13 & 14 September 2014
11am-5pm
Free. Book for the building tours
Find out about the Bluecoat’s transformation from charity school to contemporary arts centre on this weekend of guided tours, family activities, archive displays and talks. In 2017 the building will be 300 years old, and this event provides an opportunity to reveal some of its fascinating history and for people who have Bluecoat stories of their own to connect with us.
Saturday 13 September
10 am – 6pm Heritage archive display (the Hub) – on display throughout September 2014
Material from the Bluecoat’s archive.
11 am – 5pm Archival films
A selection of films documenting arts events and life at the art centre over the past 30 years. (Garden Room)
11am – 5pm Heritage PowerPoint Presentation (Sandon Room)
On the history of the building.
11am – 5pm Herbert Tyson Smith display (in his original studio, entrance in College Lane)
A small display about this sculptor, a member of the Sandon Studios Society who had a studio at the Bluecoat for many years.
12.30 – 1.30pm Building Heritage Tour (meet in the Hub)
1 – 4pm Library Open Day (in the Library upstairs)
A rare glimpse at some of the material that we are developing into an archive of the arts centre’s 100 plus year history.
1 – 4pm Explore Family Activities (in the Hub)
2 – 3pm Building Heritage Tour (meet in the Hub)
Sunday 14 September
Talk:
2 – 3pm Herbert Tyson Smith
The Bluecoat’s Artistic Director, Bryan Biggs, in conversation with James McLaughlin, who was apprenticed to Tyson Smith, the eminent Liverpool sculptor who had a studio at the Bluecoat and was involved in establishing the building as an arts centre. (The talk takes place in what was his original studio, entrance in College Lane)
Other activities:
10 am – 6pm Heritage archive display (the Hub)
Material from the Bluecoat’s archive.
11 am – 5pm Archival films:
A selection of films documenting arts events and life at the art centre over past 30 years. (Garden Room)
11am – 5pm Heritage PowerPoint Presentation (Sandon Room)
On the history of the building.
11am – 5pm Herbert Tyson Smith display (in his original studio, entrance in College Lane)
A small display about this sculptor, a member of the Sandon Studios Society who had a studio at the Bluecoat for many years.
12.30 – 1.30pm Building Heritage Tour (meet in the Hub)
1 – 4pm Library Open Day (in the Library upstairs)
A rare glimpse at some of the material that we are developing into an archive of the arts centre’s 100 plus year history.
My Bluecoat
As we plan our 300th birthday, we are interested in hearing your stories about the Bluecoat. Is there a memorable arts event you’d like to tell us about? Were you a tenant of the building? Did you take a music exam here, or come to see films? Was one of your great grandparents perhaps a pupil at the school? Over this weekend you will be able to talk to someone about your memories.
Part of Heritage Open Days:Â www.heritageopendays.
