Alberto Burri / The Student Blog / Thursday 18th April

Kettle’s Yard was originally conceived with students in mind. Jim Ede kept ‘open house’ every afternoon of term, personally guiding visitors around his home. Today the house works in a similar fashion with members of the public able to visit every afternoon except on Mondays. Like Jim, we really want to encourage students to come to the house, enjoy the setting and use it as inspiration and a resource for their studies. We hear from Joni, a sixth form student, who was excited to discover that a recent acquisition at Kettle’s Yard was to prove very relevant to her work.

I’m an art student currently studying AS Art at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. My latest coursework project was based around the theme voids and spaces which I later developed into a closer study of rusted metal and the shapes that it could form. My final piece was a dress that used the patterns and colours of rust to create a design on the body.

As part of my coursework I had to look to artists to help develop my idea for a final piece. While researching different artists I found Alberto Burri’s work particularly interesting and felt that I could incorporate similar aspects into my own work for the project. A lot of his work was of a similar colour scheme to drawings and photographs I had done and his use of texture was something that I wanted to look at further in my work.

After researching his work online I wanted to look more at Burri’s work to find how I could use it with my own. I then found out that Kettles Yard had recently acquired a piece by him that was going to be displayed in the house. The opportunity to see one of his pieces was really useful for my project allowing me to properly see his use of materials in the work. This visit lead to the idea to cut away parts of the main dress and fill the spaces with textured, burnt looking pieces of fabric, similar to the Burri piece at Kettle’s Yard.

The chance to look at Burri’s work at Kettle’s Yard as part of my project was really great, it helped form my ideas and I found it easier to connect the artist’s work to my own – an important part of the AS course.

~ Joni Mitchell

The Kettle’s Yard House is open from 1.30-4.30pm (summer opening times) Tuesday – Sunday.

We’d love to hear about your experiences of Kettle’s Yard. Send  your stories to and you could feature in our blog. 

Art in the East / A Panel Discussion / Thursday 11th April

Last month saw Kettle’s Yard host a debate concerning the issue of the support for artists in Cambridge and the Eastern Region. On the panel sat Kettle’s Yard Director, Andrew Nairne, Amy Botfield, Arts Council England, Donna Lynas, Director of Wysing Arts Centre , Ian Giles , London based artist participating in OUTPOST ‘s exhibition and OUTPOST committee members James Epps and Isabel Gyling.

With the Kettle’s Yard house packed with audience members from around the region, the event was also streamed live via the Kettle’s Yard website and This is Tomorrow .

Questions concerned whether enough is being done to support artists so they can make exciting, innovative art in Cambridge and the Eastern Region. What was already happening and what more could be done. We heard from each of the panelists and then opened the discussion up to the floor for a lively debate. With the argument that there is always more that can be done to support artists in our region, the discussion also highlighted the great work that has been making headway in many areas. Making more readily available the information about the support and opportunities that is out there for artists was just one of the aims and outcomes. You can watch the discussion below.

Keep the discussion going, send us your opinions in the comment section below or via twitter .

The event was followed by  , a performance by artist, Ian Giles . Audience members were invited to take part in the meditation where they were invited to paint each other’s faces with a small amount of clay in pairs. When all of the wet clay has been applied, each pair could watch each other’s faces dry with the drying process leading the meditation. For this performance meditation is understood as a focused period of calm and reflection. Patterns formed on the participant’s faces as the clay dried, mirroring the aging process and evoking thoughts about time, mortality and change.

The Estate of Victor Skipp / Legacy giving / Tuesday 2nd April

On Christmas Eve 2010 one of our regular visitors, Victor Skipp, died at the age of 85, leaving his estate to Kettle’s Yard. Victor had been a historian of the Industrial Revolution in the West Midlands.

The paintings of Ivon Hitchens were an early passion but at the 1984 British Art Show he came across the work of the English minimalist artist Bob Law and began to form a significant collection of his work. In the 1970s he and his wife Pat bought and extended an old farmhouse in Suffolk, which on their retirement became their permanent home.

Kettle’s Yard became increasingly influential on Victor’s thinking about art. If Kettle’s Yard is a place of aesthetic connections, Victor’s house became one of philosophical links where minimalist art combined with tribal rugs, African sculpture and a range of artefacts reflecting his interest in pre-industrial societies. Victor was a convinced modernist and his library includes rich holdings of 20th century poetry, literature and literary criticism.

In later years he would visit Kettle’s Yard for particular exhibitions. The Black Mountain College exhibition : Starting at Zero, was important to him as were Fred Sandback , Rodin: All about Eve , Edmund de Waal , Callum Innes , Francis Davison , the two Roger Hilton shows Late Works and the Night Letters and Roger Hilton , and Agnes Martin . The 2003 Linda Karshan exhibition made a strong impression and led him to acquire several of her drawings and prints.

An exhibition will be held at Kettle’s Yard in honour of Victor Skipp in early 2014 and will feature many treasures from his estate. Stay tuned to our blog and website for more details regarding the show.

Gifts in will, like Mr Skipp’s, ensure the future of Kettle’s Yard. They help us to care for the collection, deliver exhibitions, present music and education programmes, commission artists and composers, and encourage everyone to engage in the arts. You can find out more about leaving a legacy to Kettle’s Yard on our website or by emailing: 

The Museum as Interface / A new project at Kettle's Yard / Tuesday 26th March

The first stage of Kettle’s Yard’s first multimedia guide has just started. The domestic setting of Kettle’s Yard house means that there are no labels to identify the works of art or objects. Today’s new generation of iPhones, android phones and tablets offer us the opportunity to extend access to Kettle’s Yard rare and exciting archives which include correspondence between Jim Ede and his artist friends plus other exceptional documents and photographs!

This project, Museum as Interface, is led by Professor François Penz (Architecture Department, University of Cambridge) and Andrew Nairne, Director of Kettle’s Yard. It is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the Cultural Engagement Fund . The Research Associate appointed is Anna Ferrari.

Lichtenstein sale for Kettle’s Yard / Charitable gift / Wednesday 13th March

We are thrilled that one of our generous Kettle’s Yard supporters has donated a Roy Lichtenstein  screen print which was auctioned for the benefit of Kettle’s Yard on 20 March 2013. We were delighted that the price realized was well above the estimated price, closing at £10,000.

Brushstrokes (C. 45) screenprint in colours, 1967, was part of the Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Prints sale at Christie’s on 20 March 2013 at their King Street location in London.

Lichtenstein is renowned for his works based on comic strips and advertising imagery, coloured with his signature hand-painted Benday dots. In the 1960s, Lichtenstein became a leading figure of the new art movement, alongside Andy Warhol. Inspired by advertisements and comic strips, Lichtenstein’s bright, graphic images parodied popular culture.

The timing for the sale could not be better as there is currently a Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern from 21 February – 27 May 2013.

Donations like this are a lovely way to raise money for the Kettle’s Yard house, our exhibition programme and the conservation work that we need to do to keep the house and collection in the best possible condition.

If you would like to support Kettle’s Yard please do get in touch with Kathryn or Marisa in our Development Team. / 01223748100.

You can see the catalogue online on the Christie’s website .

Uncanny workshops / St John's College School / Tuesday 5th February

At the end of January, pupils from St John’s College School have worked with artist Alex Hirtzel and the education team at Kettle’s Yard to explore ‘the uncanny’ in our current exhibition, ‘Aid & Abet: Temporary Residence’ , and the permanent collection in the house.

The group sketched in the house, looking for both natural and unhomely connections between objects and artworks, and then explored the exhibition. They took particular inspiration from Martyn Cross’s collaged knitting patterns, which he describes as an ‘assembly of the damned’ (go to yateheads.blogspot.co.uk to see examples of Martyn’s work.)
As you can see from the photos, the pupils really took the idea and ran with it, creating some fantastically unsettling images. It is reassuring to know that the charity shops of Cambridge still offer such knitting pattern gems.

PropsBox / A new fun resource for families / Monday 14th January

Five PropsBoxes now live at Kettle’s Yard and are available for families to play with on our new Studio Sundays family drop-in workshop. They were developed by artists from Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination together with local children and families and they combine a collection of unique resources, games and props in an inviting box, easily carried.

This was not the usual approach…it was lively, more fun and there was more stuff to do. Having objects made it different. They created more interactions with the art and encouraged dialogue. It helped you communicate with the work and the artists. Normally you stand and look, so feel separate and distant, but this was like a bridging thing that helps you cross that line.       ( Anna, Mother)

Children can lead their families around the collections and exhibitions with the PropsBox, sharing games, playful conversations and discussions. Everyone is encouraged to come up with ideas and make connections with the artworks and spaces through these activities.

Inventing games helped us with our own imagination. The games that were there already helped us get more ideas. Having something to touch was important.  (Adrianna, Mother)

No specialist knowledge or experience is needed and there is no wrong way to play with a PropsBox – families have free reign to explore and enjoy using the PropsBox within the gallery space.

We used the dice to explore and talk about every painting. My daughter wanted to go round all of them and repeat it. We talked in detail and shared really complex conversations. (Mehrdad, Father)

There are also five PropsBoxes for families at Wysing Arts Centre so you can go and try them out there too.

www.propsbox.org.uk

Q&A with Andrew Nairne / How was 2012 for you? / Tuesday 8th January

Happy New Year! / Looking forward to 2013 / Friday 4th January

Happy New Year from all of us at Kettle’s Yard. With the festive period well and truly behind us we are really looking forward to the coming year of exhibitions and events – it is going to be a busy (but exciting!) year. We’ll be keeping you up to date on all the goings on at Kettle’s Yard via this blog – and you can also follow us on and .

Looking back on 2012 and forward to the new year our Director, Andrew Nairne, took the opportunity to reflect for a-n news on the past year at Kettle’s Yard . You can read his thoughts here .

Also work is well underway for the installation of our Aid & Abet takeover, Temporary Residence, which opens on 12 January. Brush off the cobwebs and come down to find out what is going on with lots of exciting events happening alongside the exhibition itself.

You can visit our website for more information about what is coming up.

Artists and their materials in early 20th century British art and design / Lunchtime Talk / Thursday 20th December

M.J. Morgan gave a superb talk on artists and their materials in early 20th century British art and design in Kettle’s Yard house. You can listen to it below. Make sure you check out the archive of talks we also have on our page.

M.J. Morgan is a PhD candidate from the Faculty of Architecture and History of Art, University of Cambridge.

Space Makers / Comberton Village College / Thursday 13th December

Comberton Village College BTEC students are working with us on a two-year built environment project called Space Makers. The group visited both this week and last week. Over the two sessions, we explored the theme of heraldry and the symbolism that is often included in buildings and architectural features. We had a tour of the Round Church , the gate to St John’s College, and King’s College Chapel. We then made our own shields and worked in small groups to create a coat of arms for Kettle’s Yard .

Below are some photographs from the two workshops – I hope they capture something of the creativity and wonderfully imaginative responses of the students.

Winifred Nicholson: a view from the Kettle’s Yard archives / Lunchtime Talk / Friday 7th December

If you missed Anna Ferrari’s lunch time talk on, Winifred Nicholson: a view from the Kettle’s Yard archives, on 15 November  you can listen (or listen again!) here -

Anna Ferrari is a PhD candidate, History of Art, Pembroke College, Cambridge.

We broadcast live all of our lunchtime talk series – visit www.kettlesyard.co.uk/live to find out more.

Threat to Arts Education / Education Officer Blog / Thursday 6th December

The Education team at Kettle’s Yard works with about 7,000 people each year. Of that number, about 1,200 are children and young people visiting as part of a primary or secondary school trip. My memories of school are pretty fuzzy (it was, after all, a long time ago) but I can still vividly recall the shark in the ocean diorama at the local museum and the treasure trove of riches in the art gallery located above the museum. Paintings and sculptures from hundreds of years ago and all over the world – it left a lasting impression and now I get to inspire a love of art in others for a living. Similar opportunities for this generation of children and young people is under threat.

If current government plans to implement the English Baccalaureate go ahead, the arts (including Drama, Dance, Art & Design and Design & Technology) will not be core subjects at GCSE level and there are plans to also exclude the arts from revised A levels (the ‘ABacc’). The draft revised primary school curriculum has excluded Drama and is also likely to exclude Dance.

Whether you have kids at school or not, I think this is an issue that will affect all of us – the next generation of filmmakers, architects, designers, musicians, dancers, actors, producers, curators and artists all need to have that spark of artistic passion nurtured from a young age.

As Grayson Perry says:

For so many children, doing art just isn’t something they come across until they are taught it at school. Not everyone’s mother sits down with scissors and paper and makes collages with them or discusses cultural issues over the dinner table. It is the children from poorer homes who will be disproportionately deprived of exposure to culture. The idea that art will somehow look after itself – that society will breed untaught geniuses – is rubbish. We’ll end up with a cultural sector even more skewed towards the privately educated. A bit like what has happened to politics. Enough said.

You can read the rest of his Guardian article here .

If you want to find out more – and where to sign an online petition – click here.

- Sarah Campbell

Friends of Kettle’s Yard / Waddesdon Manor / Friday 16th November

From Edmund de Waal’s beautifully restrained porcelain installations punctuating  the 19th century opulence of this great Rothschild palace to Angus Fairhurst’s bronze gorilla, Waddesdon in late September was full of visual surprises. De Waal’s interventions, artfully placed amongst the collection of French decorative art, haunted the space like visitors from the future.

It was almost the last day of summer and Friends were able to wander at will and enjoy a good lunch. In the beautiful grounds were sculptures by Gormley, Kapoor and other leading artists including Stephen Cox. For architect Jane Sanders the highlight of the day was the private visit to the archive building on Windmill Hill designed by Stephen Marshall Architects with its interior of carefully selected furniture and lighting pieces as well as more works of art. The Friends organise stimulating trips such as this throughout the year both in this country and abroad. See the website for details of how to join like-minded people who are a passionate about Kettle’s Yard.

Winifred Nicholson in focus / Lunchtime Talk / Thursday 18th October

Did you miss Dan Zamani’s Lunchtime Talk on Winifred Nicholson? You can listen again here:

Dan Zamani is an AHRC Doctoral Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge

We broadcast all of our Lunchtime Talk series live on our website – visit www.kettlesyard.co.uk/live to find out more.

All the bells / Olympics 2012 / Monday 23rd July

Kettle’s Yard will be participating in Martin Creed’s All the Bells at 8:12 am on Friday 27 July. In participation with the Churches Conservation Trust , we will be ringing the church bells at St. Peter’s and St Giles church, as well as here in the house. We welcome everyone to come join us and ring their bicycle bells along with us to celebrate the opening of the Olympic games 2012! There will be free biscuits and coffee and the gallery will be open for the hour.

At 8:12 am on 27th July 2012, thousands of people across the UK will be joining together to ring in the first day of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Everyone across the country is invited to take part.

St Peter's Church

All the Bells

Video from the day:

Folk Museum / Kettle's Yard History / Monday 16th July

Both the Folk Museum and Kettle’s Yard possess exceptional and distinctive collections which inform and delight their visitors. While very different in their own right, they both share important similarities: a unique and atmospheric setting which is integral to their displays; and a strong relationship with the history of the area.

The Folk Museum also holds an interesting collection of paintings. This lithograph of the original Kettle’s Yard is by Mary Charlotte Greene (b 1860) aunt of the novelist Graeme Greene. Mary trained at the Royal Academy and painted many scenes of Cambridge over the years which provide an invaluable record of the inn yards and old streets of the city which were largely demolished during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The image provides a glimpse of life in the area known as Castle End – an area where the poorest working class residents lived in overcrowded yards and courts. The largest of these was Kettle’s Yard which in 1851 housed 115 people crammed into 26 slum houses.

The slums were cleared away in the 20th century but the history of the area continues and is evident in buildings such St. Peter’s church (the visible tower in the background of Mary’s painting); the Folk Museum housed in a 17th century building which remains largely unaltered; and the legacy of Jim Ede who took over the derelict cottages of Kettle’s Yard to create a new vision for the area.

- Susan Miller, Visitor Services, Folk Museum

Olympic Torch Breakfast / Monday 9th July

Sunday was a wet and early start at Kettle’s Yard. We wanted to celebrate the Olympic Torch running past the gallery and provide a place for the community to participate in all the excitement. We thought we’d have a casual breakfast of croissants and coffee available in the gallery for whomever was out and about in the early hours to cheer on the Flame.

We had a buffet of croissants, chelsea buns, coffee and orange juice. Four lovely volunteers came at 6:30am to help us set up and serve the treats. For a while it was looking like we might be all to attend but suddenly at 6:45am, people starting filing through our door with eager eyes at the sight of coffee and pastries.

Delicious pastries, nicely laid out… they wouldn’t last long!

As the party bus approached, out everyone ran to cheer and began wildly screaming as the Torch ran past us. Some were in the street and some up on the church yard, which gave spectators great views of all the action. The rain wasn’t deterring anyone!

Views from the church yard

After the Torch went past, everyone piled into the gallery and were all taking advantage of their early morning entrance on the last day of Alfred Wallis: ships and boats. What a great way to finish the show!

Happy children, family and friends in the gallery

All in all, we serverd 80 croissants and 30 chelsea buns as well as an ample supply of biscuits to 4 volunteers, 4 staff members and 300 visitors!! We had a great time!

Alfred Wallis: ships and boats / Final week / Wednesday 4th July

This is the final week of Alfred Wallis: ships and boats. It has been wonderful to see the enthusiastic response to Alfred Wallis’ beautiful paintings.

We’ve had over 10,000 visitors to the Alfred Wallis show since the beginning of April. There have been some great comments left in our comment book:

Kettle’s Yard visitor book, 2012

Among the positive press was a review from Richard Cork of the Financial Times , “ Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge has mounted an illuminating survey of his work. The location proves ideal” . There have also been some lovely blog posts about our Alfred Wallis show. These include Art Burger with vivid pictures of Wallis and the house,  an interesting account of childrens interpretation of Wallis on the blog Children Take the Lead , and a lovely blog about one of the Alfred Wallis lunchtime talks, featuring the historian Ruth Scurr, University of Cambridge, on Cambridge Commentary .

If you haven’t made it to the show you have until 5pm on Sunday 8 July! Watch this space for news of the exhibition tour and a new Wallis publication.

Alfred Wallis display, Kettle’s Yard, 2012

Poetry inspired by Alfred Wallis / Tuesday 3rd July

From Memory

‘i do most what use To Be what we shall never see no more… ’ letter from Alfred Wallis to Jim Ede

When the little streets break their moorings
and fly out, fishbone trees lie down
to hem land as it topples.

Quoit and carn yearn for
the levelling sea that whittles
each keel, magnifies each fish.

The sea continues  as it ‘ use to be ’:
sacred and gray, dangerous in its gradients,
steepling in the pull of a half-hidden moon.

Far-sighted memory knows
all that is holy, disbelieves in blue,
holds heaven in a jar
and sees it clear.

Ruth Higgins

Grants for the Arts / Funding / Tuesday 26th June

For all artists and arts organisations: the Arts Council has produced a series of videos, released monthly, to promote the Grants for the Arts scheme to individual artists. This is funding designated for individual artists and small arts organisations. Take a look and see how some of the artists are using their funding.

Grants for the arts is for activities carried out over a set period and which engage people in England in arts activities, and help artists and arts organisations in England carry out their work. It is funded by the National Lottery. Perhaps you can watch the videos and get some ideas to apply for your own stream of funding.

This month’s video focuses on visual artist Ben Rivers which you can watch below.

Poetry inspired by Alfred Wallis / Thursday 21st June

On Sunday 10 June poet Tamar Yoseloff ran a study day here entitled ‘Wallis and Poetry’ to coincide with the Alfred Wallis display in the gallery. We are delighted to be able to share two of the poems that emerged from the day. Tamar also wrote a fascinating post on her blog about Wallis and poetry, see: http://invectiveagainstswans.tumblr.com/

Please read the poems below.

Cannibalism

In memoriam – Alfred Wallis 1855-1942 – Cornish Mariner and Painter

He knows the roof of the sky
how it can darken in anger
at a penny in a sailor’s pocket
the hint of a whistle
the whiff of a woman

He grew up on tales of Franklin’s fate -
the ships splintered in an arctic grip
the starving men dreaming
of the blue flesh of their own dead

He knows how the land feels
after days, weeks away
how it tilts him and sways him
as if he has defied his God
with the velveteen sweetness of brandy

He wades through the flotsam
of the grocery store
stamping boxes to a flatness
he can fill with his world
seeking nails he can use
to crucify his visions

In the world beyond
the privileged discuss Primitivism
over cups of Darjeeling
taming fears of consuming darkness
by sending forth the sacrament
the word made flesh

In the world beyond
the scholars pick clean
his remains – marvel
at the whiteness of his bones.

Sue Burge
June 2012

‘Small Boat in a Rough Sea’
Alfred Wallis, the Cornish painter, spoke of every boat of the fleet having ‘a soul, a beautiful soul, shaped like a fish’

Sure at last that it was his life he was living
he painted the way he read God’s word, daily
and in simple tones, with the sombre shades
of yacht-paint he had to hand: rock-colour,

sand-colour, for ships and cottages, a flock
of enamelled birds, the moon atop a hill.
He’d picture the bowl of sea in Mounts Bay,
its broken crests of wave, the gulls tucked

into its cliff-folds, its tall masts and rigging,
the tide of its breathing like his very own.
What he could never catch was the fog,
the peninsula turned isle wreathed round

by the haunted sound of its fog-horns,
St Anthony’s Head, Longships, Lizard Point,
like souls on their journey or parishes already
in mourning, Trevose Head, Pendeen.

The bodies recovered have not been named.
But in the dawn a shoal of selves, fine and silvery
as pins, will be putting out for Troy and Eldorado,
for whelks or herring or pilchard, pelagic gold:

It’s always been crabbing or fishing with him, he loved it
since he was a nipper.   Plymouth, Lundy, Sole.
Porpoises black as bibles ride the turquoise
and the great white sails glide on like ghosts.

Lesley Saunders

(The quote is from an interview given by the mother of one of the missing fishermen from the Purbeck Isle, which went down off the south coast of England on 17 May 2012.)

Robert Jones talk / Video / Tuesday 12th June

Robert Jones, Alfred Wallis expert, delivered a talk at Kettle’s Yard, 12 June. You can watch the talk here.

The Cornish artist and author Robert Jones was born in Newquay, Cornwall. The beaches and cliffs were his childhood playground. He studied at Falmouth College of Art where he was taught by Robert Organ and Francis Hewlett. He continued to paint whilst teaching in various schools including A.S. Neill’s Summerhill School for three years, and for seven further years fishing around the Cornish coast. A period as part time tutor at Penzance and Falmouth Colleges of art, followed by a successful exhibition at Newlyn Orion Art Gallery encouraged him to concentrate on his painting. He was able to reduce his teaching commitments and then to paint full time. He is a prolific artist who has exhibited widely.
In 1995 he began researching the life and work of the artist Alfred Wallis, and in 2000 his book, ‘Alfred Wallis Artist and Mariner’ was published to critical acclaim. Continuing with his fascination with maritime subjects he has completed his next book which is about the pierhead painter Reuben Chappell. The book ‘Reuben Chappell Pierhead Painter’ came out in the spring of 2006.

James’ Blog / Music / Friday 1st June

From December 2011 to May 2012 I was Music Assistant at Kettle’s Yard, working on the Thursday Chamber Subscription Series and the New Music Series. My job has been to make everything run smoothly on concert day, from setting up the room to making the programmes to getting in tea for the musicians, so I’ve definitely been kept busy! I’ve had the opportunity to meet some incredible performers and hear some amazing performances. I’m writing this on my last day, and the last day of the subscription series for the year, so now is a good chance for me to look back on the concerts and on my time here and pick out a few highlights.

I knew the New Music concerts were going to be a lot of fun when they started with an irrepressible quartet of tuba players in costume and character – Youtuba put on a brilliantly entertaining show which was also musically dazzling. Two weeks later and I was holding on for dear life page-turning a monster of a piece by Michel Finnissy for Mary Dullea, performing with top contemporary violinist Darragh Morgan, and soon after I was laughing along with the vocal acrobatics of Rebecca Askew and Melanie Pappenheim’s performance of Orlando Gough’s Flam.

On the chamber music side, personal highlights were hearing Ronald Brautigam perform a treat of a programme (all Beethoven – yes please), and the wonderful humour of singers Karen Cargill and Marcus Farnsworth. Marcus, who subbed in at eight hours’ notice (!), ended with one of the funniest encores I’ve ever heard!

We made a particularly big effort in promoting the visit of top contemporary string group The Smith Quartet, and it was great to see the place filled to the rafters for their performance of George Crumb’s dark masterpiece Black Angels. A week on and we had a van load of percussion (everything including the kitchen sink) for the fabulously fun ensemblebash, but perhaps the highlight was working with John Paul Jones, the bassist with Led Zeppelin. I never thought I would be doing sound for someone of that stature but working here has been full of surprises!

Throughout it all I have had the pleasure of working with some fantastic people. Kettle’s Yard is very fortunate to have such a large community of friendly, interested and loyal concert-goers, and we’ve also been delighted to see our New Music concerts drawing in people who’ve never visited before. The staff and volunteers work really hard to make things happen here and it’s been a pleasure to be a part of things here, even if I’ve been pretty tired at the end of some very long days!

I’d like to thank all the staff and volunteers I’ve worked with but especially Ruth for being totally dependable and generous with her time and Lara for somehow managing to juggle about three jobs and still come out smiling.

I’m delighted to be moving on to a role with the Creative Learning department of the Britten Sinfonia, and I have no doubt I’ll be coming back to Kettle’s Yard soon, but maybe next time as an audience member!

Edmund de Waal Talk / Video / Wednesday 30th May

Watch our Illustrated Edmund de Waal talk when he stopped by Kettle’s Yard 23 May, 2012 to a booked-out crowd.
He was absolutely captivating!

Edmund de Waal

Olympic Torch runs past Kettle’s Yard / Olympics 2012 / Tuesday 29th May

Come and celebrate the Olympic torch passing through Cambridge by joining us for early morning celebrations with coffee and tea. We’ll be feeling extra patriotic as we watch the Olympic Flame jog past us, up Castle Street right past Kettle’s Yard!

Enjoy a free regal breakfast of coffee, tea and croissants at 6:30am on 8 July, 2012.

Space makers / Constructions / Monday 14th May

A great photo of some of the constructions created during the Space Makers project.  It’s always a lot of fun walking through the education room when this project is going on, makes you wish you could stop and join in. Some of the architects of the future at work!

Read more about the Space Makers project in an earlier post .

Space Makers / New project / Friday 16th March

For the Space Makers project Kettle’s Yard is working with a primary school, a secondary school, artists and Shape East to involve students in the process of building a new Education Centre at Kettle’s Yard.

Over a two year period we are working with one primary school, St Mary’s St Neots, one secondary school group, Comberton Village College, two artists – Raksha Patel and Jo Chapman, Shape East and project evaluators Flow Associates. The project will see the artists work to creatively develop the knowledge and skills of the young people in the fields of architecture and the built environment.

Find out more about this project on the Shape East website .

See a photo stream of images related to the project here .