Royal Birmingham Society of Artists celebrates 25 years in the Jewellery Quarter with landmark heritage exhibition
This spring sees the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) celebrate the 25th anniversary of its Gallery’s move to Brook Street, in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter. To commemorate this, a special heritage exhibition will take place featuring rarely seen artworks and artefacts taken from the Society’s permanent collection.
25 for 25, Celebrating 25 Years of the RBSA Gallery in the Jewellery Quarter opens on Tuesday 29 April with a Private View open to the public from 6.00pm – 8.00pm. The exhibition then runs throughout May and will give visitors rare insights, not only into the Society’s priceless Permanent Collection, but also into the people behind the Society.
Two groups of 25 individuals, including the President, Vice Presidents, Members, Associates, Graduate Artists, Gallery staff, and volunteers, have each selected an artwork or artefact from the collection; the brief being to choose something with which they felt a personal connection. Explanations of the selectors’ choices can be seen with the artworks on display, alongside portraits introducing the people behind the RBSA and its Gallery to visitors.
Society President Viv Astling commented:
“The opportunity to open the permanent collection in this way was truly special for everyone involved. It may surprise visitors to know that many members of the RBSA community have never ventured into our archive, let alone been allowed to carefully look through its contents. Seeing people develop a strong attachment to an artwork that may never have hung on the Gallery wall is delightful; it gives this exhibition a real sense of family.”
As well as works by well-known artists including William Bloye (1890 – 1975), Frederick Thomas Lines (1808 – 1898), and John Salt (1937 – 2021), artworks by current Members including Rob Perry (1944 -) and Wayne Attwood (1970 -) have also been selected. Documents from the archive also feature in the show, including, surprisingly, the signature of William F. Cody, otherwise known as Buffalo Bill, and a letter from Birmingham born designer of St Philips Cathedral’s famed stained-glass windows, Sir Edward Burne Jones (1833 – 1898).
The exhibition runs from Tuesday 29 April – Saturday 24 May.