Kettle’s Yard: Looking Ahead
‘Actions. The image of the world can be different’, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge. Photo: Hufton + Crow, Jamie Fobert Architects
Following the completion of the Looking Ahead project, Kettle’s Yard reopened in February 2018. Since then it has welcomed over 500,000 visitors to enjoy all that the new spaces can offer.
The launch of the New Kettle's Yard was marked by an opening event and celebrated by children from a partner school reciting a poem they had written about the house and its collections. Together with the opening exhibition Actions, the image of the world can be different, this special moment reflected the aim of the New Kettle’s Yard to be a place for everyone: for our local community, for artists and for visitors from around the world.
This was Jim Ede’s philosophy when he created Kettle’s Yard in 1957, keeping ‘open house’ each afternoon. He transformed a row of dilapidated cottages into a unique place to experience art. The new Kettle's Yard, designed by Jamie Fobert Architects, offers an integrated experience, with all visitors starting their journey in the new entrance area. The House invites visitors to sit, take time, and learn to look, and this approach continues in the new building.
Since re-opening, Kettle's Yard has welcomed over 500,000 visitors to enjoy all that the new spaces can offer. An exciting programme of exhibitions in the new galleries has put these spaces to the test by showing an extraordinarily diverse range of art, from fragile paintings loaned from across the Atlantic to sculpture, installation, ceramics and live performance. The Clore Learning Studio has also been a great success — hosting schools, community groups, conferences and dancers amongst many others.
In a letter to a student, Ede wrote: “do come in as often as you like — the place is only alive when used”. Since re-opening the spaces have been alive and used unlike ever before — from live artworks to drop-in children’s activities and a full café — extending beyond Ede’s original vision; offering a place of enrichment where visitors can experience, participate in and be challenged by the art and ideas of the last century and today.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the periods of temporary closures of the University's museums and galleries, Kettle's Yard is continuing to inspire audiences with a range of virtual tours, live feeds and online resources.
None of this would have been possible without the tremendous support received from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, trusts, foundations and individual philanthropic gifts.
Support Kettle's Yard
Every year Kettle's Yard has to raise vital funds to support its diverse programme of activity. You can help Kettle’s Yard most directly by making a donation, either as a one-off gift or as a regular contribution. All donations both large and small make a difference to what Kettle's Yard is able to do.
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