, but produces an extraordinary range of work, including graffiti, more kindly known as urban art, prints and even painted designs on stuffed animals.

Behind these surface images there is always a deeper social or political meaning to be mined and his huge wealth has enabled him to support major social and political causes.

Cutting out complicated stencils is a long, laborious job, whereas by contrast spraying over them to create the images takes no time at all, so is often done by a team of workers.

Banksy is also very much an unorthodox showman. When the bidding for "A Girl with a Balloon" recently came to an end in a Sotheby's auction room, the image was partially shredded automatically in front of the bidders as it dropped from its frame. The small remaining portion of the picture later fetched a small fortune.

Banksy obviously shows a deep disdain for the traditional art world. He continually pokes his nose at it, a bit like Marcel Duchamp who famously said "Anything can be art" and turned a white porcelain urinal into a miniature fountain.

David Smithbanksy