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We are pleased to announce that the successful applicants from the latest round of NCAS Small Grants are:
FAST SLOOOOOOOW at the Shoe Factory Norwich in May 2025 (applicants Helen Wells and Cat Nash)
Marion Piper for an exhibition entitled RETURN at the Crypt Gallery, Norwich in May 2025
ncas is sad to announce the death of artist Brüer Tidman
Brüer was born in Rackheath, Norwich, moved to Great Yarmouth at an early age and continued to live and work there until he died this week. Brüer trained initially at Great Yarmouth College of Art before going to the Royal College of Art in the early 60s, just at the same time as Hockney, the Young Contemporaries and pop art were riding high in swinging London. Brüer retained his deep roots in the Western figurative tradition, underpinned by his exceptional graphical skills. He exhibited widely, including in London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Manchester, Cambridge, Finland and Belgium and his work is held in several public collections including Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery.
The paintings are often large in scale and in general reflect sharply on the ambiguity, joy and pain of human relationships. Motifs often reflect the classic subjects of artist and model, the nude, mother and child. Composed with a classical eye, the colours of his canvases are there for their maximal emotional impact. His technique is masterly, handling glazed layers of pigments, and different kinds of paint, with aplomb, while never losing his underlying skills as a draughtsman.
He has produced notable series of related works, including a remarkable series, starting in the 80s, of Circus Ring paintings and drawings, all produced from live observation locally at the circus at the Hippodrome in Yarmouth. Other series include the Night Shelter series, a series reflecting on the artist’s model as muse and a series of poignant paintings that celebrate his mother. Tidman had an unusually close and loving relationship with his mother, Charlotte, constructed around a bond of complicity forged when they fled together, and forever, when he was about nine or ten, from his father. This bond continued to tighten throughout their subsequent lives, ending finally with her death a few years ago at the age of 98. The mother as artist’s muse is not a common one in Western art, which makes this emotional, loving and cathartic series all the more important. From his early exquisite pencil drawings of her, usually around the kitchen table, the artist has documented and explored their relationship in a way that has few precedents.
Tidman’s passion for painting was in part ignited by the circus and the theatre. ncas members and others were privileged to enjoy an exhibition of his works at his Great Yarmouth studio in December 2023, followed by a trip to the Hippodrome Circus.
A member of a group of Great Yarmouth artists (the Yarmouth Five) including Katarzyna Coleman, Bridget Heriz, John Kiki and Emrys Parry, Brüer also established himself with his international reputation and identity. In 2022 Bruer was delighted to be commissioned to produce a portrait of the Lord Mayor of the City of London. His work was featured in all the publicity for the Lord Mayor of the City of London Show, a reflection of his long-standing relationship with the Lord Mayor and his wife.
A long-standing ncas member, Brüer's work was featured in ncas Port-2-Port exhibition in 2019.
We send our deepest sympathies to Brüer's family.
ncas was on hand to officially welcome the relocation of the intriguing collection of sculptures ‘Homage to Sir Thomas Browne’ previously located in Hay Hill, to their new home in Eaton Park.
The ‘Homage’ sculptures were originally commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of Browne’s birth. Designed by French artists Anne and Patrick Poirier, the 20 pieces including a large brain and eye sculpture, honour the English physician, polymath, author and philosopher, who lived in Norwich from 1636 until his death in 1682.
Resulting from the proposed redevelopment of Hay Hill, and following a public consultation involving ncas, Eaton Park was chosen as the ideal site to relocate ‘Homage’, as it already is part of the Norwich art trail – linking the city centre and the UEA Campus, which celebrates Norwich’s active arts and culture sectors.
Every year, ncas awards two prizes to Norwich University of the Arts Fine Art students, a Fine Art and New Makers prize, plus two commendations in each category. On 18 June members of the ncas committee were guided around ‘Gradfest’ the undergraduate degree show, in order to select these prizes.
Craig Barber, Head of Fine Art, took us around and his enthusiasm for the cohort of students and their dedication to producing an excellent degree show was infectious. It was incredibly difficult to select one winner for each of the prizes but we did come to a consensus with Harriet Atkinson winning the Fine Art Prize for her atmospheric paintings of guard dogs, with commendations in this category going to Brad Rumbl for his installation using AI to explore Yungian stereotypes and Yanni Ho for her installation of watercolour paintings.
The New Makers prize encompasses making in its broadest form and was won by Ewan Ormond with his sculpture, video and poetry exploring pagan belief and ritual and commendations went to Rollo Timothy George for his exploration of everyday signage in print, ceramic and timber and to Lauren Marie Wells for her tea table installation that included embroidery and bronze casting.
We are pleased to let you know that the ncas Trustees have agreed two awards of £500 in this round of Small Grants funding for members’ projects:
1. Will Teather for production of new paintings at his Tombland studio and an exhibition of this work at Mana Art in Aylsham in summer 2024.
2. Malca Schotten and Barbara Laws for an exhibition entitled ‘Engaging Images’ at Cromer Artspace, Diss Corn Hall and the Minories, Colchester, on the theme of public participation in the arts.
The next round of applications will open for applications at the end of July and close on 30 September 2024. Further details will be posted on the ncas website and by email in due course.
These grants aim to support small projects such as exhibitions, that might not otherwise achieve funding and the programme is open to members only.
Read all guidance and apply here.
Sunday 14th July is the date for the ncas AGM and lunch. Following the delightful day spent at Charlotte and Henry Crawley’s beautiful Hunworth Hall in Melton Constable in 2022, we couldn’t resist a second opportunity to go there again.
To find out more, please see our Events page.
Interrupt art exhibition, a central element of Queerfest Norwich 2024, is to be held at the Undercroft from 9th - 24th February. ncas is pleased to have helped to support this event with one of our small grants.
Rachel Collier-Wilson worked with guest curator, Sakib Khan, to produce this show and she explained the concept behind the exhibition:
“As LGBTQIA+ people, we operate within the matrix of a cis-heteronormative society. We are often unseen. When we are noticed, we are often ‘othered’. Interrupt aims to challenge and disrupt the system and the cis-heteronormative gaze. Interrupt is to be curated to foreground varied stories of Queer experience. The exhibition aims to validate and affirm marginalised identities, potentially sparking new ideas in individual practice and supporting emerging artists. Artists may wish to share art that addresses topics of gender, sexuality, gender dysphoria, mental health, combating stigma, masculine- and feminine-presenting folk and, of course, some fun and playfulness.”
The Undercroft can be found at the top side of Norwich Market, close to Norwich City Hall and the Guildhall. Open 11-5 Tuesday - Saturday; 12-4 Sunday, 9 - 24 February.
A date for your new 2024 diaries - 9th February! A special ncas evening hosted by Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Come and meet our illustrious patrons (who include leading artists and key players in Britain’s contemporary art world today). More details under the EVENTS tab above. Not to be missed! If you are not a member, join now (an absolute bargain!) to attend this excellent evening.
The Norfolk Autumn Festival Arts Award Ceremony, recognising the arts and creative talent across the region, took place on Friday 3 November 2023, at the Ocean Room in Gorleston. Invited guests included the Singh Twins and Dr Rosy Gray, Curator of Contemporary Art at Norwich Castle Museum, who were finalists for the Diversity Award for their Slaves of Fashion exhibition. ncas is enormously proud to have been closely involved with this exhibition and commissioned the permanent artwork now on display at the museum. Invited trustee Helen Eisler represented ncas at this enjoyable gala evening. The Singh Twins were pipped to the post by Queerfest, who generously gave the Twins the most effusive praise in their acceptance speech. Groundwork Gallery in Kings Lynn was runner-up to Will Corvidae Sparling for the Visual Arts Award. Our recently appointed ncas patron, Alan Water, was awarded a Peter Wilson Special Recognition Award.
The inaugural ncas Small Grants fund received a number of high quality applications to its first round of funding and after a lively discussion among the trustees, the following three recipients are announced:
QueerFest for Interrupt, an exhibition of contemporary art to be shown in the Shoe Factory Social Club, 8 - 25 February 2024. The intention of Interrupt is to challenge the heteronormative gaze and elicit stories of a Queer experience. Interrupt aims to validate and affirm our identities, and potentially spark new ideas in individual practice and support emerging artists. UPDATE: This exhibition will now be held in the Undercroft, near Norwich Market.
Unconsumed. Unconsumed II is a group exhibition of around 100 artists, either East Anglia-based or with a strong connection to the region, taking place from 27 May - 12 June 2024. Multi-generational, cross-disciplinary and championing inclusivity, this will be an exciting showcase of our local creative talent.
Grace Adam for the creation of a body of work for an exhibition at Mandells Gallery from 10 - 31 August 2024. This includes the development and production of ceramic sculptures, edition prints and collages. The central theme of the work is flint: its histories, geometries and forms.
Thank you to all who contacted us and we look forward to hearing from more applicants in our next round (closing date: 29 February 2024 - for more information & application form, see under ABOUT tab above). A big thank-you also to our members and all those who help us raise money to fund the visual arts in Norfolk.
