Events at the Stirling Smith
To book tickets/reserve at place at any of the events listed below, please telephone: 01786 471917
or email: museum@smithartgallery.demon.co.uk.
Wednesdays, 12 noon, 7 October - 25 November
How long is it since you read a novel by Charles Dickens? Although the works
of Dickens are popularly known through television drama, the joy of Dickens
is in reading and sharing the printed word. This year, take a fresh look at
Dickens and enjoy his works in good company.
Many of Dickens’ novels were written as serials for journals and magazines.
This is a chance to explore the novel as a serial in eight sessions, led by
Grahame Smith, Emeritus Professor of English Literature and a specialist in
the works of Dickens.
The novel explored in this series is Little Dorrit, originally
printed between 1855-1857. The class text will be the
Penguin classic
edition.
The cost of the series is £15 or £3 per session, and includes tea/coffee and
biscuits.
Telephone 01786 471917 or email museum@smithartgallery.demon.co.uk to reserve tickets.
St. Andrews Day Celebrations
Monday 30 November 2009
11am
St. Andrew of Scotland
Illustrated Talk by Elspeth King
Tickets £3 (includes coffee & bicuits)
The Smith is usually closed on a Monday, but is open for this special occasion.
This hour – long presentation
will cover the Bible story of St. Andrew, his adoption as the patron saint of
the Scots, the celebration of his cult in Scotland, especially in relation to
William Wallace and the War of Independence, the development of the celebration
of St. Andrew over the last 40 years and the St. Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday
(Scotland) Act of 2007 passed by the Scottish Parliament.
7pm
Blind Harry Unveiled
The plaster bust of the poet
Blind Harry by Alexander Stoddart, Queen’s Sculptor in Ordinary, has stood at
the entrance to the Stirling Story in the Stirling Smith’s main gallery for the
past nine years. It was created for the Smith in 1996 and depicts the great
epic poet who wrote the story of William Wallace, in Scots, in twelve books, in
the 1480s.
On St. Andrew’s Day a bronze
cast, made in Powderhall Foundry, Edinburgh, and funded by an anonymous Smith
patron of the arts, will be unveiled.
It was St. Andrew, who in a
supernatural episode in Blind Harry’s Life
of Wallace, invested Wallace with his sword and directed him to win
7.30pm
Friends of the Smith Lecture: Sculptor in Ordinary to
the Queen in
Tickets £3 (includes coffee & biscuits)
Alexander Stoddart is a
sculptor of international reputation, and probably the greatest living
classical sculptor in the world today. His statues of David Hume and Adam Smith
stand in the Royal Mile in
A passionate patriot and
accomplished public speaker and broadcaster, this lecture is his St. Andrew’s
Day contribution.
St. Andrew has always been
important to the City of
Telephone 01786 471917 or email museum@smithartgallery.demon.co.uk to reserve tickets.
A Brush with the Bible Events
December 2009 - January2010
A Christmas Box of Surprises
Illustrated Talk by John Coutts
Tickets £3 (includes coffee & mince pies from
John Coutts is a poet, performer, author, translator
and
A Christmas Box of Surprises is John's "entertainment in poetry and
storytelling". He visits schools, clubs, theatres and churches,
offering a flexible and engaging performance which interests both old
and young - and gives the audience a chance to join in.
Poems on the theme of Christmas
Tickets £3 (includes coffee & mince pies from
Lesley Duncan’s daily and always seasonal poem in the
Herald newspaper is a touchstone for most Herald readers. This reading of
Christmas favourites will put you in a true Christmas spirit.
Christmas Films
Illustrated Talk by Thomas Christie
Tickets £3 (includes coffee and mince pies from
This will be an entertaining preview of Thomas
Christie’s fourth book on cinema. Starting with The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
he will work through 25 of your favourite Christmas films. Thomas was formerly
Christmas Carols and meditations
Led by the Reverend John
Butterfield of Stirling Methodist Church
Free session. Includes
coffee and mince pies from 10.30am
Sunday 10 January 2010
Once Upon a Time. Stories
for children with Donald Smith
3pm - 4pm Beastly
Tails and Other Animals (Ages 5-7 years old)
4pm - 5pm Quests
and Journeys (Ages 7-10 years old)
Dr. Donald Smith is
Director of the Netherbow Arts Centre and creator and curator of the George
Mackay Brown Story Telling Centre, Edinburgh. Raised in Stirling, he is a
renowned story teller as well as the head of a major Scottish arts organisation.
Admission is free; family members are
welcome, but booking is essential.
Concert of mediaeval
music by Opus 8
Tickets £10 (includes
refreshments)
Opus 8, a group of
singers from Fife who specialise in Early Music will celebrate the display of
the Stirling Gradual, during part of January in the Stirling Smith. This
important manuscript dates to the 1480s and covers the liturgical year from
Easter to Whitsun. Formerly used in the Holy Rude Church, it is now in the care
of Stirling Archives. There will also be a talk on the manuscript and its
significance.
Creative Art Workshop for
All with Rosas Mitchell and Wendy Hamlet
Free Session, booking essential
Rosas Mitchell and Wendy Hamlet, artists
and members of Stirling Baptists will draw inspiration from the works in the
exhibition to guide your creative talents. No need to bring your own brush.
Workshop and materials are free but booking is essential.
Psalms across the
Centuries
Illustrated Talk by John Coutts
Tickets £3 (includes tea/coffee from 2.30pm)
Telephone 01786 471917 or email museum@smithartgallery.demon.co.uk to reserve tickets.