This lecture is part of the 2023 Autumn Art Lecture series: 

Art and the City: Bristol at 650

Book your free ticket through Ticket Tailor: https://bit.ly/3Qdj12n. 

About the Autumn Art Lectures

The Autumn Art Lectures are here again and this year we are on the move. To coincide with Bristol 650, the year-long celebration that marks the anniversary of the 1373 royal charter, our new series will focus on some of the historical, cultural and conceptual spaces of Bristol. AAL2023 will be an opportunity not just to talk about Bristol and its (in)visible histories, but also to step into the city itself. Events will be hosted in venues that span Bristol – from the Cathedral at its heart on College Green, to Spike Island in the midst of the river that defines the city’s cosmopolitan past and present. Our speakers include curators, artists, and academics, who together will take us on a journey through both familiar and unfamiliar aspects of the city’s history, including its place in the wider world.  

For the full series listing and more information on each event, please follow this link.

The Autumn Art Lecture series is hosted by the University of Bristol's Faculty of Arts with support from the Centre for Black Humanities and Bristol Ideas.

About this event

Opened in 1858 as Bristol’s first art gallery, the RWA (Royal West of England Academy) is a much-loved landmark building that today prides itself on being truly accessible to everyone.  What is less well known is that it has always had equality at its heart, with an extraordinary history of pioneering opportunities for women artists, a leading abolitionist as founding President, and arguably the most egalitarian exhibiting record in the South West. 

Alison Bevan will reveal some of this historic institution’s fascinating story and cast of characters, from its founder, the astonishing Ellen Sharples – a woman artist who made a living on both sides of the Atlantic at the dawn of the nineteenth century, including making portraits of America’s first five Presidents – through its unusual war-time roles, to its fluctuating cultural influence across the decades and its profound relevance today as a source of creative inspiration for all.   

About the speaker

Alison Bevan is Director of the RWA (Royal West of England Academy) – Bristol’s original public art gallery, housed in a stunning, purpose-built, Grade II* listed building. Since she took up the role in 2013, the RWA has been transformed into one of the city’s most loved cultural institutions, delivering life-enhancing creative engagement to a huge range of people, including some of Bristol’s most underserved communities.Cleo is driven by the idea of utilising art, creativity, dance and expanded performance to aid civic engagement and to reframe storytelling as a resilience tool to embed cultural knowledge, empathy, understanding and cohesion.

After graduating in Art History from Nottingham University in 1986, she spent 14 years in public galleries in Wales, latterly at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea. From 1999 to 2013, she was Director of Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance, which specialises in exhibiting the work of the Newlyn, Lamorna and St Ives colonies (1880-1940), a subject on which has lectured in the UK, USA and France.

She is a Fellow of and Mentor for the Museums Association, an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Bristol and was Chair of the South Western Federation of Museums and Galleries from 2009-12. She was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2013 New Year’s Honours for services to Cultural Heritage in Cornwall.

Tickets

Book your free ticket through Ticket Tailor: https://bit.ly/3Qdj12n.

Check out the other events in the Autumn Art Lecture series: https://bit.ly/3ERzIdf.