On Monday 7th October, Art and Drama welcomed members of the public, parents and students to our ‘Showcase of Art and the Spoken Word’ evening, as part of the Calne Music and Arts Festival.

Greeted by a champagne reception, guests took the opportunity to see the pop-up exhibition by our new Artist In Residence, Alyson Minkley. With works exploring social themes, pieces included Cataloguing anxiety, Hanging out and Datafields, including insights into her work recently selected for the RWA exhibition, in addition to her residency work at Porthleven, Cornwall.

This was followed by an ‘In Conversation’ with her by our LVI (Year 12) Artists, in addition to a series of LAMDA performances. Izzy (Year 9) performed a musical theatre number: Wouldn't It Be Lovely, performing as Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, followed by Eliane, who performed as Marion in Alan Ayckbourn's popular play, Absent Friends.

A guided tour by Director of Art, Kimberley Appleyard Pallot, provided insights into the rigorous research and creative journey of some of the students around our Founders’ Day display.  These included that of Lucy, now at Leeds Arts University, Ivy, now studying Animation and Eliza, who is studying at the ground-breaking Iovine and Young Academy (University of Southern California) on the Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation course. Isla (Year 12) performed as Bobbi from Neil Simon's American play Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Our LVI (Year 12) girls discussed elements of their GCSE final pieces and coursework submissions before Claire (Year 8) acted as Anne Frank in Bernard Kop's play, Dreams of Anne Frank.

We had some wonderful feedback from those who had attended the evening:

'Thank you so much for a really wonderful evening. The girls' performances and the girls' art work were both superb and I love the way you give them a platform to talk about their work. I also love the way they are allowed to fly with their ideas… it was also interesting to hear about the new Artist in Residence’s work.'

'Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed yesterday evening. It was a joy to see so much talent on show - everywhere!'

Thanks to all who attended, making it such an enjoyable and worthwhile celebration of the creative arts and drama at St Mary’s Calne.

Mrs Kimberley Appleyard Pallot, Director of Art