We are a friendly and enthusiastic group who are looking for new members. We meet on the second Friday of each month to visit a Gallery, Sculpture Park or anything else of interest that Members choose. At least once a year we arrange a long weekend away either in the UK or abroad, Covid permitting. We choose a city where there is plenty of Modern art to see and we share the organising.

Summer Trip to Bridport - West Dorset 18 June - 21 June 2024

Six members of the Winchester u3a Art Today group stayed in Bridport for three nights, ready and eager to explore six local galleries exhibiting an eclectic variety of local contemporary art. We visited Slader’s Yard in West Bay. This is a magnificent 18th C stone warehouse with a permanent display of Petter Southall’s stylish ‘scandi’ furniture. The current exhibition was showing Vanessa Gardiner’s bold, geometric acrylic landscapes of Cornwall and Orkney and the pottery of Yo Thom.

Kit Glaisyer, a West Dorset artist, gave us an afternoon talk in his Bridport Contemporary Gallery, explaining his oil landscapes of views from Eggerdon Hill - fascinatingly he manages to capture just the right colour for bluebells. He also showed us his negative inspired figure paintings. Perhaps the highlight of our first day was the exhibition at the Allsop Gallery in the Bridport Arts Centre. This featured the ‘A’ level art of students from Colfox School - such talent from students and teachers alike and a fine variety of media. Much of the students’ work was very visceral and moving.

Summer had arrived and we spent a morning at Symondsbury enjoying the flower gardens and the Nigel Moore exhibition at the
Sou’Sou West Arts Gallery. In the afternoon we took to the hinterland and visited Gerry Dudgeon’s Gallery at Walnut Farm, near Beaminster. Gerry’s paintings are exotic, worked canvasses inspired by scenes from Morocco and India. No summer adventure should happen without an ice-cream - thoroughly enjoyed at Felicity’s Farm Shop at Morcombelake, with a splendid view over Lyme Bay. Our final gallery visit was to the Artwavewest Gallery where Dona Gould was exhibiting her Chromatic Reveries - oil on metal which gives an unusual iridescent effect.

We enjoyed our shared interest in art, friendship, coffees, three delicious suppers and were blessed with
glorious sunshine and sparkling coastal views.

Penny Monro June 2024

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