Watts Gallery - Artists' Village

2018 marks 70 years of the #NHS. To celebrate the amazing work done by those in our emergency services, we've created a new, discounted admission ticket for emergency service workers.
NHS workers, the police force and the fire brigade will now be able to purchase discounted tickets to Watts Gallery - Artists' Village. Just show your work card/ staff badge at the Visitor Centre when you arrive:
More information on admission prices: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/visit/admission/< br>... NHS at 70 - The Story of Our Lives #NHS70 #WattsWednesday
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Join us on Saturday October 13th to find out about becoming a part of our diverse team of over 300 volunteers. Learn about the variety of roles on offer and talk with current volunteers about their experiences over a coffee.
Call 01483 813 580 or email volunteerevents@wattsgallery.org.uk to express your interest.

This #ContemporaryArtMonday explore the bold, colourful works of Linda Farquharson, one of our #florabundance artists. https://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/conte mporaryartmonday-li…/
'The garden and countryside surrounding my studio in rural Perthshire inspire my printmaking, influencing the shapes I draw, the colours I use, and the patterns I cut.'
See Linda's work in our Florabundance exhibition at Watts Contemporary Gallery, on display until 7 October.

Today at the Make Space, as part of our Florabundance activities, create sun prints, draw floral designs on acetate to hold up to the light and add to our giant flower installation.
Pick up a Florabundance Trail to find flowers in the Artists' Village and discover their meanings. Find out more: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/whats-on/make-spa ce/
Drop in 11am - 1pm & 1.30 - 4pm | Kids go free

Temperatures are reaching a balmy 30° C outside! However our paintings prefer to chill at a cooler 20°.
While we like to think we are always one of the ‘coolest’ places to be, thanks to our BMS system our gallery sits between a refreshing 18-20° C.
Why not stop by today and take a break from the heat?

Bring your valuables to be appraised by specialists in gemology, silver, antiques, entertainment and memorabilia, collectibles and fine art from Ewbank's The Surrey Auction House on Wednesday 22 August, 10am - 4pm.
Donation fee £1 per item, maximum 10 items (all proceeds go to Watts Gallery Trust).

This summer, families can enjoy a range of workshops, creative activities, and woodland trails at Watts Gallery - Artists' Village.
Every week in August, escape to our gardens to find flowers and uncover their meanings. Create sun prints, draw floral designs on acetate to hold up to the light and add to our giant flower installation.
Head to our website to find out more: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/what…/summer-ho lidays-florabundance/

This week on #WattsWednesday, learn about G F Watts's relationship with close friend, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and the latter's former home on the Isle of Wight.
'Farringford Estate was the home of the Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, his family and their descendants until 1945. George Frederic Watts was a close friend of Tennyson and visited Farringford with both Ellen Terry and Mary Watts on different occasions...'
More on the blog: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/news/wednesda y-watts-and-tennyson/

Today on our blog, Kirsten Tambling (co-curator of our exhibition James Henry Pullen: Inmate - Inventor - Genius) explores the 'dream barge' - a boat that, according to one of the inventor's contemporaries, Pullen designed to transport Queen Victoria to the Underworld.
See the intricately rendered barge at Watts Gallery - Artists' Village until Sunday 28 October 2018.
https://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/james -henry-pullen-dream…/

#ContemporaryArtMonday this week sees Peter Collins, one of our Florabundance artists, share his love of gardens and engraving.
'Wood engraving leads to possibilities of freer interpretation of plant forms and landscape settings, partly because wood is a softer medium than copper, yet can take fine detail...'
Read more on our blog: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/contemporarya rtmonday-peter-coll…/
... See Peter's work on display in Florabundance at Watts Contemporary Gallery until Sunday 7 October.
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Today on our blog, we've published a lecture by Katja Robinson on William De Morgan and Victorian artist and illustrator, Walter Crane.
Learn about these key Arts & Crafts contemporaries and their mission 'to dissolve the boundaries and traditional hierarchy between 'high' and 'low' art.'
Read more here: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/walter-crane- and-william-de-morg…/

There's a summer sale in the Shop!
Visit us this season to make the most of sizzling discounts of up to 50% off.

Join us for our inaugural celebration of the art of making.
See demonstrations by professional makers and craftspeople, get creative in our Clore Learning Studio and bring the whole family to join in the fun.

This week, on #WattsWednesday, learn about one of London's little-known attractions: G F Watts's Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice.
'The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice is a public monument in Postman's Park in the City of London, commemorating ordinary people who died saving the lives of others. It is, in Watts's words, a record 'of the stories of heroism in every-day life'.'
Read more on our blog: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/n…/memorial -heroic-self-sacrifice/

Find out about our exhibition co-Curator, Kirsten Tambling's, favourite piece in our current show, James Henry Pullen: Inmate - Inventor - Genius.
Confined in insane asylums nearly his entire life, Pullen became occupied in creating extraordinary designs, gigantic articulated puppets, detailed drawings, fantastical kites and models of boats from a specially converted studio-room – escaping his cell through his art.
See the exhibition at Watts Gallery - Artists' Village until Sunday 28 October 2018.

This #ContemporaryArtMonday, learn about the work of Lucy Augé, one of our Florabundance artists.
'I am drawn to nature as it is ever changing. I like the ephemeral qualities it possesses. I try to bring nature's spirit into my work by drawing outside and exactly how I see it at that moment...'
Learn more about Lucy Augé on our blog and see Florabundance at Watts Contemporary Gallery until 7 October: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/…/…/contempor aryartmonday-lucy-auge/

We now have only 15 tickets remaining for our outdoor screening of Loving Vincent on Friday 7 September.
Get your friends and family together and enjoy a screening of the world's first fully painted feature film, exploring the life and work of Vincent van Gogh.
The film will start with an animated short: A is for Autism, directed by Tim Webb.
... In association with Venture Cinema | Pay bar & popcorn | Film rated 12A | Doors open 6.30pm | £11.50 | Pre-booking required
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Inspired by our exhibition, James Henry Pullen: Inmate – Inventor – Genius, discover a world of inventiveness from giant puppets to model ships and use an array of materials to create your own.
End the week with Watts Late: Imaginarium - a special day of immersive events when we will be open late into the evening.
Activities include:... Fantasy Ships | All ages Make a fantasy ship using weird and wonderful materials, inspired by the curious ships carved by 19th century artist James Henry Pullen.
Amazing Inventors | All ages Cut and stick illustrations of 19th century machinery to create bizarre machines of your own invention.
Mini Cyborgs | Ages 8 - 12 | Pre-booking required Make yourself into a mini mechanical cyborg inspired by Pullen's giant animatronic puppet.
Use a range of interesting everyday materials to create a mechanical figure that moves and lights up. Explore mechanics, making and electricity.
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We are open late as part of Museums at Night.
Stay all day for events and imaginative performances inspired by the inventiveness of James Henry Pullen.
Activities include:
... The Bewonderment Machine Bird in The Hand Theatre presents a theatrical dreamscape combining, puppetry, machinery and music in this artist-built cycle-powered carousel for ages 2 - 6.
Parade & Play: The Imaginarium Enjoy a short play performed and written by Dramatize with handmade puppets crafted by Halow, East London Textiles, Art Forum, and Orpheus and HMP Feltham. Narrated by Storyteller Olivia Armstrong.
Ramshacklicious Experience the curious musical theatre of Ramshacklicious in a performance inspired by the life and work of Pullen.
Utopolis A transformation of the artist in residence studio that uses discarded cardboard to transform the space into a fantastical architectural model. Navigate through the illuminated towers and add to the construction using discarded cardboard to create a city of the imagination.
Pullen's Giant See the recreation of Pullen's 14ft wooden animatronic puppet brought to life by the Vital Exposure team in this special performance.
Puppet Workshop Make a puppet using an array of marvellous materials to create your character and costume. How inventive can you be?
Imaginarium Illuminarium Transform a clear plastic umbrella into a colourful creature using tiny LED battery lights and coloured tissue, and then join in our dusk procession.
The Drawing Machine See artist Jason Lane's incredible drawing machine in action and discover how it was made. Jason created moving sculptures for the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. He is fascinated by mechanical objects and their animalistic qualities.
Food and Drink The Tea Shop will be serving delicious seasonal food until 8pm.
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Escape to our woodland playground and floral gardens at Watts this summer and enjoy our Florabundance activities. Bring a picnic or enjoy our delicious summer menu in the Tea Shop.
Create sun prints, draw floral designs on acetate to hold up to the light and add to our giant flower installation. Pick up a Florabundance Trail to find flowers in the Artists' Village and discover their meanings.
Clore Learning Studio | All ages | Free with admission | Kids go free | Friends free

Wonderful tranquil place to visit. Amazing GF Watts pictures and sculptures and also featuring works from other artists. Relax in the traditional tea room before the short walk to The bespoke home of Mr and Mrs Watts. Again a ten minute walk or short drive to the nearby Chapel created by the Watts family and Villagers. Located on a hill this may be difficult for some people . End your day in the gift and craft shop. I found all the staff very friendly welcoming and informative.

Wonderful gem of a place , well worth a visit

What an excellent piece of heritage reconstructed. There are informative film clips and the collection is comprehensive. Obviously this features Victorian portraits and those may not be everybody's area of interest but the setting, the house, the woodland garden setting and the delightful tea room make this a worthwhile cultural outing. My favourite stop was the chapel - a rather charming unexpected creation of Mary Watts. As a tourist, I commend the manner in which England treasures its historical and cultural heritage.

We live locally and love Watts Gallery. It's so great to have a collection like this on the doorstep. Impressed by the range of activities on offer, including a very good range for children. The tea shop is particularly fine!

We had a truly fantastic day. We started with the Chapel which was awe-inspiring and beautiful in every way. The studios were fascinating and the obviously passionate staff brought it alive. We stopped for lunch in the tearoom which was delicious and finished in the gallery which contains some extraordinary works of art. Thoroughly recommend.

We adore Watts Gallery. It's a great afternoon out. The gallery is fab and there are numerous exhibitions through the year. There's lots of outdoor space for the kids to run around and for picnics and there are always crafty things to try.

Really enjoyed my visit. Lots to see well worth it.

Lovely day (even in the drizzle). Such a beautiful place. Shout out to hazel- very passionate about the place(not hard to see why) and a mine of information.

(I'd have a look at your heating in limnerslease though. Was almost unbearably hot and cant be doing it much good).

Would and have recommended to anyone and everyone since we went.



Ps. Keep on with them maple and walnut scones! Winner!

I went with a U3A Heritage Group and had a great day. I found the guided tour very interesting and well worth doing. The legendary 'Welsh Rarebit' in the restaurant is very yummy in pleasant surroundings. A short walk away is the Chapel which is a must to see. We went by public transport - train to Guildford and then a bus to the Watts Gallery which stops right outside. All very easy. My thanks to everyone for giving me a lovely time to remember.

I last went about 2 years ago & enjoyed it but loved it this time.I prefer the way the paintings & exhibitions are displayed now too.I was lucky enough to catch a talk by the curator about the Creation painting too which was really interesting & added a new dimension to the visit.

The sculpture gallery was jaw droppingly impressive.Loved it & will definitely be back to see the new exhibitions when they open.

Hi all at Watts Gallery - I wanted to say how much the three fairy hunters and two mummies absolutely loved the Fairy weekend. Your activities were well planned, well staffed and were so enjoyed by us and our little ones, aged 2-4. We hunted for fairies until we could hunt no more. Thank you so much to all the team.

Great art works and the chapel is unique. Well worth a visit.

Fabulous place that inspires because it lets you step into the life and mind of the artist. The home made mushroom soup is also pretty good too.

A really great place to meet up with friends to have excellent food and a bit of culture. There was art activities for young and old . A great day out for all ages.

The guide who took us up to the house was fascinating and so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Throughly enjoyed our visit.

Love the gallery and the building that houses it, parking generally easy, pretty garden and appealing shop, the cafe is mostly good but on a weekend gets very busy indeed. Three of us had lunch there yesterday and sadly the macaroni cheese tasted as though from a can! Certainly not up to the normal standards..howeve the beetroot and chocolate cake more than made up for it.

I visited for the Victorian Christmas on Saturday and had a wonderful time. Lots of effort and energy had been put into organising the event, and I was impressed. Our family (my husband and my two children ages 4 and 7) did the orange pomanders, block print Christmas cards, baubles, Christmas wrapping paper, had a yummy lunch in the tea room, coloured in angels, made clay robins and had a go with the snow dough. Highlights were the baubles and pomanders, a volunteer in the pomander room was so kind and generous with my son and sitting in the beautiful old room surrounded by the smells was glorious. If there is anything you could improve on, I think swapping the clay for salt dough might be good, so parents can bake it at home afterwards? And maybe providing plastic fruit containers for any soft creations to go home in (ours got squished)? The tea room manager was excellent too, it was so busy but everything and worked like clockwork. Thank you to every volunteer who gave their time up to make such a lovely event. x

Fabulous little Gallery with Artists village,small chapel and Watts house tour and smashing coffee shop

Well worth a visit

The Stars night was fun but it was disappointing to find out nearly all the extras had to be booked in person at 4pm. We mainly wanted to listen to Dr Maggie and do the pop up planetarium but didn't get to do either. Signing up at 4pm and keeping the kids entertained until dark was a bit tricky so I'm not sure if we'd do it again but we'll definitely come and visit the Gallery properly sometime.