University celebrates Textiles and the Arts and Crafts Movement in the North West

09/24/2001 17:17:29

Lancaster University is hosting a series of high profile events to celebrate the Arts and Crafts Movement and the industries that flourished in the North-West of England.

Interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement has grown significantly over the past few decades as people have increasingly come to value the beautifully-crafted artefacts produced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century under the influence of figures such as John Ruskin.

On Saturday 20 October there will be a conference, focusing on textiles which formed an important part of the Movement. The conference is supported by the Pasold Fund.

There will be a number of internationally-recognised experts speaking at the Conference, including: Linda Parry (Victoria and Albert Museum), Jon Press (University of the West of England), Alan Crawford (author, whose books include biographies of C R Ashbee and Charles Rennie Mackintosh), Stephen Wildman (Ruskin Library, Lancaster University), Mary Schoeser (St Martins College of Art and Design), Jennie Brunton (author of the recently published The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Lake District: A Social History).

Following the conference there will be a Reception and Book Launch, which will be held at the Ruskin Library, Lancaster University, to celebrate the publication of "The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Lake District: A Social History by Jennie Brunton". The final event of the day will be a Conference dinner later that evening where the after-dinner speaker will be Oliver Westall, author of Windermere in the Nineteenth Century.

On Saturday 21 October, there is to be an excursion to visit the Ruskin Museum, Coniston and Blackwell: the Artistic House, Bowness on Winderemere. Coaches will leave Lancaster University at 9.30 a.m. and return at approximately 4.30 p.m.

Delegates will be given guided tours of these attractions important to the Arts and Crafts Movement:

Ruskin Museum, Coniston.

The museum contains a large collection of Langdale linen and lace. The visit includes a demonstration of the making of Ruskin Lace by Mrs. Elizabeth Prickett, and an opportunity to view the reserve collections of Langdale Linen.

Blackwell: the Artistic House, Bowness on Windermere.

A Baillie-Scott house, newly renovated with the support of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

For more details of these events, please contact:

Centre for North West Regional Studies,

Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YF.

Telephone & Voice-Mail: 01524 593770; Fax: 01524 594725

e-mail: christine.wilkinson@lancaster.ac.uk