Bury Art Museum has teamed up with Bury Archives and is asking the public for help to develop a special Bury Art Society archive.
The project “Bury Art Society: Archiving People & Place” will collect documents relating to Bury Art Society and its current president David Swithenbank.
Bury Art Society was established in 1949 and has had notable past presidents including L. S Lowry. Both the society and Mr Swithenbank have made lasting contributions to culture in the local community, culminating in an annual exhibition at Bury Art Museum.
Thanks to National Lottery Players, Bury Art Museum is embarking on a mission to capture and record the heritage and notable legacies of both the society and David Swithenbank.
If you have old Bury Art Society leaflets, letters, books meeting minutes, photographs, or images of paintings which were bought at the annual exhibitions, the organisers are keen to hear from you.
Anyone who is reluctant to donate an original document can arrange for it to be photographed and added digitally to the collection.
The archive will be available to the public from February 2018 and images of David Swithenbank’s work will be shown in a retrospective exhibition alongside Bury Art Society’s annual show at Bury Art Museum from 25 November to 27 January.
The retrospective exhibition showcases the life’s work of Mr Swithenbank, which is inspired by travels in Europe and India, depicting the wildlife, cultures and landscapes. Recurrent themes include music, song and dance reflecting his life’s interests not solely as an artist but as an active participant making a lasting contribution to the local area. He has been president of Bury Art Society since 1976.
If you feel you have an item of interest, please take it to Bury Art Museum (open Tuesday-Friday, 10am-5pm and Saturday, 10am-4.30pm) in Moss Street in Bury town centre, next to the bus/Metrolink interchange. Alternatively, email archives@bury.gov.uk or call 0161 253 6782.
