ART CLUB OPEN WEEKEND
Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July sees the Open Weekend of Glenrothes Art Club. The Alburne Park clubrooms are the venue for the ever-popular sale of members’ paintings and drawings, crafts and greetings cards. A warm invitation goes out to everyone for this event.
The Club Rooms have ample car parking to the rear and will be open from 10am to 4pm next Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July. There is no admission charge. Refreshments will be available and Club members will be on hand for a chat about the work on show and to tell you about the benefits of joining this local organisation. Lilian Sloan, Club President said “We are looking forward to welcoming people of all ages to our Open Weekend and offer a great opportunity to see some amazing, colourful and creative work from local artists. The Cottar House Studios in Alburne Park is the place to visit this weekend and this is an event that the weather will not affect! “
Even if the ideal picture for you isn’t available, most of the artist members will accept commissions to paint a picture to your wishes. Glenrothes Art Club is always ready to welcome new members from age 16 years upwards.
web: www.glenrothesartclub.org.uk
Glenrothes Art Club Background Information
Now in its 57th year of activity, Glenrothes Art Club continues to lead the way in arts and crafts in the voluntary sector in the local area.
Glenrothes Art Club is proud of the good reputation it has built up over the years both in providing exciting activities, events and also in helping to serve the local community of Glenrothes and surrounding area.
Glenrothes Art Club was founded on 14th December 1955 when 5 people met in Carleton Primary School. They were a schoolmaster, a train driver, a retired printer, an art teacher and of the new town’s architects.
In October 1958 the Club was given the use of the Cottar House and Coachhouse in Alburne Park by the Glenrothes Development Corporation, thereby saving the building from demolition.
Ownership was finally handed over to the Club in 1995 on the understanding that the membership fees were kept low. This the Club has done this ever since.
In return for this support from the GDC and Kirkcaldy District Council, and latterly Fife Council, the Club has run classes in the history of art, oil painting, watercolour painting, life drawing, pottery etc. Members also take part in Outreach Work, visiting Age Concern, local Churches and Senior Citizens groups.
The Club was registered as a Scottish Charity in 1995. Registered Charity No: SC024072.
Membership continues to increase, currently is about 60 strong and is open to everyone over the age of 16 years.
The Art Club celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2005 with a variety of events and an evening of reminiscence and celebration held in the Lomond Centre. The longest serving member of the Club, Eddie Abrams entertained everyone with anecdotes from the past and an impressive list of exhibitions of the members’ work.
Over the past few years there have been extensive developments to the Cottar Studios to improve access for people with disabilities and kitchen / toilet facilities. The Club rooms were officially re-opened on 20th March 2006.
The car park has since been upgraded and two disabled parking spaces created as well as wheelchair ramps. Most of the work has been done voluntarily by Club members.
The highlight of the Art Club’s year is the Annual Exhibition, which has been held in the Rothes Halls for many years. The exhibition is a valuable way for the Club to promote its work in the community and for individual artists to gain publicity for their work. The Club depends heavily on the success of the Annual Exhibition to provide funds to meet the running costs of the organisation, which has deliberately operated with low financial reserves, preferring to use income to maintain the service to the community and keep fees to users at a minimum.
An exciting development in 2010 was that the Annual Exhibition was held in the new fifespace gallery of the Rothes Halls and ran for 6 weeks from 30th August. In winter 2010 and spring 2011 a series of Workshops attracted both existing members and new people to the Club.
The Club also ran an art competition for young people of secondary school age during the Spring and Summer of 2011 on the topic of “Tackling Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour / Improving Home Safety / Being Safe Outdoors”, in collaboration with the Fife Community Safety Partnership.
A full programme of classes and courses are planned for the session 2012 to 2013.
Everyone, from absolute beginners to amateur exhibiting artists is welcome to join this thriving local organisation.
