Friday 23rd and  30th Oct

RAPHAEL REVEALED

THE GREATEST EXHIBITION OF HIS WORKS EVER HELD

Marking the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, the greatest exhibition ever held of his works took place in Rome. Exhibition on Screen was granted exclusive access to this once-in-a-lifetime show. With over two hundred masterpieces, including paintings and drawings – over a hundred of which have been brought together for the first time – this major exhibition celebrates the life and work of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.

With unprecedented loans from the Louvre, Uffizi, National Gallery of Art, the Prado Museum and more, the exhibition and this film provide an unprecedented opportunity to see the breadth of Raphael’s skill, creativity and ingenuity. Award-winning director Phil Grabsky provides a fresh look at this giant of the Renaissance, and shows why he is considered one of the all-time greats. The film covers his life in Rome, and includes unique footage of the ancient Rome that was such a powerful influence, including rare footage of Nero’s Golden House that Raphael himself visited.

More than just a painter, Raphael was one of the most extraordinary artists of the Renaissance but is often misunderstood or mythologised. On the basis of this extraordinary exhibition in Rome, this film allows Raphael, for the first time, to be truly revealed.

Arts Quiz - Wednesday 21st October 2026, 2.00 - 4.00pm

This is a light-hearted arts quiz where there are visually based questions about art, music, books, films, architecture and heritage of all kinds. Some easy questions and some trickier ones!

Come as a team of up to 6, or come as an individual and be placed in a team on the day.  Non-members are very welcome.

The quiz will be held at Macclesfield Cricket Club, on Victoria Road, and the entrance fee is £10 per person, tea and cakes are included.  Money raised will be going to our Arts Volunteering projects, so please support this event.

Places can be booked by emailing Rosie at rosemary.slater@hotmail.co.uk or at the lectures on the 10th September or 8th October.

If you could book sooner rather than later that would be great, and even better if you could do it by bank transfer:

Payee:              The Arts Society Macclesfield

Sort Code:        40-52-40

Account No:      00060639

Reference:        Your Name

Our first cinema club of the new season is:

MARY CASSATT: PAINTING THE MODERN WOMAN

Mary Cassatt made a career painting the lives of the women around her. Her radical images showed them as intellectual, curious and engaging, which was a major shift in the way women appeared in art.

Presenting her astonishing prints, pastels and paintings, this film introduces us to the often-overlooked Impressionist whose own career was as full of contradiction as the women she painted. Her artwork is some of the finest of the period.

She printed, sketched and painted dozens of images of mothers and children yet she never married or had children herself. She was a classically trained artist but chose to join a group of Parisian radicals – the Impressionists – a movement that transformed the language of art. She was as much a part of the group as Degas, Monet or Renoir.

The world’s most eminent Cassatt curators and scholars reveal a riveting tale of great social and cultural change; a time when women were fighting for their rights and the language of art was completely re-written. Mary Cassatt and her modern women were at the heart of it all.

Held in the upstairs cinema room at The Park Tavern, Park Lane, Macclesfield. 2pm . Refreshments included. Book your ticket at September's lecture. 

The Arts Society North West Area is offering a holiday: 'Bavaria and Ludwig's Palaces' from 19th Sept 2026 for 6 days and 5 nights. The holiday will include flights from Manchester, half board 4*accommodation and a full itinerary of visits to castles, abbeys and pretty German towns. Cost £1689 pp

Booking is done via www.successtours.com or by phone 01225764205

Please see the Events Newsletter email you will have received for more detail of the holiday and how to book. 

This year's  Grand Day Out, which will take place on Wednesday 20th May. IT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED. 

This year we are doing a joint coach trip with the Wilmslow Art Society, and the theme is ceramics and glassware.

 The day focuses on the impressive collection of Tiffany glass in the Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington

https://haworthartgallery.org/

En route to Accrington we will have an hour in the Salford Museum and Art Gallery which houses the Pilkington collection of ceramics

https://salfordmuseum.com/

 The Tiffanys and the Pilkingtons, possibly better known for jewellery and glassware respectively, were surely two of the most creative families working in this entire field in the early part of the twentieth century. There are very interesting parallels, particularly in the development of new manufacturing processes as the age of Art Deco unfolded. And how the Tiffany glass came from New York to Accrington is a story in itself!

The itinerary in more detail is as follows:

9am Depart the Leisure Centre in Macclesfield SK10 4AF

9.30am Depart Holly Road North in Wilmslow, opposite the United Reform Church SK9 1PR

10.15am Arrive Salford Museum and Art Gallery. Chance to visit the Pilkington collection https://salfordmuseum.com/exhibition/pilkingtons/, have a coffee or a general look around at the Victorian Street for example.

11.15am Depart Salford

12 noon Arrive the Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington, where we will be having a two-course lunch

1/1.15pm Introductory talk, followed by guided tour (we split into two groups) of the Arts and Crafts house and the Tiffany collection

2.30pm approximately Free time to have tea, visit the other exhibitions, go to the artists’ studios in the Stables, walk in the grounds..

3.30pm Departure

4.30pm Arrive Wilmslow

4.45pm Arrive Macclesfield

 There are only maximum 37 places on this Day Out, due to the space constraints at the Haworth Art Gallery. We offer therefore 18 places to Wilmslow Society members and 18 to Macclesfield Society members, with one “spare” depending on uptake.

The cost will be £40 and places offered in the first instance to Art Society members only. To secure your place please email Claire Moreland for Wilmslow members (clairejmoreland@gmail.com) or, for Macclesfield members, contact Rosemary Slater at the meetings. First come first served!

The Arts Society North West Area Support Team

                                  Day of Special Interest with Marc Allum

                 Friday 27th March 2026 at Clitheroe Golf Club

Marc is a freelance art and antiques  journalist,  writer and broadcaster. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes and is a miscellaneous presenter for the Antiques Roadshow.            .

Marc has his own unique style, with interests ranging from pre-history to modern design. He has a passion and reputation for discovering the unusual.

Programme

10.00-10.30 Registration and coffee

10.30-11.30 The Anatomy of Collecting

 The history of collecting and the great collectors through time.  Marc will include examples from his own treasures.

11.45-12.45 Fakes and Forgeries

Citing some of the greatest exponents in history and illustrated with a plethora of challenging examples. You are never going to look at art antiques in the same way again.

12.45-2.25 Buffet Lunch

2.30-3.30 Bring an Object

A spontaneous talk  with objects brought in by attendees, no matter what the value. An instant ‘Antiques Roadshow’ of history, anecdotes and audience participation, interspersed with artefacts from Marc’s own collection.

Cost:£42

Booking is available through the Events Newsletter sent in October.

Please note there will be a showing on 27th of March also. 

This film journeys from the streets of Paris to the heart of the superb Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, whose extensive collection of Degas’ works is the most representative in Britain.  It offers a unique insight into Degas’ personal and creative life.  The film uncovers the fascinating story of Degas’ obsessive pursuit for perfection through both experimentation with new techniques and lessons learnt from studying the past masters.

Never fully satisfied, many of Degas’ drawings and sculptures were kept in private during his lifetime but now, through close examination, they can be seen as some of the most beautifully detailed and expressive works in the modern era.  Using written accounts by friends and commentators, and the narration of letters written by Degas himself, this film reveals a more complex truth behind one of the most influential French artists of the late 19th-century and serves as an exploration of the complex workings of Degas’ artistic mind.

To be shown at: The Park Tavern, 158 Park Lane, SK11 6UB. Please arrive at 1:45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar and choose your after film hot drink and homemade cake (included in the price). These will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat. The cost is £8.00.  As there is limited availability (only 20 seats) priority will be given to those attending the lecture.  However, if you are unable to attend the lecture you can email Rosie at Rosemary.slater@hotmail.co.uk.

Cinema Club – Friday 20th and 27th February @ 2:00pm
Next film: Klimt & The Kiss

As the film club has proved to be popular we are offering two consecutive Fridays for screening this month.

The film this month was meant to be about Frida Kahlo, but as Exhibition on Screen are releasing it in May for national distribution to cinemas, they have withdrawn it from private purchase, hence the replacement film.

‘The Kiss’ by Gustav Klimt is one of the most recognised and reproduced paintings in the world. It is perhaps the most popular poster on student dorm walls from Beijing to Boston.  Painted in Vienna around 1908, the evocative image of an unknown embracing couple has captivated viewers with its mystery, sensuality and dazzling materials ever since it was created.  But just what lies behind the appeal of the painting – and just who was the artist that created it?

Delving into the details of real gold, decorative designs, symbolism and simmering erotica, a close study of the painting takes us to the remarkable turn of the century Vienna when a new world was battling with the old.  Klimt was a titan of the Art Nouveau movement, creating decadent new worlds which merged tender sensuality, ancient mythology and radical modernity. Discover the scandalous life and rich tapestry of extraordinary influences behind one of the world’s favourite paintings.

To be shown at: The Park Tavern, 158 Park Lane, SK11 6UB. Please arrive at 1:45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar and choose your after film hot drink and homemade cake (included in the price). These will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat. The cost is £8.00.  As there is limited availability (only 20 seats) priority will be given to those attending the lecture.  However, if you are unable to attend the lecture you can email Rosie at Rosemary.slater@hotmail.co.uk.

PASSIONATE, POLITICAL, COURAGEOUS, RADICAL…

Without Camille Pissarro, there is no Impressionist movement. He is rightfully known as “the father of Impressionism”.

Born in the West Indies, Pissarro found his passion in paint as a young man in Paris and, by the age of 43, had corralled a group of enthusiastic artists into a new collective. Their first show was scorned by the critics but the group had acquired a new name: the Impressionists. For the next 40 years Pissarro was the driving force behind what has today become the world’s favourite artistic movement.

Pissarro was a dedicated family man, generous with his advice, passionate about experimentation, well-read, socially aware and an anarchist. It was a dramatic path that Pissarro followed and, throughout it all, he wrote extensively to his family. It is through these intimate and revealing letters that this gripping film reveals Pissarro’s life and work.

Filmed on location in France, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Kunstmuseum in Basel. With exclusive access to the most extensive archive of any Impressionist painter and to the first major Pissarro retrospective in four decades, this film explores the enthralling and hugely important biography of an extraordinary artist.

There will be absolutely no no questions about capital cities, cup final winners or the number of legs on a spider

This quiz is all about great artists, wonderful buildings and brilliant performers on stage and screen. And its just for fun, with lots of lovely pictures and (mostly) easy questions.

Tickets will go on sale at the July lecture, £10 per person including refrehsments, and teams of 4 - 6.  If you want to come along and are not in a team, we can put you in one.

 The money raised will go into our Arts Volunteering Fund to support local charities.

Friday 26th Sept at 2pm is the first of our monthly 'Exhibition on Screen' Cinema Club events: 'Van Gogh- Poets and Lovers'.

200 years after its opening and a century after acquiring its first Van Gogh works, the National Gallery hosted the UK’s biggest ever Van Gogh exhibition (14 September 2024 – 19 January 2025). The exhibition was a huge success, universally praised by the press and tickets quickly sold out, making this film the only way to see what Forbes called “a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition”.

Explore the passion which drove one of the world’s favourite artists to change art forever. Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers rewrites the narrative and celebrates Van Gogh’s genius without exploiting his suffering, enabling its audience to truly understand this iconic artist in a brand new way…

Made in close collaboration with the National Gallery.

Tickets are £8 for members and £12 for guests which includes refreshements after the film- bookable at September's lecture. 

2pm Park Tavern, Park Lane, Macclesfield. 

A visit to Arley Hall, Northwich, is planned on Monday July 14th to see The Hall and Gardens. 

We have arranged a visit by coach to Arley Hall on Monday 14th July to see the Hall and Gardens. The Hall is only open a few days a year to view inside. There is no guided tour of the hall but you can explore and view: the elaborate ceilings and oak panelling, impressive fireplaces, intricate stained glass and beautiful contents.

You can also spend time in the  magnificent gardens with fine herbaceous borders which should be in full bloom at the time of our visit.

The cost will be £35 which includes admission to the hall and coach transport to the venue.

There is a café on site or you may wish to bring a picnic.

Leaving from Macclesfield Leisure Centre at 9.30am, we anticipate spending about 3 hours at the Hall.

It promises to be a lovely day!

Bookings can be made at the April/May lectures.

Goya: Visions of Flesh and Blood  - Friday 23 May, 2025 @ 2:00pm

Francisco Goya is Spain’s most celebrated artist and considered the father of modern art. Not only a brilliant observer of everyday life in Spain’s troubled past, he is a gifted portrait painter and social commentator par excellence.

Heir to Velazquez, a hero to Picasso.  Discover Spain’s celebrated artist with this cinematic tour de force based on the National Gallery’s exhibition “Goya: The Portraits”. 

Join us for our fifth film screening provided by ‘Exhibition on Screen’ at Park Lane Tavern, 158 Park Lane, Macclesfield. SK11 6UB.

    Please arrive at 1.45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar and choose your after-film hot or soft drink and home-made cake (included in the price).  These will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat about the film.

 The cost is £6.00, including refreshments, and visitors £10.00.

  The film will start at 2pm and is approx 90 mins long.

 Tickets will be on sale at the May  lecture -  pay by cash or card.

There is limited availability, as the cinema only has 20 seats. Priority will be given to those attending the lecture.

Tuesday 13 May  Arrive from 1pm  for 1.30- 4pm event.

Join us for a relaxed social event where Nick Bianchi, Director of the Arighi Bianchi family business, has kindly agreed to tell us about the history and heritage of the famous company. The Arighi Bianchi building in Macclesfield is one of the best-known landmarks of our area. Nick is part of the 5th generation of the family firm which has celebrated its 170th anniversary, last year.  His illustrated talk will touch on the origins of the family in Italy, how the company came to Macclesfield and has grown and prospered over the decades. The talk will last about 45 mins followed by questions and then afternoon tea.

 If you have any dietary requirements, please indicate this when booking, vegetarians can be catered for but not vegan.        

Members and guests should book in advance for £30 per person. You can book either by emailing Rosemary.slater@hotmail.co.uk

Payment to The Arts Society Macclesfield 40-52-40, 00060639, reference your last name.

Or book and pay at our April meeting.

Nick Bianchi has not charged a fee but has asked us if we would be willing to do a collection for East Cheshire Hospice after the talk.

There will be a seating plan so please indicate who is in your group

In the spring of 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam opened its doors to the largest Vermeer exhibition in history. The show sold out within days of going on sale. This award-winning film offers you the chance to experience the exhibition of the century on the big screen.

With loans from across the world, this major retrospective brings together Vermeer’s most famous masterpieces including Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Geographer, The Milkmaid, The Little Street, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, and Woman Holding a Balance. In all, 28 of his surviving 37 works.

Join us for our fourth film screening provided by ‘Exhibition on Screen’ at Park Lane Tavern, 158 Park Lane, Macclesfield. SK11 6UB.

Please arrive at 1.45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar. The film will start at 2pm and is approx 90 mins long.

After the film, you can choose a hot or soft drink and a home-made cake

( included in the price). This will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat about the film.

Tickets will be on sale at the  April  lecture -  pay by cash or card.

Limited availability -  20 seats only!  Priority will be given to those attending the lecture.

£6 including refreshments. £10 visitors

John Singer Sargent is known as the greatest portrait artist of his era. What made his ‘swagger’ portraits remarkable was his power over his sitters, what they wore and how they were presented to the audience. Through interviews with curators, contemporary fashionistas and style influencers, Exhibition on Screen’s film will examine how Sargent’s unique practice has influenced modern art, culture and fashion.

Join us for our third film screening provided by ‘Exhibition on Screen’ at Park Lane Tavern, 158 Park Lane, Macclesfield. SK11 6UB.

 Please arrive at 1.45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar. The film will start at 2pm and is approx 90 mins long.

After the film, you can choose a hot or soft drink and a home-made cake

( included in the price). This will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat about the film.

Tickets will be on sale at the  March lecture -  pay by cash or card.

We welcome back Michael Howard, renowned author, artist, and leading expert in the life and work of L.S. Lowry.

 Michael will share with us an unbelievably fascinating and a compelling detective story of the Lost Lowrys – with quite incredible visuals, and Lowry originals.

We will also look at aspects of his own professional life, including him authenticating two Gauguin paintings - which led to a run-in with the Mafia!  

The day will be as follows:

10am Registration with coffee and biscuits

10:30 The fascinating and compelling story of the Lost Lowrys

11:30 Comfort break

11:45 Looking at Lowry’s work: an opportunity to view his paintings

12:45 Lunch is served

2pm Michael Howard’s art and exciting tales from his professional life

3pm Finish

 Click here to access the booking form

Or you will be able to book your place at February or March’s lectures

Cost £39   Guests are welcome too - £41

Some Art Societies organise theatre visits to places like the Lowry etc. We are not that ambitious yet but thought it would be a nice social events so are starting off small with MADS!

MADS Theatre Visit: Noel Coward  ‘Present Laughter’.

Monday 10th March 7.45pm   26-28 Lord St  SK11 6SY.

 First performed in 1942, this comic play concerns the professional and personal trials faced by an accomplished and self-obsessed actor called Gary Essendine. The whole thing takes place in his London flat over a period of a few days.

We will block book seats to sit together. It is proposed to meet in the bar at 7.15pm for a drink and then enjoy the production.

Please pay at January’s or February’s lecture to reserve a ticket. As we will pay for the tickets, there are unfortunately no refunds if you are unable to attend.

Tickets £10 cash or £10.50 card to cover bank fees. You are welcome to bring a guest.

From award-winning director Phil Grabsky comes this fresh new look at Monet – possibly the world’s favourite artist – through his own words.

Using letters and other private writings ‘I, Claude Monet’ reveals new insight into the man who painted ‘Impression, Sunrise,’ the picture that gave birth to impressionism, and who became perhaps the most influential artist of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Our first film screening was very warmly received by those attending.

Join us for our second film screening provided by ‘Exhibition on Screen’ at Park Lane Tavern, 158 Park Lane, Macclesfield. SK11 6UB.

Please arrive at 1.45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar. The film will start at 2pm and is approx 90 mins long.

After the film, you can choose a hot or soft drink and a home-made cake

( included in the price). This will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat about the film.

Tickets will be on sale at the  February lecture -  pay by cash or card.

Limited availability -  20 seats only!  Priority will be given to those attending the lecture. If you are unable to attend, you may wish to email Rosie on the 14th Feb to enquire if there are tickets left: 

rosemary.slater@hotmail.co.uk

£6 including refreshments. £10 visitors

Future screenings for your diaries:

Fridays 2pm

28th March -  John Singer Sargent: Fashion and Swagger

25th April -  Vermeer : The Greatest Exhibition

23rd May - Goya : Visions of Flesh and Blood.

Tickets will be on sale at future lectures for each film.

Friday 24th Jan  2pm. £6 (inc. refreshments)

Park Lane Tavern, 158 Park Lane, Macclesfield. SK11 6UB

We are holding our first private cinema event and if it proves popular, we will plan more of these.  The film is provided by ‘Exhibition on Screen’ who work with top international museums and galleries to create films which offer a cinematic immersion into the world's best-loved art, accompanied by insights from the world's leading historians and arts critics.

Mary Cassatt (1844 - 1926) made a career painting the lives of the women around her. Her radical images showed them as intellectual, curious and engaging, which was a major shift in the way women appeared in art.

Presenting her astonishing prints, pastels and paintings, this film introduces us to this often-overlooked Impressionist whose own career was as full of contradiction as the women she painted.

The film is being shown in the small cinema at the Park Tavern on Park Lane. There is no car park but parking should be available on the side roads nearby. The cinema is upstairs and there is no lift.

Please arrive at 1.45pm so you have time to buy drinks and snacks from the bar. The film will start at 2pm and is approx 90 mins long.

After the film, you can choose a hot or soft drink and a home-made cake ( included in the price). This will be served in the bar downstairs which gives time to sit and chat about the film.

Tickets will be on sale at the December and January lectures -  pay by cash or card.

Limited availability -  20 seats only!

You are warmly invited to join us for a  Christmas lunch from a delicious- sounding menu at Sutton Hall, Bullocks Lane, Sutton SK11 0HE on Thursday 5th December at 1pm. There is an option for two courses for £33.50 or three courses for £41.75. Guests are welcome.  We need payment in full by 14th November and your choice of food. If you pay by bank transfer you will need to complete your food choice form and hand it to Rosie at November’s lecture. Forms are available at the lecture. 

Mary Loughran, our Visits Co-ordinator, has been busy organising our first visit of the year.

HAT WORKS MUSEUM VISIT, STOCKPORT     

Thursday 21st November        

Leaving from Macclesfield Leisure Centre at  9.30 - return approx 2.30 pm.

The Hat Works Museum is an award- winning attraction, housed in a restored Grade II listed Victorian Mill. It is the UK’s only Hat Museum.  In the new gallery of hats, explore the collections and discover the history of the Hatting Industry.There will be a guided tour, and a light lunch provided, of soup and sandwiches, in the museum cafe. BYO drinks.

COST FOR :- THE COACH/ FACTORY TOUR/LUNCH - £30pp.

Forms will be available at the lectures on 12th September and October 10th.

Payment by card machine at the lectures, or online only.

BACS  CAF Bank:- Account Number  00060639  Sort Code 40-52-40 Reference to be made  Hat Works . Final Payments by October 31st.  No refunds

Any queries to:- maryfrommacc@msn.com

We are planning to visit Hardwick Hall, built by Bess of Hardwick in 1597, filled with rich furnishings and tapestries, preserved by generations of her descendants the Devonshire family. The unique collection of the thirteen Gideon Elizabethan tapestries has now been fully restored after 24 years of work, and there is also a significant portrait collection.

Alongside the Hall are lovely gardens and the ruins of Hardwick Old Hall, also built by Bess, recently opened following conservation work to restore the 400 year old plaster friezes.  Talks on the history of the hall and tapestries are available at times throughout the day.

Accessibility: There are several steps in the Hall and wheelchairs and trampers are available free of charge. However there is a virtual tour available on the ground floor for those who cannot access the upper floors.

Lunch: We can eat in the Hall’s café or picnic in the grounds.

Cost:   The coach will cost £19.00 for members of the Arts Society. Guests will pay an additional £2.00 to cover costs, of £21.00.

Members of the National Trust or English Heritage will have free admission.

All other guests  will pay the discounted group rate of £18.05 per person, payable on the day.

It is envisaged that we will depart about  9.30am from Macclesfield Leisure Centre, returning about 4.30pm

Booking forms available at April’s lecture.

We are planning a visit to the Wedgwood Factory in Stoke on Trent.

This event will enhance our appreciation of the art work involved in the production of these ceramics, with which we‘re all so familiar.

This guided visit will take place on :

Thursday 21st March, meeting at Macclesfield Leisure Centre at 8.45am, depart 9am by coach. We will depart Stoke approx 3-3.30pm

The visit will include a lunch of soup/sandwich and fries, with a pot of Wedgewood Tea. There will be free time later to explore the museum and shops.

COST £35.00 per person.

Non-members are welcome at a cost of £37 per person.

Please make payment, by preference, by electronic transfer or card payment, at The Arts Society meetings in January/February.  The closing date for places is March 1st 2024.

CAF Bank:-

Sort Code 40 52 40

Account number 00060639

Reference  :  Wedgwood

Any queries contact Mary Loughran on maryfrommacc@msn.com/07812828856

Come and join us for a private tour of Elizabeth Gaskell's house and then in the afternoon a visit to the Whitworth.  

Elizabeth Gaskell House – morning visit

This is the home of Elizabeth Gaskell, Manchester’s very own literary house. A truly hands-on experience that will introduce you to the world of the writer Elizabeth Gaskell and her family through historic period rooms, Victorian style garden, expert guides and changing exhibitions. Described by the press after her death as ‘one of the greatest female novelists of all time’ Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810 and lived at 84 Plymouth Grove in Manchester with her family from 1850 until her death in 1865. She is best known for writing Cranford, North and South and the biography of her friend Charlotte Bronte.

We are having a private guided tour of the house and garden, and then tea/coffee and cake in the tea room. There are lifts to all floors and fully accessible toilets.

Whitworth Art Gallery – arriving lunchtime

Two of the exhibitions are:-

British Art Show 9

The British Art Show is recognised as the most pertinent and ambitious recurrent exhibition of contemporary art produced in the UK, taking place every five years. The ninth edition brings the work of some of the most exciting contemporary artists to Castlefield Gallery, HOME, Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth.

Open House

Wallpapers began arriving at the Whitworth in 1967 and today we house a collection of around 10,000 examples. Framed by living memory, the exhibition evokes a time from World War II through to the gradual removal of wallpaper from homes in the 1990s. 

There is an excellent café at the Whitworth for lunch or afternoon tea, which can be booked online to save queuing (card payment only).

The cost of this trip is £28.00 per person.

Please email Leo (leof472@btinternet.com) if you would like to join us. 

We will be visiting Kedleston Hall by coach leaving Macclesfield Leisure Centre promptly at 9.10 am and returning at around 5.00 pm. 

Kedleston Hall is a National Trust Property near Derby, an 18th century mansion with Adam interiors, and an extensive collection of paintings, sculptures and furnishings, with a vast parkland.

The cost will be £12.00 for members of the National Trust, and £25.00 for non-members.   

Restaurant and shop facilities will be open

**Access to State Apartments by STAIRS only*

There are three ways to pay: 

1) BACS to CAF Bank, Sort code 40-52-40 Account No-00060639, Reference-Kedleston

2) Cheque payable to Macclesfield Arts Society

3) or cash to Mary Loughran at the May lecture

Final numbers are required by 23 May.

If you have any queries about the trip, please contact Mary Loughran by email maryfrommacc@msn.com or by phone (07812828856).

Walter Sickert is one of Britain’s most important artists, with a career spanning six decades. This well received exhibition showcases around 100 loaned paintings and 200 drawings. The Walker holds 348 of the artist’s drawings, which is the largest collection in the world and most of these have never been displayed before.

At this stage we estimate the total cost to be in the region of £25 to £30, including entrance to the exhibition and coach travel.  

The Walker Gallery has a café serving light lunches and other options are available in easy walking distance. There is an option of a free group tour for up to 12 people.

We anticipate leaving Macclesfield at 9.30am and departing Liverpool about 3.45pm.

It would be very helpful to ascertain likely numbers, so to express an interest, please email:- leof472@btinternet.com

We have arranged a visit to Manchester Art Gallery to see, in particular, the current sculpture exhibition, “Out of the Crate”. Usually less than 3% of the approximately 500 sculptures held by the Gallery are on display, but this exhibition allows us to see a much larger selection, in a wide range of materials, and to delve into the untapped history of the collection and the archives. The exhibition gives a fascinating and unusual opportunity of seeing what goes on behind the scenes in methods of storage and research. We are particularly fortunate in having Julia Marwood, one of our members and a professional tour guide with the Gallery, to explain the exhibition and guide us around the display. We shall also have an opportunity of looking round the rest of the Gallery, with its collection of over 25,000 objects of fine and decorative arts, and of joining an organised “Highlights Tour” if desired. 

Lunch and drinks can be purchased in the Gallery Café, or in cafes nearby. We shall leave by coach (Golden Green Travel) from Macclesfield Leisure Centre at 8.45am and expect to return there for approximately 5pm. 

The cost of the visit, which includes coach travel, is £20. Priority is given to Macclesfield members, but if numbers allow, non-members may attend at a small extra charge of £2.

Please see the attached form for details of how to book.

A wonderful opportunity to visit the Terracotta Warriors Exhibition at the World Museum in Liverpool followed by a visit to the nearby Walker Art Gallery in the afternoon.  More information in the Application Form. 

Please note:  Application deadline is 22nd August.