Photograph © Tate, London 2013
Oriel y Parc Gallery and Visitor Centre in St Davids will be celebrating John Constable’s 240th birthday on Saturday 11 June with a range of fun activities to mark this special occasion.
The day will be filled with events to celebrate of one of Britain’s finest ever artists, including arts and craft activities, guided walks, gallery tours and a chance to win some amazing prizes by bringing along your finest home-baked treats.
Constable’s masterpiece Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831 is currently on display at Oriel y Parc, which is owned and managed by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, as part of Aspire, a UK-wide tour of museums and galleries.
Oriel y Parc Manager Jenn Jones said: “We are incredibly fortunate that this important milestone has fallen during the time Constable’s masterpiece is on display here at Oriel y Parc.
“The Celebrate Constable event will mark the end of a week-long festival commemorating both Constable’s birthday and this extraordinary exhibition, which has received an amazing response from visitors so far.”
No birthday celebration would be complete without a birthday cake, so Oriel y Parc is running a Great Constable Cake Off competition, inviting members of the public to enter their home-baked masterpieces with the chance of winning some fantastic prizes.
The winners will be chosen by Great British Bake Off 2015 quarter-finalist Paul Jagger, who wowed judges on the popular show with his bread lion.
There will be five categories to encourage the whole family to enjoy a slice of the action: Under 10s, Under 16s, 16+, ‘Recipes from the 1800s’ and ‘Cathedral Cakes’. Prizes will be awarded in each category with the best of the winners being named the ‘Star Baker’.
The day will also offer a chance to see the fantastic landscapes produced by local schoolchildren during the week-long Constable-based workshops at Oriel y Parc.
There will also be a chance to create a special Salisbury Cathedral from the Pembrokeshire Coast collage. People will be tasked with taking away a small square of a full-size outline of Constable’s famous painting and using materials found in the landscape to collage it before it is reassembled at the end of the day.
Those wishing to explore Britain’s smallest city will be able to join a guided walk of St Davids, which boasts its own magnificent cathedral and will provide an insight into what makes it such a special place.
Also on offer will be a range of themed tours of the Constable: Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831 exhibition, which includes other works by John Constable as well as paintings by his great rival JMW Turner and Graham Sutherland. The exhibition will be on display at Oriel y Parc until 11 September.
For more information go to www.orielyparc.co.uk/constable.
