8th Oct – Watts Gallery, Artists Village, Compton – Away Day

Watts Gallery, also known as Artists’ Village, is near Guildford. It is dedicated to the works of the Victorian painter and sculptor George Frederick Watts and his talented wife Mary Watts, artist, designer and writer.
En route to Watts Gallery we’ll stop in Guildford for coffee (not included in the price) and a brief visit to the Cathedral.
George and Mary Watts founded the Grade II listed building, designed by Christopher Hatton Turner. It opened in 1904 and is the only purpose-built art gallery in the UK dedicated to a single professional artist.

We’ll spend the day at the Artists’ Village, visiting Limnerlease (the couple’s home and studio), the historic Art Gallery with its contemporary Sculpture Gallery, and finally the Chapel on the hill, commissioned by Mary and decorated by her with help from the local villagers.

There is no guided tour but you can access an audio tour on the Gallery’s Smartify App, which can be download before you go or in the Village itself. Please bring your own headphones. The café there is small and the manager is unable to cater for individual orders on the day. A group lunch of homemade vegetable soup with a bread roll will be available for those who prebook lunch on their application form. Otherwise please bring your own lunch.

Date: Thursday, 8 October.
Meeting Time/Place:
The coach will pick you up at:
9.30am Kingston
9.45am Surbiton
Price:
● Coach: £24.90
● Entrance fee: £15 or £8.88 if you have a National Art Pass
● Group Lunch: £7.95

Accessibility:
Limnerlease: The coach will drop us as near to the house as possible and there is a lift to the first floor. It will collect us from here and take those who wish to the Artists’ Village or you may walk down the woodland path to the road when you’re ready to leave.
Artists’ Village: Shop, café and gallery are all on one level. The Sculpture Studio is accessed inside the Gallery down steps or by lift. There is no lift to the Contemporary Gallery from the shop and the visitors’ centre.
Chapel: The coach will park up by the Chapel which sits high on a mound, accessible only up a long set of steps or a winding uphill path. Those who feel they do not want to visit the Chapel will be asked to wait patiently in the coach for members to return.
The coach will leave at 3.30pm for our return to Kingston.
To join us, please complete the booking form in the centre of this newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a GAS, to Jacqui Hine.
jacqui@hine.org.uk, 07817 264959 (for cancellations on the day only, please)