June 16 was a very special day at the Strand Gallery in London. Peter McNiven, Director of Art and about to celebrate his 100th term at Cranleigh, was one of 19 exhibitors at the first public exhibition by OC artists.
All but four were contemporaries of Peter, who wrote afterwards: “I simply had the best of times! Thank you so much for all the really hard work on it all. It looked utterly professional and there was a real atmosphere of warmth and artistic cameraderie. Congratulations!&rdquo The hard work was a triumph of organisation by interns Rosie Smith (up to her departure abroad), Will Graham-Rack and Will Langmead. The exhibition was Rosie’s idea, just as the Roberts Club was Will’s.
Marco Crivello (Mark Semon at school and one of the exhibitors) wrote to Peter: “I would like to say how impressed I was by both Wills whom I meet at the Strand gallery when dropping off my work earlier this week. They were friendly and engaged and, given that this was an area of work they were not familiar with, I felt they displayed a competence, intelligence and maturity not only in their decisions but also in how well they were prepared and were managing an unfolding situation. They were a pleasure to work with on Monday morning and a credit to the school and the internship programme.”
The exhibition was open all week, but almost all the artists were joined by over 100 visitors, mostly OCs, for the private view and champagne on the Thursday. And all this at a time when Art has had a big boost at the School: the Rhodes Block and part of the old Science Block have been converted into a new Faculty of Art encompassing Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Printmaking, Ceramics and Textiles. Next to be developed nearby will be a newly-branded Design School.