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Ruthin Craft Centre: The Centre for the Applied Arts
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www.ruthincraftcentre.org.uk  |
In 2008 the Ruthin Crafts Centre opened a stunning new building, designed by Sergison Bates Architects, which underlines its role as the most important centre for the presentation of and promotion of contemporary crafts in Wales.
The new Ruthin Craft Centre is a contemporary masterpiece inspired by the landscape that surrounds it. The design reflects the contemporary purpose of the building. Hand trowelled cast stone walls are topped by a crafted zinc roof. The 1650 sq.m building in its own landscape setting is the largest complex of buildings devoted to the applied arts in Wales with a constituency of the whole of Wales and within easy reach of 6 million people in the North West of England and regular visitors from the rest of the U.K. and internationally.
Three new galleries have been specially designed to display craft, thus works from major collections are shown to their best advantage alongside some of the most innovative applied art being made by Welsh, UK and international artists today. One – The Collections Gallery – is designed for showing exhibitions from the collections of Ruthin Craft Centre’s partners which include the National Museums Wales, the National Library of Wales, the University of Wales Ceramic Collection, Aberystwyth, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and the Crafts Council.
With a well-quipped Education Suite, two studios for established and young applied artists to work in residency and six other studios let to designer-makers, Ruthin also gives artists the opportunity to develop new work in an inspiring setting.
The retail gallery has a tempting display of contemporary craft for sale and to collect, while café R offers delicious home-cooked food sourced locally. Outside, the stunning courtyard is a peaceful place to relax with a coffee or a bite to eat while enjoying the new furniture hand-made for the centre by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley.
Some of your comments:
A definite winner for making this the major centre for the applied arts in the UK - and it's in the centre of Wales! Interesting building in a stunning environment with a huge following. Sometimes the right people get nominated for an award; people who'll use the prize money imaginatively and productively and expand on an already excellent record.
Mary La Trobe-Bateman, Batcombe
Arriving at dusk for a private view, I first saw the carpark with its reflective kerbstones and clever planting. The Centre courtyard is beautiful, flowering Magnolia trees within a light installation. The Galleries are stunning and show case exhibitions which are well displayed & hung. The restaurant is a welcome sight and treat for a visitor. The workshops house a variety of artist and craft makers. There is a good range of workshops and work for sale. The Ruthin area deserves this Gallery and the Ruthin Craft Centre should win the ARTFUND Prize to carry on and extend the good work it has already begun. This centre will go from strength to strength and the £100000 would be well spent here.
Christine Weston, Congleton
In addition to being a fantastic exhibition space, the new Ruthin Centre creates a broader space that allows different constituencies and stakeholders to interact and to take the debate and development of the applied and other arts forward. In the environment that we are all facing now, new networks, greater public and private collaboration and the free exchange of opinions and knowledge will be even more crucial for the arts to remain vital and vibrant. Ruthin is well placed to be not only to create and facilitate such developments in Wales, but also throughout the UK and internationally through the links the organisation has developed over its long history.
Ruta Noreika, Edinburgh
For years, Ruthin Craft Centre has had an excellent program of small scale and touring exhibitions, promoting and developing ideas about contemporary craft. The new buildings and beautiful gallery spaces have allowed them to expand both the scale and the depth of their aspirations. Showing work, developing ideas, supporting practitioners (including myself) through sales, commissions, exhibitions, publications and residencies. I believe Ruthin is now the best venue for contemporary craft in Britain.
Jim Partridge, Oswestry
Ruthin Craft Centre is where we go to be inspired, delighted, educated and fed - all to the highest standard. It is our venue of choice to meet friends and also to browse and occasionally to buy. There is always someone available to inform and help when we need it - the staff, and indeed the design of the building itself, create a warm welcome. The exhibitions are inspired and wide-ranging in their medium and application and we rarely miss an opening - which in themselves could be classified as performance art! It is of an international standard and we feel most fortunate to have it so close.
Liz Ellis, Chester
A beautifully designed open space that works at all levels - exhibitions, artwork of every type, browsing, relaxing and contemplating. Friendly, approachable staff. Interesting programme of exhibitions that often stretch the envelope of the predominantly rural community - to their advantage and interest.
Henry Dixon, Denbigh
As students at Manchester Metropolitan University (Alsager campus) studying Contemporary Craft, we have been making regular trips to the Ruthin Craft Centre since it re-opened. We believe it is the best place to see what is happening in the craft world and to see examples of excellence. The gallery is beautifully laid out (and the cakes are great too!).
Gail Coffey, Altrincham
I was so pleased to hear of the nomination of Ruthin Craft Centre for this important award. As a resident of the town who has travelled widely and lived in other parts of the world I am convinced that the Centre stands international comparison as a successful exhibition space, a beautiful building appropriate to its setting and a place where local people can enjoy contemporary applied art in surroundings which have the potential to form an important focus for the community. The excellent restaurant and education facilities are beginning to establish themselves in this way. In short, I love it and so do all the visitors who we take there. This is a part of the UK which is short on arts facilities and we are proud to have the Centre here in Ruthin. In my opinion, it is a great asset to North Wales and forms an important dimension to the life of the people here. I would like to see more involvement with the community, for example with local healthcare facilities and organisations; but no doubt this will develop.
(Prof Emeritus) Patricia Lyne, Ruthin
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