) , image = , image_border = , size = 200px , alt = , abbreviation = , motto = , formation = 1948 , type = Visual arts , location = Wales , membership = ~40 , website
www.thewelshgroup-art.com
The Welsh Group ( cy, Y Grŵp Cymreig) is an artists' collective, with the purpose of exhibiting and "giving a voice" to the visual arts in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Beginnings

The group began in 1948 as the South Wales Group, consisting of both professional and amateur artists.Karen Price
"Art group marking 60 creative years"
WalesOnline, 21 November 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2013.David Moore

Planet Online. Retrieved 23 April 2013. The group's initial conception was a response to the

Royal Cambrian Academy The Royal Cambrian Academy of Art (RCA) is a centre of excellence for art in Wales. Its main gallery is located in Conwy and it has over a hundred members. 240px, Plas Mawr, Conwy Early history During the 19th century there were numerous attempts ...

's relatively weak representation from

south Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

at that time. In the foreword to the South Wales Group’s first exhibition catalogue, David Bell wrote "It is the purpose of the Group to establish a new link between the artists of South Wales and their public". During the 1960s the South Wales Group had begun exhibiting further afield in

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

mid Wales Mid Wales ( cy, Canolbarth Cymru or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands") or Central Wales refers to a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd ...

and into

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

. The group adopted its current, broader title of The Welsh Group by 1975, by which time it had also become a fully professional artists' group and, though its south east tendency is still an issue of some contention, the group had expanded its membership beyond south Wales (including a number who are also members of the Royal Cambrian Academy and/or the

56 Group Wales The 56 Group Wales ( cy, Grŵp 56 Cymru) is an artists' organisation founded in Wales in 1956, with the aim of promoting Welsh Modernist art and artists. The name was originally simply the 56 Group: "Wales" was added in 1967, in response to a fe ...

, a splinter group initiated in 1956 when the South Wales Group failed to become a southern Academy).

21st century

An exhibition curated and researched by Welsh Group member Dr Ceri Thomas and funded by The National Library of Wales,

Arts Council of Wales The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; cy, Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts ...

, Contemporary Art Society for Wales and the Welsh Group, was launched at the National Library of Wales, (

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

), before touring to the

, and Newport Museum & Art Gallery. The exhibition, ''Mapping The Welsh Group at 60'', included work by current and past members spanning a period from soon after the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to work completed in the twenty-first century, just after Welsh devolution. At the exhibition launch

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

Heritage Minister at the time

Alun Ffred Jones Alun Ffred Jones (born 29 October 1949) is a Welsh politician and member of Plaid Cymru and former television producer, writer and director. Jones was the National Assembly for Wales Member for Caernarfon 2003–07 and for the newly created Ar ...

highlighted the group's importance: "The Welsh Group's 60th anniversary exhibition is a major event for the arts in Wales, bringing together work from talented Welsh artists old and new". A fully illustrated colour book published by Diglot Books accompanied the exhibition. Today the group exhibits in Wales and internationally, including recent exchange exhibitions with visual art groups in the USA and Germany.

Membership

Full membership is made up of approximately 40 Welsh or Wales-based artists, including: * Mathew Prichard * Sue Hiley Harris * Paul Edwards * Neil Stone * Heather Eastes * Anthony Evans * Christine Evans * Veronica Gibson * Chris Griffin * Jacqueline Jones * Angela Kingston * Gus Payne * Jacqueline Alkema * Jenny Allan * Lynne Bebb * Simone Bizzell-Browning * Paul Brewer * Glenys Cour * Ivor Davies * Ken Dukes * Wendy Earl * Lorna Edmiston *

Ken Elias Ken Elias is a Welsh artist. Born in 1944, into a working-class family in Glynneath, his childhood was formed during the 1950s. He attended art school in the 1960s, during the height of the Pop Art movement in the UK. Artwork Ken Elias's work ...

* Robert Harding * Mary Husted * Dilys Jackson * Maggie James * Kay Keogh * Robert Macdonald * Philip Nicol * Shirley Anne Owen * Roy Powell * Sue Roberts * Gerda Roper * Alan Salisbury * Philippine Sowerby * Thomasin Toohie * Philip Watkins * Jean Walcot * Jess Woodrow * Pip Woolf * Karin Mear The chair is Paul Edwards, the secretary David James and the treasurer Heather Eastes. Since 2002, with the deaths of a number of long lasting members, new members were elected, resulting in a greater gender balance and an increase in members from outside

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. From 2007 the group has included a graduate member and in 2012 artist Tiff Oben began a three-year Fellowship with the group.

Mathew Prichard Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

is the group's president.

Former members

Former members have included major names from the field of modern Welsh art including Peter Bailey, William Brown, Brenda Chamberlain, Mary Fogg,

Arthur Giardelli Vincent Charles Arthur Giardelli, MBE, (11 April 1911 – 2 November 2009) was a Welsh artist of Italian paternal descent. Giardelli's work is held in many collections including the Tate, the National Museum of Wales, the National Library o ...

, Tony Goble, Bert Isaac, John Petts, David Tinker, Islwyn Watkins, Laurie Williams and Ernest Zobole.

Publications

* * * *

References

External links

The Welsh Group website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh Group, The Welsh art Welsh artist groups and collectives Arts organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Wales 20th-century Welsh painters 21st-century Welsh painters Welsh sculptors 20th-century British sculptors