A new dawn for The Arts Society Mallorca

She has ambitious plans for the society and wants to put the challenges thrown up by the pandemic and Brexit behind the leading arts education charity, with a global network of local societies which bring people together through a shared curiosity for the arts.

On Tuesday, the society is holding a special welcome cocktail party at its new venue, The Artmadams Hotel in Palma, which Sarah is very excited about.
“It’s the perfect location. Not only is it very central in Palma with plenty of parking, it’s a Mecca for the arts. Never mind its wonderful facade, the hotel is constantly hosting exhibitions. There will be two running when we host the event to launch the new season, bring the members and guests together and discuss moving forward and the various talks and hands-on events we have organised over the coming next six months,” she said.

The Yehudi Menuhin School
Sarah, who has lived in Mallorca for the past eight years, is originally from the south of England and prior to moving to the island her career was very much in music and event management.
She trained in singing and piano at Trinity College London before working as a flight attendant for six years.

“That was a great experience and most of the flights were to South America and that enabled me to keep up the Spanish I had studied at school,” she explained.

Once back on land, she then worked for a children’s music company which had an outreach programme and very close working relationship with The Yehudi Menuhin School for 21 years.
“We taught music to students from preschool upwards and also produced original recordings and CDs. And having that connection with The Yehudi Menuhin School was very important and special,” Sarah said.

So, as one would expect, not long after settling in Mallorca, Sarah got involved with the Arts Society as events manager and organiser and on June 1 took over from Tim Robinson as Chairperson.
“He did an excellent job and I have a very hardworking and super committee who make things happen. We’re all very excited about the new season.

“We operate all year apart from December and April - it’s Christmas and Easter so everybody has plans, plus the weather cannot be guaranteed. And as all of our world-class guest speakers are flown out from the UK, we don’t want them landing in the cold or the rain.

“Now we have the new venue, I think we can reinvigorate the society, which suffered a bit as a result of the pandemic and Brexit - that limits the time some people, members, can be on the island. So we want to put all that behind us and look to a new bright future and appeal to a wider audience.

Great fun
“While it is the Arts Society, I like to think it’s about art in general, which is why we include music, for example, and also host a series of events complementary to the talks such as visits to vineyards, tours of Palma’s architecture and monuments. We have pottery workshops, a writers’ group and this season we’re also planning a painting workshop at the Jardines de Alfabia, which will include a coffee morning and lunch. These are what we consider hands-on events and they’re great fun, which is very important for the committee and the members because there is an important social side to the association and we want to keep that spirit very much alive. I also want to reach out to other associations on the island. All of our conferences are in English but the doors are always open to anyone who has a proficient grasp on English and guests are always welcome.

Juan March Foundation
“We have a very close working relationship with the Juan March Foundation and are looking to establish more connections around the island and we have the support of some excellent sponsors here on Mallorca. Without them none of this would be possible.

“We believe that the arts have the potential to enrich peoples’ lives. This is at the heart of everything we do. We want to be the most inclusive and influential arts society. But while society, at a global level, is moving towards more social media streaming of events to capture a larger audience, here in Mallorca we want to grow at a more personal level because the island has an extremely vibrant arts and music scene and we want to embrace and celebrate that,” Sarah said.

For joining details, email:
mallorca@theartssociety.org.

NEW SEASON EVENTS

THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF SALVADOR DALI
OCTOBER 10 with speaker VAL WOODGATE
Dalí “... the difference between a madman and me is that I am not mad.”

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ROYAL BALLET IN 60 MINUTES
NOVEMBER 7 with speaker SARAH LENTON
Ballet must be the most accessible art form there is, but it has its baffling side. Set in the context of the Royal Ballet’s history and performing tradition this talk is based on years of articles and events shared with dancers, choreographers and ballet masters.

CUBISM EXPLAINED
FEBRUARY 13, 2024 with speaker STEVEN BARRETT
Cubism can be confusing. Never truly popular, the most influential art movement of the Twentieth Century can sometimes appear difficult and strange. This lecture sets out clearly and succinctly the theory behind Cubism, its various phases and the different types of Cubist painting, collage and sculpture in the years c.1907-25.

CLEOPATRA – IMAGES OF A DREAM WOMAN
MARCH 12 with speaker LUCY HUGHES HALLETT
Cleopatra, the woman for whose love’s sake Antony is imagined to have given up the chance to rule the Roman world, has been inspiring painters, poets and (more recently) film-makers for over two millennia. This talk will show how Cleopatra became a screen onto which artists have projected their wildly differing fantasies about exotic danger and erotic bliss.

NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T, THE ART OF VISUAL DECEPTION
MAY 14 with speaker BERTIE PEARCE
This is one of the quirkiest lectures you will ever hear. There is a universal delight in being deceived and in this lecture Bertie Pearce takes his audience on a whistle-stop tour of art which fools, surprises and amuses the viewer. Hold on to your seats and get ready to be visually fried.

PAINTING THE MODERN GARDEN FROM MONET TO MATISSE
JUNE 11 with speaker LYDIA BAUMAN
We explore the ways in which the theme of the garden inspired so much of the most beautiful and innovative art of the late 19th and early 20th century. The talk will trace not only the appearance of the garden as a modern phenomenon but the development of new art movements which adopted it as a subject.
All Talks begin at 7.30pm