2nd August, 2011
Eastbourne’s award-winning art museum Towner is inviting visitors to experience the factors that influenced British artist John Piper in a free weekend extravaganza celebrating their major summer exhibition.
This Saturday and Sunday visitors can enjoy a variety of talks, film screenings and family activities in John Piper Weekend and find out about many of the factors that inspired his works of the British landscape.
On Saturday visitors can book to hear a free talk at 11am, Piper at War, by Julian Freeman, author of British Art: A Walk Round the Rusty Pier, and hear about how people and events during 1939 and 1945 affected Piper’s output.
Sunday will offer the chance for visitors of all ages to get to grips with Piper’s works in a free Family Day. Families can enjoy a drop-in event from 11am – 3pm with artist Jane Henderson encouraging children to create their own works inspired by Piper.
Children can have a go at drawing and creating a collage of skyscapes and seascapes, as well as making 3D pop-ups of landscapes, architecture, theatre and window views. They’ll even be able to draw on the windows of Towner’s Art Box activity room!
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure Cllr Neil Stanley said “The John Piper Weekend promises to be a brilliant celebration of our current exhibition John Piper in Kent & Sussex and offers a great opportunity for visitors to really engage with his works. Piper was greatly inspired by the Sussex landscape and returned time and again to capture it in a variety of ways and this weekend promises to be a real insight into the times in which he worked. I hope that as many visitors as possible will take the opportunity to visit Towner this weekend and take advantage of the free activities on offer.”
This weekend will also include free films shown on a loop on a big screen, including Discovering Britain with John Betjeman on Saturday and Piper’s Way on Sunday.
John Piper in Kent & Sussex is on now at Towner until 25 September and has already attracted glowing reviews from visitors and critics with The Independent recently naming it the best show around the country.
For more information on John Piper Weekend and to book for the Julian Freeman talk go to the Towner website or call Towner on 01323 434670.
