Wessex Connected: The Art & Culture of North America. Ticket for Five Day Course of Study Days (for all)

FIVE DAY TICKETS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARTS SOCIETY - NON MEMBERS MUST BOOK INDIVIDUAL DAYS

The discounted 5 day ticket offer is only available for current members of an Arts Society.

The Art and Culture of North America.  More detailed information of these lectures can be found under EVENTS on the Wessex Area website www.theartssocietywessexarea.org.uk 

Tuesday 20 October 2026

American Art with Stella Lyons

Stella Lyons opens the series with an overview of American art. Grant Woods and the Regionalists; Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth. The first half of the 20^th century was a golden age for figurative painters in North America. Man of the most reproduced images from American Art History were created during this time. Grant Woods’ ‘American Gothic’, Andrew Wheth’s ‘Christina’s World’ and Edward Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’. These images which come out of America are firmly etched in the public consciousness.

Stella Grace Lyons is a freelance Art History lecturer. She gained her First Class BA in the History of Art from Bristol and her MA in History of Art from the University of Warwick.

Tuesday 10 November 2026

New York – City of Dreams with Mary Alexander

Descriptions of New York in the Gilded Age and the early C20 are emotive and aspirational. This Study Day will explore the mythology and continuous re-invention of New York through the eyes of the patrons, artists, designers and visionaries who created a truly international destination hub. Ashcan painter John Sloan vividly records the ever-changing skyline, streetscapes and pace of change… “landmarks are torn down so rapidly that your canvases become historical records almost before the paint on them is dry.

Mary Alexander trained as an art historian and graduated with BA Hons in History and History of Art (University College London) and an MA (with Distinction) in History of Art (University College London).

Tuesday 12 January 2027

Mexican Art and Culture with Chloe Sayer

Few countries in the world offer such a rich and varied cultural heritage as Mexico. Frida Kaylo (1907-1954) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957) helped to shape the cultural identity of 20^th century Mexico by fusing pre-Conquest and European traditions. Today countless folk-artists create splendid weavings, rich embroideries, shimmering beadwork, jeweller of silver and gold, fine pottery and dance masks for religious festivals.

Choe Sayer is a freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. She has made collecions in Mexico and Belize for the British Museum and is Research Associate in the Department of World Cultures at the Royal Antario Museum. In 2018 she was awarded the prestigious Ohtli Medal by the Mexican government for her long-standing commitment to Mexican culture.

Tuesday 23 February 2027

Canadian Art: Emily Carr. Tom Tomson and the Group of Seven with Stella Lyons

Emily Carr’s work is a window into the soul of the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest. This Study Day will examine her mysterious landscapes, her paintings of towering totem poles, ‘Indian’ churches and indigenous villages.

Thomson and the Group of Seven painted Canada in all its bleak beauty. They combined Arts and Crafts decoration, Fauvist colour, Expressionist energy and Pointillist brushwork to paint what they knew – Canadian nature. They sought our wild and remote landscapes untouched by man. In just over a decade the group defined the iconic view of Canada. They established a national art that is finally becoming truly international.

Stella Grace Lyons is a freelance Art History lecturer. She gained her First Class BA in the History of Art from Bristol and her MA in History of Art from the University of Warwick.

Tuesday 16 March 2027

Music of Porter, Kern, Berlin, Rogers and others with Pip Burley

The music of Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, often with their lyricist partners and other contemporaries, forms the core of the Great American Songbook. This canon comprises influential American popular songs and jazz standards primarily from Broadway musicals, Hollywood films and Tin Pan Aley, flourishing roughly from the 1920s to 1950s.

Pip Burley began his musical career playing Rock’n’roll in the 60’s and 70’s as well as working with the big bands, including Sydney Lipton, Jo Loss and Ken Mackingtosh. He went on to compose and record music for commercials, theatre, film and television. In 1990 he won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Television theme Music for ‘The Darling Buds of May’.