Scone

ADFAS Scone welcomes you. 

ADFAS Scone has been running successfully for over 30 years. Our longevity is testament to our dedicated and hard-working members many who have been there since our inception.  We are a small society, but our enthusiasm and commitment are large, with members come from wide and far. We endeavour to provide an interesting and informative lecture hosted by lecturers who excel in their subject matter.

A light supper or morning tea and drinks follow every lecture giving a chance to socialise in a welcoming and friendly environment. Our lectures are held in the beautifully restored Arts & Crafts Hall in the centre of town, a fitting venue to absorb both beauty and knowledge. As our founding chairman said, “However obscure the topic, we aim to send members and guests home richer in knowledge, refreshed in body and uplifted in spirit!” Come and discover what we offer.

Lectures:

Venue:
ADFAS Scone lectures are held at the beautifully restored old Catholic church that is now the Scone Arts and Crafts Centre, 63 Kingdon Street where adequate street parking is available. Please check the program below for our venue change for September only.

Time:
Our lectures commence in the evening at 6:30pm

Membership:
Annual membership – $150
To join email: scone@adfas.org.au

Guests welcome:
$30 per lecture

Contact:
For all enquiries please email: scone@adfas.org.au
Postal Address: PO Box 112 Scone NSW, 2337
ABN: 39 468 761 041

Committee
Chair: Sandy Payne   Ph: 0412 979 000
Treasurer: Kerry Cooke
Secretary: Hilary Nicol

2024 PROGRAM

Tuesday 27 February 2024
SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE
Presented by David Worthington
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

A sculpture has its architecture and good architecture is sculptural. Many centuries ago, the first architects would have been the stonemasons who built temples and cathedrals. In the ancient world the building was a plinth for a sculpture, as seen in the golden Athena on the Parthenon. And today, the two arts remain closely intertwined, observing each other closely. This lecture will trace this relationship showing how in an age of computer-aided design, an understanding of sculpture is more Important than ever for architecture.

David Worthington graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, and later studied fine art in London, Barcelona and New York. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors and was Vice President in 2010-13. David has enjoyed many UK and international public commissions and exhibitions with work currently on show at the Creative Cities Collection in Beijing.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

​Tuesday 12 March 2024
WELL HEELED SHOES THROUGH TIME
Presented by Claudia Chan Shaw
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

An intriguing look at our fascination with shoes and the stories behind them. Throughout history shoes have been seen as symbols of power or status in society. Sometimes we suffer for the love of our shoes. There is always room for another pair.

Sydney born creative Claudia Chan Shaw has a multifaceted career as a fashion designer, television and radio presenter, author, public speaker, installation artist, photo artist, and curator. With a BA in Visual Communication Design from Sydney College of the Arts, she is co-designer and director for the internationally acclaimed Australian fashion label, Vivian Chan Shaw, renowned for its exquisite handmade knitwear and jewellery. Claudia is perhaps best known for her role as co-host and presenter on ABC TV’s popular program, Collectors and her subsequent book Collectomania: From objects of desire to magnificent obsession.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

Tuesday 30 April 2024
GARDENS OF MOROCCO
Presented by Trisha Dixon
Time: Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

Tricia will share some inspiring and innovative landscapes created in one of the driest continents on earth – which we in Australia have much to learn from as they live constantly with minuscule annual rainfall – not like our seesaw of drought to flood climate here in Australia. This will be an illustrated meander looking at trends in gardening and garden making in dry climates by some renowned designers such as Tom Stuart Smith, Chelsea Gold winner and the late Yves St Laurent. Trisha will showcase gardens that extract the best of nature in the climate they were created in …appealing to our affinity for the natural ecologies that nourish our earth.

Trisha Dixon is an author, photographer and tour leader with a passion for literature, art, landscape, architecture, music and gardens. Trisha lives in a nearly 200 year old garden at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains that survives six months a year with only her resident wallaby ‘Wally’ looking after it and a nil by mouth water regime. Thankfully the huge towering elms provide much needed shade and colour and protection from the winds. and a trout stream meanders through the bottom of the garden where a long table is often the scene of long lunches with poetry and music and great conversation.  Other buildings on the property are used by writers and artisans during the year and the beguiling ancient landscape nourishes much creativity.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

Tuesday 7 May 2024
BOTTOMS UP! A HISTORY OF WINE, ITS RITUALS AND VESSELS
Presented by Andy McConnell
Venue & Time: 6.30pm, Upper Hunter Shire Council

A history of wine, its rituals, and its vessels, sustaining humanity for almost 10,000 years. We trace the story of wine through the ages, and examine the extraordinary art and artefacts created throughout history to enhance the pleasure of wine. The talk visits the ancient world, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and 18th century Britain, culminating today, when more wine is being consumed than ever.

Andy McConnell has dealt in antiques since adolescence but served an apprenticeship in journalism. After working in music, film and television, he returned to writing in 2004. He continues to write and runs Britain’s largest antique glass gallery in Rye, Sussex. Andy is best known as the humorous glass specialist on BBC’s evergreen Antiques Roadshow.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

Tuesday 9 July 2024
PORTRAITS OF THE MAHARANIS
Presented by Dr John Stevens
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

The Maharajahs and Maharanis of India were semi-independent rulers, responsible for governing territories outside the direct control of the British Empire. They fascinated the British public and functioned as powerful symbols of ‘exotic India’. This lecture provides insights into their lives and memoirs, with a broader view of the role they played in the Empire, drawing on extensive collection of portraits & photographs of Indian Maharanis. These images and the costumes they depict are stunning works of art in their own right, providing some of the earliest images of Indian women, which portray them as powerful, dignified and educated figures.

Dr John Stevens is a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London and holds PhD in History. He teaches and publishes on British Imperial and Indian history as well as teaching Bengali, and is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh.  His biography of Indian guru Keshab Chandra Sen was published in 2018. He appears regularly in the Indian media and recently on BBC Radio 4, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore. 

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

Tuesday 6 August 2024
CLARICE CLIFF (1899-1972): THE DOYENNE OF ART DECO
Presented by Vivienne Laws
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

This lecture explores an artist whose work, inventiveness and ability to catch the zeitgeist is still admired a century after her bold ‘Bizarre’ wares were launched in 1927. Born in 1899, Clarice Cliff was a working professional as women began to break through barriers in the art world and the pottery industry offered female artists opportunities to excel. Cliff’s talents were recognised when she was still a teenager and she went on to produce designs that keyed into cutting-edge Art Deco trends, setting the bar for ceramics as a commercial art form.

An art historian, art market analyst and curator/ writer, Viv Lawes combines a hands-on career in the art business with research and teaching in Higher Education at several London-based universities. Her courses include The Art Market, History of Western Art and Design 1350-1970, and Asian Art. Viv has curated numerous exhibitions of Southeast Asian contemporary art in London and Singapore. She writes for many publications and private clients, for both academic and general readership.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

Tuesday 10 September 2024
BREECHES, BONNETS AND BAGS
Presented by Rosalind Whyte
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Upper Hunter Shire Council

Portraits provide a fascinating insight into changing styles of dress over the centuries. This lecture follows the different fashions as revealed in paintings, looking at dress and accessories, and some of the more ridiculous styles of fashion from the 16th century to the 19th century. It focuses particularly on fashion in England, but looks also at some contrasting Continental fashions. In times when Sumptuary Laws prescribed what you could wear, according to your status in society, fashion was less a personal choice and more a reflection of social standing. Have fun exploring the wildest extremes of fashion through the ages.

Rosalind holds a BA and MA from Goldsmith’s College, and an MA (distinction) from Birkbeck College. She is an experienced guide at Tate Britain, the Tate Modern, the Royal Academy and The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.She lectures at the Tate, to independent art societies and on cruises.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

Tuesday 15 October 2024
PAINTERS OF THE CIRQUE MEDRANO
Presented by Paul Chapman
Time & Venue: 6.30pm, Scone Arts & Crafts Hall

The legendary Paris circus, from its beginning as the Cirque Fernando in 1875, and renamed the Cirque Medrano in 1897, until its closure in 1963 was an integral part of Parisian cultural life, attracting many writers, painters and poets with many works inspired by the Circus. Many painters of the 19th and 20th centuries captured the magic and sparkle and sometimes the hardship of circus life. The performers have been immortalised by Renoir, Degas, Lautrec, Seurat, Picasso and Leger among others. An intriguing look at the history of a circus through the painters of the Montmartre.

Paul is an Art Historian and a National Gallery trained guide with many years of experience working in education. As a freelance Paul delivers courses and lectures for a wide range of educational organisations. Paul has also given talks and tours for art associations/societies in Museums and Galleries in the UK and Europe. As a writer, Paul has published a book, which examines the subject of cultural crossovers and appropriations in 20th century painting. Paul is a tour guide at the Longford Castle art collection and he is also a visiting tutor at Marlborough College and MCSS.

BOOK HERE: scone@adfas.org.au

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