The following report was posted by Sandra Kyriakides
VAN GOGH PROJECT
You will all be aware of the role of WPAG in bringing the Van Gogh bust to the village. (See the earlier post)
The sculptor, Anthony Padgett, has since suggested that the places that receive one of his Van Gogh bust donations (including Welwyn) might like to form a link with one another.
We have therefore been in communication with the Municipal Council of Arles, (Van Gogh’s home town in France) who have voted to accept Anthony’s kind offer. They have been reminded of our (Welwyn) bust and suggested they might consider forming a cultural link with Welwyn in relation to our shared interest and history with Van Gogh.
The President of the Van Gogh Association, Vincent Ramon has written confirming that they would very much like to do this.
Anthony Padgett’s latest installation of Van Gogh sculpture work was unveiled in Brixton on 17th November. (See The Art Newspaper)
The story of the project and photos of the bust of Vincent Van Gogh was in the national press Sunday Telegraph (a big half page photo) on 25th November. It gives some excellent publicity for the Van Gogh Walk and the sculpture – and marked the event on a national level. Welwyn was mentioned.
WPAG will be liaising with administrators at all sites with a view to establishing a link between all of them and ourselves.
The whole project is quite exciting and there will be a Tate Britain exhibition of Van Gogh’s work in March 2019. We are in contact with Martin Bailey, the curator, to explore the possibility of including a reference to the Welwyn connection.