Written by (Above: Anthea Godfrey, Guild Artistic Director )
You may wonder what the trustees do as trustees and volunteers for the Guild.
So here are a few recent activities that Anthea, our Artistic Director has been up to in the past few weeks. With some photos showing the fun we can have!
In the lead up to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace she was managing submissions from graduates and scholars ready for the exhibitions with the help of a volunteer.
Being part of the committee creating the book we published at the beginning of October to accompany the exhibition, Retrospective. This includes discussing layouts of pages and writing the 30 years history of the Graduate and Scholar Showcase for the book’s editor to complete the book.
Liaising with Immediate Live over the details of the shows include stand layout, tables, display plinths etc.
An exhibition is planned down to the smallest detail, but there are always final adjustments on the day.
Managing the details of the visit of our Patron – liaising between her office and the show organisers.
Planning the exhibition layout once all the exhibits were confirmed to ensure we had sufficient space and, where necessary, plinths, signage etc.
On the two days before the show opens to the public Anthea was hanging the exhibition, taking time to ensure everything was displayed to its best advantage within the space.
On opening day at Alexandra Palace Anthea hosted the visit by our patron, HRH The Duchess of Gloucester. At the end of the visit she present the Duchess with a copy of the Retrospective book.
Since Alexandra Palace show closed in October:
Anthea has represented the Guild as a Judge on the Hand and Lock 2023 Competition. 1st round of judging was virtual, the 2nd was face to face prior to the awards announcements.
Made signage for Harrogate Exhibition as Anthea realised we didn’t have sufficient signage at Alexandra Palace.
Anthea has also revealed hitherto unknown skills at ironing as she has been attending some of the digitisation days at our store in Halton, Bucks. She was a champion at removing fold marks from larger items ready for the photos.
Also we’ve removed some of the ownership labels to ensure they don’t intrude into photos – and then resewn them back on.
Then, in November Anthea could be seen at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show where on the Wednesday she was again hanging the exhibition.
On the Thursday she gave a speech at the Hand and Lock Prize exhibition within the show – this is the first time the Hand and Lock winners have been shown at a Knitting and Stitching Show, and hopefully not the last!
that’s really interesting. the trustees certainly do get hugely involved!