Page 3 - A Sense of Place

FOREWORD
A very warm welcome to St Mary’s Calne’s third London Art Exhibition.
I am delighted that this has now become an established tradition, with the first showcase of artwork having been at the Cork Street Gallery in 2012, followed in 2015 by our exhibition at the 20th Century Theatre in Notting Hill.
This is such a great opportunity for the girls and all the others connected with the school community, whose work has been gathered together, including alumnae and staff. I am enormously grateful to all those who have made the event possible particularly Kimberley Appleyard Pallot and the Art Team, as well as to Arabella Unwin and Caroline Wrench who have so expertly organised and overseen it all. Thanks must also go to the Calne Girls’ Association who have so generously supported this project and to our advertisers.
The theme of the exhibition, A Sense of Place, has been well chosen. St Mary’s Calne is fortunate to be situated in a landscape which is world-famous and yet remains enigmatic in so many ways.
No one who comes to our part of Wiltshire can avoid reflecting on what it must have been like for our predecessors so many centuries ago to live in the same place. It’s clear that they saw the world very differently from us in many ways, and that it will have looked quite different in some respects, but they also seem to have shared many of our own concerns with identity and imposing order on uncertainty. They certainly had a great investment in the landscape they saw around them, leading them to acts of creativity that have left a lasting mark, and which still fascinate us today. We can all draw something from this about the importance of self-expression – sheer hard work in carrying it through – and about the legacy it can leave.
It might not be on the scale of a stone circle, but I am delighted with the range of responses to our exhibition, both the physical and metaphysical aspects of our ‘place’. I hope you enjoy it and that it brings a sense of our special community to the wider world.
DR FELICIA KIRK BA (University of Maryland), MA (Brown University), PhD (Brown University) HEADMISTRESS
Front cover: Close up of a large scale immersive work inspired by synapses – Clara Wade
The Art of St Mary’s Calne 1