Brontë Parsonage Museum 80th Anniversary and August Special Arts Events

A press release from the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

BRONTË PARSONAGE MUSEUM CELEBRATES 80^th ANNIVERSARY WITH OPEN DAY AND SUMMER OF SPECIAL ARTS EVENTS

The Brontë Parsonage Museum will celebrate its 80^th anniversary by holding a free open day for local residents on Monday 4 August. The museum will also be offering visitors aged 80 years or over free admission to the museum throughout August.

On Monday 4 August residents with a BD21 or BD22 postcode can gain free admission to the museum by presenting proof of address.

Artist Lesley Martin will be working with visitors to create a giant artwork on the Parsonage front lawn, made from natural materials. Visitors are invited to bring along their own flowers and leaves found on walks in the area and to learn about the plants growing around the Parsonage.

The open day will launch a series of special arts events at the museum throughout August, including a chainsaw sculpture created from Charlotte Brontë’s tree and a specially commissioned puppetry theatre performance.

Photographer Kate Potter will be artist in residence at the museum on Tuesday 12 August, as part of a special project photographing twenty-first century visitors as Charlotte, Emily or Anne Brontë using traditional collodion photographic techniques.

Chainsaw artist Dominic Clare will be creating a sculpture from the tree felled in the Parsonage garden earlier this year, on Friday 22 August. The tree was believed to have been planted by Charlotte Brontë as part of her wedding celebrations and visitors can watch Dominic carving the sculpture in the museum garden.

On Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 August, puppetry theatre company Frolicked will be performing a specially commissioned piece based on the Brontës, in and around the museum. Visitors can watch the Brontës’ servants come to life in unexpected places!

These events form part of the museum’s Contemporary Arts Programme and are free on admission to the museum.

Haworth Parsonage was acquired by the Brontë Society in 1927 and its doors opened to the public on 4 August 1928. A crowd of thousands arrived in Haworth to witness the opening of the museum and to see the place where the Brontë family lived and wrote their famous books. (Jenna Holmes)

News also published in The Telegraph & Argus / Keighley News.

Categories: Brontë Parsonage Museum