Norfolk Contemporary Art Society is a charitable association, which promotes contemporary visual art and artists working in the region.

 
 

Brief history

It was founded in 1956 to help and encourage the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery to acquire work in the modern idiom to balance its fine collections of the nineteenth-century Norwich School of painters. Over the years, ncas has provided the means to augment its contemporary art collection and this now forms the basis of holdings in post-war art in the Castle.

Events

The Society also mounts a lively programme of monthly events, mostly in Norwich, which include lectures by artists, critics and art historians, studio and gallery visits, art auctions, invitations to private views, and other social events for its members. Speakers at our meetings have included Maggi Hambling, Ana Maria Pacheco and Cornelia Parker. See events

Small Grants

New from 2023, ncas now offers small grants of up to £500 twice a year to artists and other creatives who are ncas members and have strong links to Norfolk. Our first round last autumn proved popular and three grants were awarded (see under News for details). If you would like to apply, the next deadline is Monday 30 September 2024 at midnight. Read all guidance and apply here.

Exhibitions

We seek to curate and show the very best of contemporary art across the region. Recent exhibitions include: the ncas Biennial Exhibition in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 held at the Norwich Forum, and in the Norwich Cathedral Hostry in 2019 and 2021; the Port to Port Exhibitions in the Fermoy Gallery, Kings Lynn & the Fisher Patterson Gallery, Great Yarmouth in 2019; Making in 2006 and Photo-ID in 2009 at The Forum, Norwich; newly commissioned installations in Felbrigg Hall in 2014 and 2017; and Geoffrey Lefever Crypt Gallery, Norwich in 2022. See exhibitions


Become a member

Members are kept informed of the Society's forthcoming programme and of other local art events via our quarterly mailings and events leaflets by email. All members get free access to the Norwich Castle Museum Art Gallery, and a discount on items purchased in the Museum shop. We now offer free membership to students currently studying at Norwich University of the Arts, University of East Anglia and City College Norwich. Join today

 
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A brief history of the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society 1956–2016 by Robert Short and Keith Roberts called ‘ncas: Sixty Years On…’ is available as a free PDF download.

 
 

Committee Members

Chris Mardell — Chair
Selwyn Taylor — Vice Chair
Anne Aves — Treasurer
Frances Martin — Administrator
Janey Bevington — Events Committee, Chair
new appointment tbc — Norfolk Museums Service Representative
Rose Davies
Helen Eisler
Caroline Fisher
Diana Heuvel
Carl Rowe
Danuta Wurm

Our Patrons

Penny Allen
Shirley Cargill
James Colman
Laurence Edwards
Matthew Flowers
Maggi Hambling
Caroline Jarrold
Nichola Johnson
Paul King
Andrew Moore
Colin Self
The Singh Twins
Alan Waters

Past Patrons
Sir Timothy Colman
Bill English
Angela Flowers
George Melly

Our Constitution

ncas as a charity last approved its governing document or constitution in July 2007 (at our AGM). Item 16.8 was amended and approved at the AGM in 2016, and the current version is available as a PDF to download here. The document has been lodged with the Charity Commission.

 
 

Join the Committee

 

If you have time to donate to a good cause, and you have an interest in contemporary art, then do consider joining our committee. If you’re interested in having an active involvement in the running of the Society, then please contact the Secretary or any other Trustee in the first instance. Assuming a vacancy exists, a period of co-option to the committee can then be made before future nomination as a Trustee.

You will eventually need to be nominated and seconded and then elected at the next appropriate AGM. Contact us