On Saturday, we opened the doors of Weston Park for our annual Community Day, a free celebration of the achievements of all those who have taken part in our classes, workshops, courses and projects over the last year.

 

Visitors had a chance to take part in activities including drawing master-classes and object handling, not to mention tea tasting and drama workshops. There were also plenty of performances on the day, from African drumming to Indian dance, as well as the opportunity to take part in our regular Wildlife Watch session. We were particularly pleased to be joined by the Arts Council’s Cluny Macpherson, who was able to see first hand what an important resource Weston Park is for the people of the region.

 

Museums and galleries are public spaces and on Sunday it was great to see the Millennium Gallery taken over by the public for the Shefftopia Picnic. Organised by a Pete McKee and co, the event saw the Millennium Gallery packed to the rafters with people being fantastically creative in protest at the recent Arts Council funding decision.

 

The Millennium Gallery’s main thoroughfare was overrun with picnic blankets, pop-up craft activites and as much good will as one building can house. As well as creating and adorning the avenue with bunting and banners with messages of support, participants also made their feelings about the threat to the museums clear with an enormous visual petition that stretched the entire length of our Arundel Room. The event was topped off by a rousing performance by the inimitable Everly Pregnant Brothers, who eloquently summed up the sentiment of the day in song.

 

A huge, heartfelt thank you to Pete McKee and everyone who organised the event, and to everyone who gave up their Sunday lunchtime to come down and demonstrate their support. For those of you that couldn't make it, here's our Flickr gallery: