Click here to download Newsletter 3 (1st Nov 2009)
Click here to download Newsletter 2 (21st May 2007)
We appreciate your interest in the Archie Sutter Watt Trust, which was founded earlier this year. The Trustees intend issuing periodic newsletters to keep those who have shown an interest in Archie’s work and the Trust up to date.
A huge thank-you goes out to all those who have helped with donations and purchases to reach the milestone target of £10,000.
The Archie Sutter Watt Trust Fund was first suggested by David Mabbs when he hosted a 90th Birthday lunch for Archie in the Baron’s Craig Hotel, Rockcliffe on 3rd April this year, shortly before Archie’s death. The fund’s aim is to honour Archie’s invaluable contribution to Scottish art and education by funding awards to individuals or projects that promote the arts in South West Scotland.
The administration of the fund was passed to Archie’s nephews, Alan and John Watt together with nominated Trustees, Valerie Sadler and Dawn Henderby in July this year, who gratefully received the first cheque of £1500 from the proceeds of the birthday party together with sales of Archie’s work from the Rockcliffe Gallery.
Other fundraising this year included Archie’s first memorial exhibition at Gracefield, staged as part of the D&G Arts Festival at the end of May. Archie had helped establish the Festival and had staged an annual show at his Kirkgunzeon studio for over 25 years. In January, he started to plan his 2005 show with assistance from Dawn and other willing friends. It seemed appropriate that the exhibition of graphic works should go on as Archie had planned, with the venue moving to Gracefield. The new dry-point etchings were from Archie’s original plates, printed up in the Gracefield Print Workshop by his friend, printmaker Hugh Bryden. Over £2,000 was raised.
The Trust is still negotiating its charitable status with HM Revenue & Customs because, due to money laundering concerns in the charity sector, this is now a long and tortuous process (Archie would have laughed at the money laundering bit!). It has now necessitated the Trust engaging a specialist charities solicitor and we hope to report success in the next Newsletter. In the mean time the Trust was finally allowed to open a bank account in August. Our sincere apologies to those who thought their cheques were never going to be banked!
Over the summer, a further selection of art works from Archie’s estate was made for an exhibition at the Whitehouse Gallery in Kirkcudbright. The exhibition was opened on the 22 October, with a delightful welcome speech by Hugh Bryden, and by the end of the day only 5 of the original 31 pieces were left unsold. A further selection had to be rapidly made and framed to ‘top-up’ the exhibition to avoid further disappointment!
The show runs until 19th Nov and is open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm. The net profits from the exhibition should top £4,000 and this together with other donations and exhibition sales brings the total raised to just over £10,000. A great achievement!
The Trustees together with an advisory panel of Hugh Bryden and Hazel Campbell are currently considering the full criterion for Awards and further information and application forms will follow next year.
Fundraising has not stopped however and further exhibitions of Archie’s work are planned including a show of prints as part of the major International Print Open at Gracefield next May, and galleries in Edinburgh and Glasgow are being researched.
All the remaining art work and archive material from Archie’s Studio is being fully documented and inventoried and research is being undertaken into producing a hard back book to update the existing (and rapidly disappearing!) Gracefield brochure, to fully mark his place in Scottish Art.
If you have any relevant material – photographs, letters or stories you’d like to share please forward them to Dawn at Gracefield. All materials will be returned.
For any enquires or donations to the Trust can be made to:
Alan Watt
20 Dargai Terrace
DUNBLANE
T: 01786 821353
E: wattclan@ukonline.co.uk
Dawn Henderby
Gracefield Arts Centre
28 Edinburgh Road
DUMFRIES
T: 01387 262084
E: dawnh@dumgal.gov.uk
