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Are we allowing great works of art to disintegrate?
Are we
allowing great works of art to disintegrate?
From shopping centres and schools, to our greatest
buildings, it is claimed many of Britain's best murals are being allowed to
disintegrate.
The Twentieth Century Society is campaigning to save artwork
from the post-war building boom.
"We are losing a whole chapter of our art
history," says campaign director, Catherine Croft.
Ray Howard Jones's An Eye For The People located on the
Western Mail building in Cardiff, has recently been destroyed.
So too has Barbara Jones's Adam Naming The Animals at
Yewlands School in Sheffield.
Redevelopment and rebuilding has seen artworks across
Britain reduced to rubble while others have just gradually faded.
"We are knocking down a lot of the buildings on which
these buildings were originally painted - a lot were in schools and the
Rebuilding Schools Programme has demolished some," Ms Croft says.
"A lot were in local authority buildings, publicly
funded buildings and with the recession there isn't the money to keep them
going - it's a really difficult time for murals."
Forgotten art
In the 1970s Robert Lenkiewicz's huge Elizabethan mural on
the Barbican was a tourist attraction. Today you can barely see it.
Attempts are now being made to reawaken interest in our
public art.
A conference on the topic has just taken place in London and
an exhibition of the best of British mural art from 1920 to 1970 is currently
on display at the Fine Art Society.
Many of the works are not mentioned in catalogues and some
have been almost entirely forgotten.
In the Welsh seaside town of Colwyn Bay, the local council
has just discovered the remains of murals on its derelict Victoria Pier.
They date from the 1930s, by the artists Eric Ravilious and
Mary Adshead and have been covered in both wallpaper and a thin layer of
plaster.
A bid is in with the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore both
the pier and the murals.
Other works can be found on a shopping centre in Redditch, a
tower block in Gosport and at Sunderland University.
'Great works'
One of the problems, campaigners say, is convincing people
that art on shopping centres, schools and streets may be great works.
Murals are big in the US too, particularly during the 1930s.
Part of President Roosevelt's New Deal was to get artists back to work, which
often happened through the commissioning of giant murals in cities throughout
the country.
The Mexican artist Diego Rivera became an art superstar with
his left-wing, communist inclined wall paintings.
The initiative kept artists such as Willem De Kooning from
poverty and it was to be the making of Jackson Pollock, who took what he
learned from the muralists about throwing paint against a wall and turned it
into a modern movement called abstract expressionism.
"We are just not taking them seriously enough," Ms
Croft says. "They are really great works and they ought to be treated
well, ideally kept in the buildings for which they were first created.
"But they are enormous and it's very difficult to find
somewhere to put them where they wont get damaged."
Among the Twentieth Century Society's list of notable works
is a mural on the Co-op in Ipswich, although the artist is a mystery.
In the post-war era mural art was taken very seriously.
Between the 1920s and the 1970s some of Britain's greatest
artists were employed to create murals for buildings, streets and public
spaces.
John Piper was given £1,200 (around £1.50 per sq-ft) in 1951
by the organisers of the Festival of Britain to created a 794 sq-ft painting.
The resulting piece - The Englishman's Home - was created in
his garden using household paint and was seen by millions on the banks of the
Thames in London.
Writers Retreat in Italy
WRITERS RETREAT IN ITALY
THE PRAIANO WRITERS CONFERENCE
March 17-23, 2013
THE PRAIANO WRITERS CONFERENCE
March 17-23, 2013
There is limited time (though not much) to enroll in an innovative writer's retreat held at the Casa L. Orto in the town of Praiano on the gorgeous Amalfi Coast in Italy. We will spend a week immersed in the craft of narrative with novelist/memoirist Wally Lamb and acclaimed writers and teachers, Lary Bloom and Suzanne Levine.
Questions about the Conference? Call Lary Bloom, at 860.526.2067.
For more information on the conference see http://praianowriters.com
For more information on the Casa L. Orto see www.casalorto.org
An Interview with conference director Lary Bloom: A Cleveland native and Viet Nam veteran who now lives in the village of Chester Connecticut, Lary Bloom is an author, columnist, editor, teacher, playwright and lyricist. His eight books include The Writer Within, Letters From Nuremberg (with Christopher J. Dodd), The Test of Our Times (with Tom Ridge), and Lary Bloom’s Connecticut Notebook. He is also a columnist and he teaches in Fairfield University’s MFA Creative Writing Program and, with Suzanne Levine, memoir writing at the Mark Twain House and Florence Griswold Museum. And he’s a playwright whose works include Wild Black Yonder, Worth Avenue and the musical A Woman of a Certain. For more information please visit http://larybloom.net/
LLReview: Just so our readers know we’re no misspelling this, your name is Lary with one R, right? And why?
Lary Bloom: Yes, that’s how it is spelled. I was born during World War 2. There was rationing.
LLReview: Let’s talk about the conference, firstly, there when is it? Where is it?
Lary Bloom: The conference will run from March 17-23, 2013 at the Casa L Orto in the town of Praiano, which is a magnificent little place on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
LLReview: And you still taking attendees?
Lary Bloom: Yes, but only a couple of more, as the idea is to fit all around one table, and so that each person gets personal attention.
LLReview: Is it an open conference? That is, is attendance open to unpublished and publish a writers alike?
Lary Bloom: The commonality -- that is, the only real requirement -- is that each recipient takes writing seriously, and understands the value of an intimate retreat that provides constructive criticism and lots of tips about how to succeed in the literary marketplace.
LLReview: Why Praiano? Why Italy?
Lary Bloom: Everyone who comes will know instantly the answer to that. Praiano is a beautiful seaside town, a perfect setting for inspiration, and it has embraced our efforts because it would like to become a center for writers, artists and scholars. This, then, is the pilot program for Praiano Forums. And, by the way, the food is spectacular.
LLReview: What genres will you cover? Or is the conference restricted to a single genre?
Lary Bloom: We are interested in the art of storytelling. That is, fiction and nonfiction writers use the same tools. In that sense, the conference is very different from others. We all sit around the same table, and we discuss what it is that attracts readers and keeps them riveted to story.
LLReview: What is the average age of the attendees, or is there an average age?
Lary Bloom: My guess is there’s a great range in ages.
LLReview: Why attend a writer’s conference?
Lary Bloom: Writing conferences are known for being inspirational and practical. And this a special conference -- the first ever to give participants an entire week’s access to Wally Lamb, who is a great teacher and, of course, a very talented writer.
LLReview: Let’s talk about community for a moment.
Lary Bloom: Writers are often introverted and the nature of our craft is solitary so the conferences can be an experience in self-affirmation of sharing your struggles with other writers. In my experience, a lot of relationships that begin at writer’s conferences have the potential to last a long, long time.
LLReview: What is a typical day at the conference like? Are there set hours? Relaxation time?
Lary Bloom: Every morning will be devoted workshops and evenings to readings. Afternoons will include private conferences between writers and faculty. There will, however, be time to explore Praiano, and to meet the artists and poets of the town.
LLReview: Are these annual conferences?
LARY BLOOM: This is the first of what we hope will be many.
LLReview: A subject very close to my heart where ever conferences are concerned…how’s the food in Praiano?
Lary Bloom: We have been to Italy several times and our search for a bad meal has so far failed. We’ll have dinners together, and participants will have a chance, too, to sample the town’s finest restaurants.
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