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Daily Mail
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Dame Tracey Emin praises King Charles for his commitment to the arts as they join prominent figures in the industry to celebrate 25 years of the Royal Drawing School
The King was praised for his commitment to drawing by stars of the arts world tonight as they celebrated 25 years of his Royal Drawing School. Dame Tracey Emin said the country was 'lucky to have' a monarch who cared so much, while eclectic cross-dressing potter Grayson Perry described him as 'very special'. The pair both sported what appeared to be the fashionable footwear of the night at St James's Palace - plastic Crocs. While Emin sported dark coloured footwear, Perry naturally sported a brightly-painted pair of iconic clogs to offset his bright orange dress. The palace was packed with renowned artists, creative figures and alumni of the school founded by Charles, 76, as Prince of Wales. To mark the occasion a special anniversary exhibition has been created 'The Power of Drawing: Marking 25 Years of the Royal Drawing School' which includes works by 50 eminent artists and alumni from the school's twenty five year history including Emin and David Hockney. Another star exhibit is one of the King's own drawings, a preliminary sketch of Highgrove from 2000. The free exhibition will go on display at the Royal Drawing School in Shoreditch from July 1- 26. Founded with the help and guidance of artist Catherine Goodman, the Royal Drawing School has made a significant contribution to art education. As an independent, not-for-profit institution, it remains dedicated to high-quality observational drawing tuition. The King, who was accompanied by Queen Camilla, her art dealer daughter Laura Lopes and his artist cousin, Lady Sarah Chatto, spent more than an hour examining the works that will go on display and chatting to guests. A live-drawing session involving some of the school's youngest talents went on throughout the evening, before the guests sat down to listen to a performance by singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright, whose artwork is also being displayed, with a film of work by alumni playing behind him. In an impromptu speech the King offered an unusually emotional tribute to Goodman for her work with the school over the years. He said: 'I can't resist saying a few very small words because above all I wanted to pay a very special tribute to darling Catherine who, can you believe it, it all goes back really to when my very special cousin, Sarah [Chatto], and Catherine were young 18-year-old students at Camberwell School of Art and used to come bouncing in to my room. I remember that was where it all started. 'So when I needed somebody to start the life drawing classes at my original old Institute of Architecture in Regent's Park, I thought Catherine is the ideal person. Otherwise these young trainee architects won't understand the importance of life drawing in terms of proportion, scale and everything else. 'Her dedication and her love for the students created this remarkable, I hope, legacy which will continue. So we do all owe her a huge debt of gratitude. The King, who was accompanied by Queen Camilla, her art dealer daughter Laura Lopes and his artist cousin, Lady Sarah Chatto, spent more than an hour examining the works that will go on display and chatting to guests In an impromptu speech the King offered an unusually emotional tribute to Goodman for her work with the school over the years 'Imagine, just perhaps, how proud I am am of all these students over all these years. I have always believed in investing in talent for the future in many different spheres, particularly in the cultural world but also in all sorts of others. 'So see these young people develop into middle aged people still painting is remarkable and achieving so much and I hope enabling them to discover and develop and demonstrate their remarkable talents. It's an investment that has been rewarded a thousand fold. ' Dame Tracey Emin spoke warmly about the King, whom she has known for several years. 'It's thrilling, so nice. His speech was from the heart. He knows what he is talking about,' he said. 'Imagine how lucky we are to have a king who loves art and knows what he is talking about. His is a very nice drawing, it's a sketch, very loose, very nice.' Gesturing to the display, she added: 'I am hanging next door but one to the king. It's not often that you can say that. 'His time and energy is phenomenal. Drawing is more important than it ever was. We are going through such terrible times at the moment and we are so lucky to have a King who has such a great understanding of many different things, and to be here tonight talking about drawing and art gives you faith in humanity. We people are drawing or painting or making art, they are not going to war. ' Her words were echoed by Wainright, who also attended art college, and told the audience between songs: 'All I wanted to say is that drawing for me now has become a necessary tool to really save my mind from all the distractions that we are faced with in the world. It's more important than ever for people to draw and focus on what isn't there.' Goodman paid tribute to the King as a man who 'never minded swimming against the tide' when he started the drawing school, which does not receive any official funding but relied on donations. She added: 'He decided to give drawing a home and a place for students to come and learn. To make sure this important living tradition was celebrated and protected. ' With over 350 different courses for adults and children of all abilities, including a renowned full-year postgraduate-level programme and a wide range of scholarships, the Royal Drawing School is accessible to all regardless of background or circumstance.
Arab News
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Recess evening at Hayy Jameel celebrates youth, creativity, alternative learning
JEDDAH: Hayy Jameel has hosted Recess: Closing Conversations to mark the conclusion of its flagship after-school initiative for teenagers. The evening offered a platform to revisit the transformative journey of the program's first cohort, and featured thoughtful exchanges with the learning team at Hayy, along with mentors who guided the students through the months-long experience. The session welcomed reflections from mentors including Dr. Effat Fadag, Saudi artist and founder of Naqsh Art Studio; Rizwana Anwer, educator and alternative learning advocate; Sahrish Ali and Nayla Attar, artist-teachers and members of the learning team at Hayy Jameel; and Abdelelah Qutub, exhibition designer and program mentor. Speaking about the inspiration behind Recess, Attar said: 'After all these foundations were laid out, we were really trying to create a comprehensive program, something that teaches teenagers how to navigate skills and topics usually reserved for much later in life. 'We wanted them to get a glimpse of what it means to move from high school into a design-thinking process, and even into the contemporary art world. There's a big gap in how people perceive and interact with art, especially in Saudi, and Recess was about bridging that.' Ali stressed the importance of creating lifelong learning spaces, and said: 'We started by developing a program for kids aged 5 to 13, but we noticed a gap when it came to teens, so we built this program with weekly after-school sessions, combining core theoretical knowledge, practical art studio time, and mentorship from creatives in our network.' Fadag said: 'It's not just about hearing, but listening. Listening helps promote the inner voice. One of the most important things for me was encouraging students to ask questions like 'Why are we doing this?' and to integrate research and critical thinking into their work. Art challenges us to negotiate identity and social engagement, and this is what we tried to bring into the program.' Anwer brought an educator's lens shaped by both international teaching experience and homeschooling, and said: 'I came from a traditional academic background, but as a teacher I saw how many students struggled with that model. 'When I became a parent I knew I didn't want to put my children in the same system. Homeschooling and unschooling helped me realize that learning can be more holistic and individual. That's what we tried to reflect in Recess.' Qutub, who boasts an architecture background, emphasized the importance of spatial thinking and collaborative presentation, and said: 'Students had a tendency to view their work in isolation, so I worked with them to think about how their pieces related to one another and to the space as a whole. 'My role was to get them production-ready, to help them engage with the real-world process of creating and displaying artwork, and to see themselves as part of a collective dialogue.' The showcase at Hayy Jameel featured the works of 10 young artists, with each piece a reflection of their journey through Recess. The multidisciplinary program, which ran from February to May, offered a structured yet flexible curriculum blending theoretical sessions, practical workshops, field trips, and portfolio development. Through art-making, mentorship, and cultural engagement, the students explored themes like identity, nature, technology, and personal narrative, resulting in works that invited reflection and dialogue. Hadeel Felemban, learning assistant at Hayy Jameel, said: 'The program was mainly designed for high-school students who are passionate about pursuing art at a higher level. 'It ran over the course of several months, with weekly Saturday sessions that combined theory, practical work, and mentorship from artists and educators. The students learned about the creative process behind artworks and exhibitions, built their own portfolios, and engaged with different departments at Hayy, including the exhibition, cinema, and public programs teams. They also had weekly interventions with guest artists and visited cultural sites like the Islamic Biennale and Al-Balad.' As the mentors gathered with students one last time for Closing Conversations, the atmosphere was charged with pride, curiosity, and a shared sense of accomplishment. Young artist Aleen Alqurashi shared how the program had transformed her perspective on both art and herself, saying: 'I honestly didn't think I had any talent in art; I just joined because I wanted to improve. 'But throughout this program, it really helped me see things differently; not just in art, but in life. I discovered talents I didn't know I had, and I wanted my final project to carry a deeper meaning, something people could relate to.' Nooh Spurlock, 14, also a homeschooled student and the son of mentor Rizwana Anwer, participated in the program with a concept that merged creativity, gaming, and self-exploration. He said: 'My work is about a video game — are you inside your mind when you're fighting against yourself? 'I was inspired by a lot of things: different video games, different elements from that genre. The mentors connected me with game developers who helped me with the research and planning.' His final project, titled 'Into the Mind,' was a video game set inside the player's consciousness, in which one must battle different versions of themselves. The game featured three levels, each representing a specific emotion, with each stage designed to mentally and emotionally prepare the player for the next.
The Guardian
08-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Gerard Wilson obituary
My former tutor, friend and colleague Gerard Wilson, who has died aged 81, quietly but profoundly reshaped British sculpture education, which had been bound by patriarchal traditions and narrow definitions of artistic value. As a lecturer at Brighton and Chelsea art colleges, and other institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Slade, Central St Martins and Falmouth, Gerard stood apart – not loudly, but unwaveringly – in his support for broader, more conceptual understandings of sculpture. He embraced performance, installation, non-traditional materials and interdisciplinary thinking long before these were widely accepted. He recognised that sculpture was not only objects, but was also preoccupied with ideas, space and presence. Born in Balsham, Cambridgeshire, Gerard was the second of the three children of and Teresa (nee Hobart), an auditor, and her husband, William Wilson. Gerard's early life was shaped by independence and absence – he met his father only once, briefly. He gained a place at St Joseph's college in Upper Norwood, south London, run by the De La Salle Brothers; Gerard's abilities were quickly recognised and he skipped an academic year. He recalled the Brothers' intellectual openness as pivotal. Their encouragement for him to explore philosophy, literature and art independently with emotional sensitivity shaped Gerard's approach to teaching. On leaving school, he took a foundation year at Norwich, then a degree at Brighton Art College. He was known for his advocacy of female artists, many of whom found in his studio a rare and vital source of encouragement in an otherwise dismissive or exclusionary environment. Students and colleagues recall a man of quiet intellect, generosity, deep attentiveness and a self-mocking wit. He opened doors, rather than prescribed paths, enabling each artist to articulate their own preoccupations. Artists such as Helen Chadwick, Thomas J Price, Simon Perry and Gerard de Thame, whom he taught, site him as a pivotal influence. De Thame recalls that 'his tutorials were never didactic, but were more like an invitation – to think boldly, to question deeply'. After his retirement in 2008, Gerard joined a pottery group where he explored the interplay of moving image and clay. As with his earlier work, seen in shows at the Serpentine and ICA in London and the Ikon gallery in Birmingham, he found the playing with conceptual concerns exhilarating. And he rekindled his love for tennis. Gerard is survived by his partner, Jennie Read, whom he met in Brighton in 1973 and married in 2017, their daughter, Therica, his brother, William, and sister, Marie.
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Boundless Art Park! The 10th Nanjing University of the Arts 520 Graduation Exhibition Carnival Embraces AI
NANJING, China, May 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On May 20th, the 10th Nanjing University of the Arts 520 Graduation Exhibition Carnival kicked off with the theme 'Embracing AI, Digital Intelligence Empowers.' More than 90 art exhibitions and performances will continue through late June, offering global audiences an immersive experience of the new face of art education in the era of digital intelligence. A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available in this link. Video: At the opening ceremony, two pioneers - Mr. Cai Yuanpei, a trailblazer of modern education in China, and Mr. Liu Haisu, a founding figure of the New Art Movement and modern art education - made a remarkable appearance 'across time and space' through high-precision digital human technology. As esteemed figures from the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts (the predecessor of Nanjing University of the Arts), they came together to pass on the spiritual torch of aesthetic and art education. The spark of artificial intelligence is illuminating a new chapter in artistic creation, while a decade of dedicated cultivation is now resonating with the powerful voice of innovation in the digital-intelligence era. Highlights such as the 'Digital Intelligence · Chinese Attire' fashion design graduation showcase, the Bubble Music Festival Jazz Season, and the all-Chinese opera Thunderstorm jointly performed by Chinese and Canadian students are among the many standout events. This year's vibrant '520" celebration has attracted enthusiastic participation from art institutions in the United States, Australia, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, and more. Together with faculty and students from Nanjing University of the Arts, they are presenting a boundary-breaking, multicultural artistic feast. 'Over the past decade, Nanjing University of the Arts has pursued the vision of 'a campus-wide showcase, a city-wide celebration,' turning it into a vivid reality of 'a city and a university thriving together in symbiosis.' By embedding the DNA of art into the fabric of the city, we've created a cultural emblem that shines in Nanjing and radiates across Jiangsu,' said Yu Feng, Party Secretary of Nanjing University of the Arts. Source: Nanjing University of the Arts Contact person: Ms. Ling, Tel: 86-10-63074558
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘She destroyed Ruskin's life': Brian Maye on the young Irish girl who caught the art historian and social reformer's attention
The art historian, essayist and social reformer John Ruskin, after whom Ruskin College in Oxford is named, is well known, but what may not be so well known is his extraordinary – and perhaps disturbing – relationship with a young Irish girl and woman who many have described as his 'muse'. Her name was Rose La Touche and she died 150 years ago on May 25th. She was born in 1848 into a family of Huguenot background who were bankers. Her father was John La Touche, her mother Maria Price, the only child of the Dowager Countess of Desart, and the family lived in Harristown House, Co Kildare. Little is known of Rose's childhood; it is likely she was privately tutored, as were many of her class at the time. Her mother was introduced to John Ruskin by her friend Lady Waterford and asked him for help with her children's education. In a letter to him, she said she regarded him highly as an art teacher, that she thought art education important and believed that Rose had potential talent in that area. When he called on the La Touches, he was taken with them and 'felt there was something exceptional about Rose', according to Tim Hilton's book, John Ruskin: The Early Years (1985). In his memoir Praeterita, published towards the end of his life, Ruskin recalled that at that first meeting, 'presently the drawing room door opened, and Rosie came in, quietly taking stock of me with her blue eyes as she walked across the room, gave me her hand, as a good dog gives its paw, and then stood a little back'. READ MORE He was 39 at the time and she almost 10. He considered her of normal height for her age and continued: 'The eyes were rather deep blue at that time, and fuller and softer than afterwards, lips perfectly lovely in profile – a little too wide and hard in edge, seen in front; the rest of the features were what a fair, well-bred Irish girl's usually are, the hair perhaps more graceful in short curl around the forehead, and softer than one sees often, in the close-bound tresses above the neck.' It was almost as if he were painting her portrait – certainly the description is like the detailed one an artist would see – but how appropriate it was of a female child by a middle-aged man is debatable. As time went on, Ruskin found her a puzzle, according to Tim Hilton; in some ways she was precocious and in others child-like. 'I don't know what to make of her … She wears her round hat in the sauciest way possible and is a firm, fiery little thing,' Ruskin wrote. He certainly became fascinated with her and some commentators have speculated as to when he actually 'fell in love' with her, suggesting that it was some time when she was between 14 and 18 years of age. At her parents' request, the Scottish author, poet and Congregational minister George MacDonald oversaw her welfare in their absence and acted as go-between, close friend and adviser to both parties in the relationship. According to one source, Ruskin proposed to her when she was 18, but she asked him to wait until she was 21. It seems her parents were against the union, having been warned about him by his first wife, Effie Gray, whose six-year marriage to him had been annulled because of non-consummation. When Rose was legally free to decide for herself, she still turned him down. It has been suggested that her doctors told her that she was unfit for marriage. It would seem that she suffered from anorexia, which may have stunted her sexual development. She certainly suffered from poor health and died at the young age of 27 in a Dublin nursing home where her parents had placed her. Her death has been ascribed to various causes, such as madness, a broken heart, religious mania or hysteria, but it is likely that anorexia was a major factor. Ruskin never recovered from her loss, which tipped him into periods of insanity. In an article in The Guardian (February 12th, 2005), Philip Hoare, author of England's Lost Eden (2005: a study of myth, spiritualism and the search for Utopia during Victorian times), who discovered a cache of long-lost letters between Rose and Ruskin, said the relationship had destroyed Ruskin's life. In Praeterita, Ruskin reprinted in full the first letter Rose had ever sent him. Hoare described the letter as 'pathetic, inconsequential, a child's report on a day out in Nice … but in its innocent prattle lay the source of Ruskin's pain and all that followed it'. Some parallels between the Ruskin-Rose relationship and that between Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell seem obvious. Perhaps in the case of both men concerned, their focus was on the aesthetic rather than the sexual aspects of relationships.
