Notice: Free Entry To Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village For Surrey Residents On November 5

Published on: 4 Nov, 2017
Updated on: 4 Nov, 2017

This Sunday, November 5, in partnership with Surrey County Council, Surrey residents can visit Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village for free.

Watts’ Gallery – Artists’ Village.

The Surrey Open Day has been organised to enable residents of Surrey to discover the extraordinary Artists’ Village founded in Compton in 1890 by the great Victorian artist George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817 – 1904) and his wife, the designer Mary Watts (1849 – 1938), to provide Art for All.

On Sunday (tomorrow), visitors can experience:

Watts Gallery – currently showing an unparalleled exhibition of masterpieces by G F Watts brought together to celebrate the bicentenary of the artist’s birth;

Watts Studios – in which G F Watts created many of his most important works and in which Mary Watts held terracotta modelling classes for the local community;

Watts Chapel – the culmination of a visionary community art project, led by Mary Watts;

Watts Contemporary – a gallery space selling affordable contemporary art with proceeds supporting Watts Gallery Trust’s Art for All learning programme;

plus arts and crafts activities (also free for Surrey residents on Sunday, November 5) and refreshments and unique gifts on sale in the Tea Shop and Shop.

Also this Sunday, visitors to Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village will be able to find out more about the Trust’s Physical Energy public sculpture project. As a lasting legacy of Watts200 – a year-long programme of special exhibitions and events to mark the bicentenary of the birth of G F Watts – Watts Gallery Trust has authorised a new bronze cast of Watts’s great equestrian sculpture, Physical Energy, to stand in the public realm as a beacon of creativity in the region.

Visitors will see the original plaster model from which the new cast has been made – the model is on permanent display at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village – and will have an opportunity to hear the Trust’s plans for the project.

To enjoy free access to Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village this Sunday, Surrey residents must present a 2017 utility bill, library card or driving licence at the Visitor Centre.

Further information about the Physical Energy project can also be found by visiting Watts Gallery Trust’s website: www.wattsgallery.org.uk

For further information, visit: www.wattsgallery.org.uk.