UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2009 - Thanks to......

First and foremost, thanks are due of course to everyone who entered a picture for the competition - both UKCPS members and non-members. It goes without saying that there is no exhibition without all of you!

After the members the next most important person to thank in terms of making the Exhibition happen is Pat Heffer UKCPS, the Exhibition Scretary, who kindly provided me with the notes for the content of this blog post - but not the next few sentences!

Every art society knows that putting on an Annual Exhibition each year is a massive exercise. Planning for each Annual Exhibition starts before the previous one has been taken down. For Pat it starts with first meetings with a gallery, continues through the creation and dissemination of the call for entries, maintenance of lots of administrative records and provision of support to members and non-members who are trying to get their entries right and in on time. Then images and support need to be provided to the three jurors (plus the webmaster and blogmaster!). Plus a team of people need to be recruited and organised who also make very important contributions to making it all happen - as indicated below. Pat is very committed to the exhibition doing well and spends a lot of time each year endeavouring to make sure it is a success.

Of course, as with most official UKCPS activities, nothing happens or moves without the involvement and support of people who volunteer their help in an official capacity, as a member - and even as a spouse or partner of a member!

This year Pat has been ably supported by a number of members and members' partners and below she provides a summary about those who helped. Plus some photos of what's actually involved with getting an exhibition hung and opened which we thought you might like to see.

(left) Ann Massey and Paul Hipkiss organise the hanging of the 8th Annual Exhibition
(right) Ann Massey opens 8th Annual Exhibition

Paul Hipkiss RBSA the Honorary Curator of the RBSA Gallery, opened the gallery up for us a 8.30am and had cups of coffee ready for all the helpers! He provided advice and helped with the hanging in the morning

UKCPS President Ann Massey SWA, KA, CPSA, UKCPS came all the way from Paris and organised the hanging brilliantly with Paul Hipkiss. Ann also opened the exhibition and gave advice to up and coming artists in the afternoon.

Membership Secretary Will Johnson was superb at putting fixings in frames, putting up the alarm system, unwrapping pictures...I could go on forever!

(left) Will Johnson fixing frames for hanging
(right) Dave Richards hanging a picture

Dave Richards as always provided invaluable support for all the exhibition preparation prior to the hang and designed all the labels and the Private view invitations. On Sunday, Dave and his wife Sylvia Richards set off from mid Wales at 6am. Dave is brilliant at hanging exhibitons as we all know from Keswick, and was a fantastic help hanging this exhibition and also helped out all day. Sylvia checked all Dave's labels, sorted all the wrappping, helped with the hanging, put up labels and sold raffle tickets (£136.00 already taken!) - and took a lot of photographs. We could not have managed without these two.

Janie Pirie SBA is a fantastic botanical artist who is exhibiting with UKCPS for the first time. She was brilliant at putting fixings into the backs of frames. Both Janie and her husband John also provided excellent support serving behind the bar.

Rachel Stirling, Malcolm Cudmore and Janie Pirie fix frames for hanging.

Rachel Stirling helped with the exhibition advertising, organisation of the demonstrators, delivery of pictures, the hanging of the exhibition served behind the bar and generally brought a calming influence to the day which was absolutely invaluable! Her son, Daniel Stirling aged 10, also helped all day and was brilliant at packing up vans!

Suzy Herbert UKCPS drove up from Cambridge with her husband Michael. Suzy is a very experienced UKCPS 'exhibition hanger' and worked tirelessly in support of the hanging. She's an amazing lady who is always there when needed and is always able to provide excellent advice.

Lesley Galton left home at 5.30am to get to the gallery by 8.30! She worked hard all day, helped clear up the gallery at the end of the day and was one of the last to leave before driving herself back home. What a star!

Malcolm Cudmore was another first time helper and had never met any of us before but helped all day with the hanging, serving behind the bar and anything else which needed doing.


(Left) Pat and John Heffer - at the Hanging (with John and Janie Pirie)

Last but not least - my husband John Heffer got up at 4am to load up a hired van with 50 pictures, crates of wine and glasses and loads of other bits and bobs needed for the exhibition. He then worked all morning helping to hang the exhibition and was on hand all afternoon to help wherever it was needed. We eventually arrived back home at about 9.00pm having rattled our way home in a very cranky van which then had to be unpacked and returned to its depot.

We did all retire to the restaurant across the road from the gallery for lunch...just to make sure it was OK for the society lunch!

The Private View of the 8th Annual Exhibition

Thanks also to....

• the three jurors who independently reviewed and rated all the entries to the competition.
• Vera Curnow and Bernard Poulin who have donated works to be raffled
  
• the Cumberland Pencil Company (Derwent) the 2009 exhibition sponsors who help UKCPS to exhibit at the RBSA Gallery.
• all those sponsoring the providing awards - Derwent, Faber-Castell, Lyra, Caran d'Ache, Staedtler, Great Art, Legion paper (Stonehenge), Fisher 400; Ann James Massey (Presidents Award) and ex Chairman Peter Weatherill UKCPS (Best Landscape)
• and finally, not forgetting that there would be no exhibition but for the fact that Peter Weatherill UKCPS works miracles getting fantastic sponsorship for the UKCPS exhibition. We would not have been able to use the RBSA without Derwent's sponsorship and the list of awards just get longer every year as Peter persuades yet another manufacturer to come on board!