Tag: art education

Esther Grainger, artist and activist

May 30, 2025 10 Comments
Esther Grainger, artist and activist

1 Introduction Around the turn of the century, when I was working in the National Library of Wales, I came across a smallish painting, in oil on board, called ‘Pontypridd at night’.  It struck me at the time as a bold and unusual work, and whenever I saw it I’d stand and admire it. From […]

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Why isn’t visual art a big thing in Wales?

March 3, 2019 3 Comments
Why isn’t visual art a big thing in Wales?

How healthy are the visual arts in Wales?  Not just in the sense of how many or how good are the artists, but other, more contextual questions, such as:  How are they valued?   How are they supported?  How are artists encouraged and trained?  How are the arts used to bring new life to depressed communities?  […]

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The Powysland Club: its origin and early development

May 13, 2018 2 Comments
The Powysland Club: its origin and early development

1   Foundation The first county archaeological society in Wales was the Caerleon Antiquarian Association, founded in 1847 and renamed the Monmouthshire and Caerleon Antiquarian Association in 1857. It was twenty years before a second local archaeological society in Wales was founded, in 1867.  The gap is puzzling, especially when one considers that this period […]

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