The Lion Works Appeal

WEEKLY COLUMN – THE WOKING INFORMER

What do James Walker Ltd, Martinsyde Ltd, The Oriental Institute and The Royal Dramatic College all have in common? The four organisations were all housed on the same present-day site of The Lion Retail Park on Oriental Road and they are the subject of a new exhibition at The Lightbox entitled, From Mummies to Motorbikes on Oriental Road: 150 Years of Culture, Collecting and Commerce.

The exhibition, on show from the 31 July – 7 October 2012, will explore the history behind the four organisations and how they all played an important role in the life of the town from 1865, the date of the opening of the Royal Dramatic College to 1995, the date that the shell of the original building was demolished.

As part of the exhibition, two important objects are to go on view for the very first time. Workers at the factory and long-time residents of Woking will remember the James Walker gates as well as the magnificent Victorian stained glass windows depicting Shakespeare’s Comedies and Tragedies. Newly restored to their former glory, both the gates and the windows will be displayed in the exhibition. The windows, part of the fabric of the building since the early 1860s, are the lasting remnant of the original design and shell of that grand old building and were pride of place in the James Walker board room.

At one stage James Walker Ltd was the largest employer in Woking with 2000 employees. The Lightbox is asking for memorabilia and objects relating to James Walker Ltd and would love to hear from anyone who worked at James Walker Ltd. If you can help, please email Jenny Webb at jenny.webb@thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737808 by Friday 22 June 2012.

Images: (top) James Walker, c.1910, (bottom) Entrance to the James Walker Factory, c.1950

Vote for the People’s Prize!

Woking Informer Column

Surrey Open Art Exhibition –  See who won the Judges’ Prizes and have your say in who should win the Peoples’ Prize

On show until 13 May in a stunning double-height gallery at The Lightbox, the ‘Surrey Open Art Exhibition’ showcases successful entries of the largest open art competition in Surrey, providing visitors the opportunity to gain an insight into the thriving art community in the region.

At the opening of the exhibition, Carlamaria Jackson was thrilled to be awarded the Judges’ Prize, presented by Andrea Hollo of Bessler Hendrie (Sponsor of the Judges’ Prize). Carlamaria won the prize with her digital c-type print ‘Red Carpet’. The artist comments on her work ‘Inspired by the female form and using photography and found images I create 2D artworks addressing the issues of beautification and objectification that have divided feminism since its conception. ‘Red Carpet’ is part of a series that explores this theme and aims to focus on the essence of what the protagonist is interested in observing i.e. flesh and form which ultimately reduces the women herself to anonymity.’

Also awarded at the opening was Wesley Harland, who won The Ingram Sculpture Prize, presented by prize sponsor, Chris Ingram.  Wesley comments on his winning resin sculpture, entitled ‘Mark B’, ‘In today’s modern world we build up so much around ourselves, ‘Mark B’ looks at taking away all of what we surround ourselves in and seeing what is left. This work shows that even in a domestic pose, with no human intervention; man is just an animal.’

There is one more prize yet to be awarded for the 2012 ‘Surrey Open’; the Peoples’ Prize, sponsored by Chalk Hill Construction. Throughout the exhibition, visitors are invited to cast their vote and have their say in who should win the Peoples’ Prize, which will be announced on 15 May 2012 at www.thelightbox.org.uk .

A total of 62 pieces have been selected for the exhibition, 52 two-dimensional and 10 three-dimensional works, demonstrating a wide range of disciplines including drawing, painting, photography, mixed media, sculpture and textiles. The exhibition will be on show until 13 May and entrance is free of charge.

The Lightbox is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.00pm and Sunday 11.00am – 5.00pm. Entrance is free. For more information please visit www.thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737800.

Image: Winner of the Judges’ Prize, Carlamaria Jackson with her work ‘Red Carpet’ and Winner of The Ingram Sculpture Prize, Wesley Harland with his work ‘Mark B’

Join Britain’s leading product designer

WEEKLY COLUMN – THE WOKING INFORMER

The Lightbox will be hosting the fascinating talk ‘In Conversation with Kenneth Grange’ on Tuesday 15 May, 7.00pm. Join Britain’s leading product designer as he discusses his fascinating and hugely substantial career along with his memories of working for Kenwood from the late 50s and his relationship with Kenneth Wood.

Kenneth Grange is responsible for the design of many products that we use or see in our everyday lives from the re-design of the London Black Cab and the Intercity 125 train to Kodak cameras and Parker pens. In 1958 Kenneth Grange founded the company Kenneth Grange Design Ltd of which electrical appliance manufacturers Kenwood and Kodak soon became the initial chief clients. 

An exhibition at The Lightbox ‘The Art of Design: Kenwood in the Kitchen’ (on show 28 April until 24 June) follows the design journey of Kenwood products, including products designed by Kenneth Grange. Kenwood originally hired Kenneth Grange to re-design the Kenwood Chef in the 1960s. Grange transformed the ‘Chef’ from an industrial looking mixer to a sleek, modern, squared-off design that gave the Kenwood Chef a high-tech desirability, with the design of the A701 Chef. Grange continued designing for Kenwood (amongst other companies) for 40 years, designing over 100 domestic appliances for the company.

Grange’s innovation-led product design, during a career spanning over 50 years, has recently been the subject of a major retrospective at the Design Museum, which showcased just how big an impact one product designer has had on products and appliances that shape our everyday lives.

‘In Conversation with Kenneth Grange’ will be a unique opportunity to hear the inside story of such a prolific career as well as his personal reminiscences of working with Kenneth Wood during the early years of Kenwood before being sold to Thorn Electricals in 1968, all whilst supporting The Lightbox Education Programme. Advance booking is required, please call 01483 737837. Tickets cost £20, £16 concessions.

Talk: ‘In Conversation with Kenneth Grange’ is being held in association with exhibition ‘The Art of Design: Kenwood in the Kitchen’, which will be on show in the Upper Gallery at The Lightbox from 28 April until 24 June and entrance is free of charge (donations welcome)

Image: Kenwood Chef Mixer A901, c.1976-88 by Kenwood (A model of the mixer based on Kenneth Grange’s 1960s redesign of the Kenwood Chef)

Kenneth Wood – the man behind the iconic mixer

WEEKLY COLUMN – THE WOKING INFORMER

Opening on 28 April at The Lightbox, new exhibition ‘The Art of Design: Kenwood in the Kitchen’ will bring together products from 1947 to the present day which illustrate the Kenwood design journey which revolutionised the kitchen.

Registered in 1947 from a workshop in Goldsworth Road, Woking, design pioneer Kenneth Wood would go on to develop iconic and familiar products and appliances that over 65 years have transformed our daily lives; from the A100 Turnover Toaster – the first electric toaster to allow the user to toast both sides without touching the bread -  to the Kenwood Chef – launched in 1950 and redesigned for Kenwood by Kenneth Grange in the 1960s, the Chef became the standard aesthetic for food mixers, heralded the world over for its labour-saving abilities and classic design. 

The exhibition will show how continuous innovation in design and function and advances in technology catapulted the company into an international household name.   The exhibition displays a whole range of this equipment alongside contemporary recipe books, and in Woking’s Story (The Lightbox’s museum of local history) the ‘Local Heroes’ display features Kenneth Wood, the man behind the mixer. The factory moved to purpose-built premises in Hipley Street, Old Woking, in 1948 and then to Havant in 1961.  In 1968, Thorn Electrical Industries Ltd took over Kenwood Manufacturing, and Wood parted with the company, although he maintained an interest in it until his death, but the Woking period remains fundamental to the development of the Kenwood range.

Through personal accounts and new research, this exhibition will look at the secrets behind Ken Wood’s success and explore how advances in technology impacted on the social and cultural landscape of the 1950s.

 ‘The Art of Design: Kenwood in the Kitchen’ will be on show in the Upper Gallery at The Lightbox from 28 April until 24 June and entrance is free of charge (donations welcome).  The Lightbox is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.00pm and Sunday 11.00am – 5.00pm. For more information please visit www.thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737800.

Image: Kenwood Chef Mixer, Model A700, 1950s by Kenwood

New heritage display focuses on RMS Titanic

WEEKLY COLUMN – THE WOKING INFORMER

Outside Woking’s Story, The Lightbox’s museum, there is a new display to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic that took place on 15 April 1912.

 “RMS Titanic”, with its sister ship “RMS Olympic”, were the pride of the White Star Line.  Built in Belfast, the “Titanic” sailed to Southampton to take its passengers, drawn from the cream of British and American society as well as poorer people seeking a better life in the New World, on a voyage to New York aiming to show technological progress and luxurious life aboard to an extent never seen before.   The sixteen water-tight compartments into which the hull was divided were designed to make the ship unsinkable – so much so that the complement of lifeboats was not planned for mass evacuation.  The passengers, rich and poor, on this momentous voyage were on the boat trains which steamed through Woking in the morning of 10 April 1912 to join the ship at Southampton.

She called at Cherbourg and Queenstown (now Cobh) to pick up passengers and began her crossing.  But on the night of 14-15 April the watch reported an iceberg ominously close; it was too late to steer such a vast ship to safety and the iceberg tore a hole in the hull which the hull plates could not resist.  Within hours the liner had sunk, broken backed, and over two-thirds of the 2,340 passengers and crew lost their lives.  Buried at Brookwood Cemetery are four people with close links to this tragedy.   The landowner and fencing champion Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his couturier wife Lucy escaped in a lifeboat which was not full and questions were raised as to how they had achieved this.  The widow of the captain, Edward Smith, and their daughter Mel are also buried there. 

The Lightbox display sheds some local light on the tragedy which, a century on, remains as fascinating and debateable as ever. The display outside Woking’s Story in The Lightbox is on show until 24 June, entrance is free of charge.

The Lightbox is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.00pm and Sunday 11.00am – 5.00pm. Entrance is free. For more information please visit www.thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737800.

Image: Titanic in Belfast Lough, April 1912

Easter Egg-xtravaganza at The Lightbox

WOKING INFORMER WEEKLY COLUMN

This Easter break at The Lightbox will be full of fun, hands-on workshops for families and children.

Pop into one of the free drop-in family workshops, where depending on which days you attend, you can create origami bunnies or Tudor designs, take part in an Easter trail or join in the 5^th annual seed pot workshop.

There will also be some bookable workshops where 4-8 year olds can make their own pom-pom animals and 8-16 year olds can make clay heads!  

Whilst visiting The Lightbox, why not also spend some time in the fun and interactive museum; Woking’s Story or take a look around the Surrey Open Art Exhibition or The Ingram Collection: A Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, all of which are free entry.

Furthermore, a visit can be completed by enjoying a delicious snack or meal in The Lightbox Café, which is under new management and boasts a brand new and great-value menu for all the family.

Free Drop-In Family Workshops - Drop in anytime from 1.30pm – 4.00pm:

Suitable for children aged 4+. Children must be accompanied by an adult. All materials included. Please note you may be required to wait if the Education Studio is full.

• Origami Bunnies – Tues 3 April
• Easter Trail – Thurs 5 April
• Tudor Designs – Tues 10 April
• 5th Annual Seed Pot – Thurs 12 April

 
Workshops for Children and Young People:

Advance booking required 01483 737837. All materials included. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Accompanying adult goes free.

•  Pom-pom Animals Workshop (for 4-8 year olds) – Wed 4 April, 1.00pm – 2.30pm and 3.00pm – 4.30pm, £6.50 per child

• Clay Heads Workshop (for 8-16 year olds) – Wed 11 April, 2.00pm – 3.30pm, £6.50 per child/young person

Impressionist & Post-Impressionist Paintings

The Lightbox is delighted to be welcoming Christopher Lloyd CVO, for a Celebrity Fundraising Lecture on 12 January 2012. Join Christopher, president of NADFAS (National Association of the Decorative & Fine Art Societies) and trustee of the Art Fund for his talk and discover all about ‘The Collecting of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in Britain’, whilst raising funds for a very worthy cause; The Lightbox education programme.

Christopher’s principal areas of expertise are the Italian Renaissance and French Impressionism, the latter of which he will be discussing in his forthcoming lecture at The Lightbox. The work of French Impressionist artists is well represented in British public collections, but the story of how that came about is a dramatic one. The Impressionist movement included a diverse group of painters, rejected by the art establishment, who defiantly set up their own exhibition and included Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Degas. This new way of painting rapid and broken brushstrokes, was not well received by critics in their native France, not to mention Britain, but this situation was reversed by a few remarkable individuals who formed important collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.

Celebrity Fundraising Lecture, Thursday 12 January 2012, 7.00pm. £25 adults, £20 concessions. All proceeds will support The Lightbox Education Programme. Advance booking is required (01483 737837). Talk will last for approximately 45 minutes with a short time for questions. Doors open 30 minutes before the event, a glass of wine is included.

Ode To The Lighbox!

We, at The Lightbox have received a wonderful email from one of our visitors, Elizabeth Wyatt who has not only been kind enough to share her feedback with us, but has done so in the form of a poem!

We enjoyed the poem so much that we would like to share it with you also:

Ode To The Lighbox!
By Elizabeth Wyatt

The Lightbox Museum & Gallery opened in 2007,
In Woking on the 15th September, it’s a little taste of Heaven,
Along the Chobham Road, at home it makes me feel,
To each and every visitor, it has such wide appeal!

History or art, whichever is your pleasure,
The Lightbox is a place, that you will come to treasure,
Then perhaps a cup of coffee, or maybe a bite of lunch,
The Lightbox Canalside Bistro, is a delightful place to munch!

Designed by Marks Barfield, The Lightbox is a delight,
When I visit Woking, it’s always a welcoming sight,
Both Galleries are so spacious, believe me that’s no lie,
Built with the visitor in mind, plenty space for you and I!

Before you end your trip, the shop is worth a visit,
I like to buy a gift, I wouldn’t want to miss it,
No Gallery or Museum’s complete, without warm & friendly staff,
Which the Lightbox has in abundance, I hope this poem has made you laugh!

Landscapes of the Mind

Following the success of ‘Ways of Seeing’, ‘Landscapes of the Mind’ is a new FREE project at The Lightbox, for mental health service provision users

At The Lightbox there is a wonderful collection of landscape paintings and drawings, as part of the Ingram Collection. There is the opportunity to learn about these and to get involved in a unique project that offers the opportunity to, with guidance from a tutor, create an exhibition.  Participants will not only be making key decisions such as choosing the artworks to be included, but also will be creating responses to them by producing their own artwork, also to be included in the exhibition.

Participants don’t need to be tremendously skilled as an artist; all that is required is the enthusiasm in taking part!

If this is of interest to you or perhaps you have someone in mind, this is what The Lightbox is offering:

•  A project where as far as possible, all the decisions about will be made by the participants.  
• There is no charge to take part; in fact transport costs will be paid.  
• Priority will be given to those who did not take part in our previous project, ‘Ways of Seeing’, but if there are places left then participants in that project can be involved in this one.

How to get involved

If you are at all interested please come along to the Education Studio at The Lightbox at 11.00am on Friday 16 December. 

If you are interested but can’t make it to the meeting please contact Rib Davis, Special Projects Manager at The Lightbox, to say you would like to take part (rib.davis@thelightbox.og.uk    01483 737817).

‘Landscapes of the Mind’ is funded by the Happy Museum Project, which is funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Breakthrough Fund. To find out more about the project and The Happy Museum please click here.

Festive Fun at The Lightbox this Christmas

Woking Informer Column

On Saturday 26 November The Lightbox will be holding its annual Arts and Crafts Fair, your perfect opportunity to find unique gifts for all the family. Visitors will be able to browse traditional handmade gifts, bespoke contemporary crafts, and original local artworks. Whether you’re searching for a distinctive seasonal shopping experience, would like to find original and creative gifts for your friends and family or perhaps looking for a special treat for yourself, you’ll find them all here. Furthermore, when legs get weary, you can settle down to some festive cheer, with a cup of warm mulled wine and a delicious mince pie in our café, Palette, whilst enjoying live music. What a wonderful way to welcome this year’s festive Season!

We’ve got plenty more to help you get into the holiday season and Father Christmas will even be paying us a visit! Make sure to pop down to our grotto on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 December to see him, you’ll also get to meet his helpful Elf and the magical Snowflake Fairy.

If you feel like getting creative and adding your personal touch to Christmas this year why not get involved with our Christmas decoration workshops. For families and children we have some free drop- in family workshops (Saturday 3 December and Wednesday 21 December) where you can make your own Christmas decorations.

Woking Dance Festival will be presenting a weekend of live and digital dance at The Lightbox on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 December and will also be performing their take on ‘A Christmas Carol’ with a twist.

Our in house café and restaurant; Palette will also be hosting some festive evening events including a Christmas Dinner Dance  (also including a Christmas quiz) on Thursday 15 December and a festive themed murder mystery evening of entertainment and dining; Who Sleighed Santa on Saturday 17 December.

For more information about ‘Festive Fun’ at The Lightbox, please click here.