Our Fabrica volunteer celebrations consisted of three events on the same day, by Fabrica volunteers and for Fabrica volunteers

Yoga Session at Fabrica – run by volunteer Savita Burke

A special relaxing yoga session, accessible for all abilities and levels.

All the volunteers who took part felt refreshed, relaxed and well stretched and Katherine commented “With gently powerful, deep, slow stretching and breathing exercises, Savita’s yoga class has a meditative quality about it. I felt calm and grounded for the rest of the day.”

Volunteer Tea Party

We had a delicious tea party with cake, fruits, sausage rolls. One of our volunteers brought in homemade cornflake clusters which went down a treat. We also played some games which included “Obama Llama”!

Artist Talk – Christopher McHugh organised by Jo a volunteer

A talk with slides from artist Christopher McHugh. Christopher also has a great connection to Fabrica, in that he was one of the founding members.

Christopher McHugh has considered himself a painter although, over the years, he has also made work in a range of other media and contexts. He trained in painting at Stafford College of Art, Bath Academy of Art and Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester School of Art within Manchester Metropolitan University) and studied later at The University of Sussex. He has taught Fine Art at degree and postgraduate level for more than 20 years. Themes in his painting have varied but have always been interested in the relationship between medium, materiality and ‘reading’.

Colour seems to figure largely as a sort of language unto itself and as a metaphor or model for a complex range of sensations and ideas. A series of what he refers to as ‘pictorial memes’ have shaped the appearance of his paintings into different but related families such as The Wide Horizon and Arboreality, taking recognizable visual features as a mutable vehicle for references to experience and art …. and questions about representation and meaning.

One of our volunteers Barbara reflects on Chris’ talk at Fabrica:

“I first met Chris McHugh 40 years ago! I had just finished my degree in Fine Art and moved to Brighton from London. I enrolled in a couple of courses at Sussex University and was absolutely delighted upon discovering Chris. What a wonderful, relaxed tutor he was; His vast knowledge of art from the Expressionists to Modern times was stunning and his enthusiasm and erudition spurred me on to take more courses with him and around various galleries where he gave talks. Chris was/is a very remarkable and stimulating teacher. I was mischievous then, and always asked the most difficult questions and made the most annoying remarks! I last saw him at the Opening of Fabrica just before I embarked on my new job in various places round the world but never forgot his attitude to teaching and his passion for painting. I shall always be grateful for his influence on me and the pleasure I got when he actually remembered me after all these years.”

Others commented “his talk and his paintings were absolutely riveting.”

Thank you to our amazing volunteers!