The Northern Art Workers’ Guild and the Arts and Crafts movement in Manchester

William Morris was a frequent visitor to Manchester, and the only Morris & Co shop outside London was located in the city. His now famous dictum ‘Do not have anything in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’, was first heard in Manchester, as was his first explicitly socialist lecture ‘Art, Wealth and Riches’. Morris’s fellow art worker Walter Crane was Head of Design at the Manchester Municipal School of Art from 1893-1896.

In this talk Dr Barry Clark will also share recent research on lesser known Manchester-based Arts and Crafts architects, artists and artisans who, in 1896, formed the Northern Art Workers’ Guild in the city. With more than 100 members and three major exhibitions the Guild was part of a northern craft revival that was neither rural nor London-focused – an essential component of the Arts and Crafts movement located here in the heart of industrial England. The Guild was unusual for its time in that women were active and equal members, holding office, giving talks and showing their work in the Guild’s public exhibitions. May Morris was in Manchester as an invited guest speaker in February 1899.

Barry’s beautifully illustrated talk will bring all this to life as he reveals the untold story of Manchester’s extensive involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Biography

Dr Barry Clark is an experienced speaker and a retired Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer with a life-long interest in the Arts and Crafts movement. He is co-author, with Stephanie Boydell and Richard Fletcher, of the recently published The Northern Art Workers’ Guild and the Arts and Crafts movement in Manchester. Barry is also a craft bookbinder, and chair of the Society of Bookbinders’ North West and North Wales region.

National Museums Liverpool is delighted to welcome Dr Barry Clark for this special-guest talk.