OCA-North Study Group

Wow, what a superb day out visiting two galleries yesterday in Sheffield! Eight members of the OCA North Study Group - a diverse team of painters, drawers, photographers and fine artists from across the OCA curriculum - met with Joanna Whittle - acclaimed artist, curator and OCA tutor - to enjoy a private viewing of two exhibitions Joanna is curating. We first visited the Weston Park Museum's celebration of 150 years, Gathering Landscapes, in which selected items from the museum's collection are connected to new works by the Heavy Water Collective under four themes (https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/gathering-landscapes-150-years-of-collecting-at-weston-park-museum/). After a sociable lunch, we then visited Persistence Works for the exhibition Unquiet Landscapes, in which 38 contemporary painters depict works which reference elements from the book of the same name by Christopher Neve, itself a wonderful meditation on 20th Century landscape art (https://www.contemporarybritishpainting.com/unquiet-landscapes-at-yorkshire-artspace-sheffield/). Joanna's insightful and engaging commentary on the curation process and on the works themselves were an undoubted highlight, but it was also a joy simply to spend time with like-minded people viewing wonderful artwork and sharing our experiences. I'd highly recommend both of these exhibitions - they're both well worth a visit - and I'd highly recommend these OCA North group meetings! Finally, a massive thank you to Joanna for adding layers of colour and interest to these exhibitions for us.