Sculpture 2023
Our Summer 2023 exhibition 'Sculpture' was set in the award-winning gardens of Helmingham Hall, nestled in the heart of the Suffolk countryside just down the road from Art For Cure's base.
Open to the public from the 29th April to the 17th September and having a footfall of 35,000 visitors, the 5 month exhibition raised £400,000, with £200,000 going directly to the breast cancer research and support services Art For Cure helps to fund.
Helmingham Hall and Gardens
The Tollemache family of Helmingham Hall have lived in the 15th Century Suffolk house for hundreds of years, originally built by John Tollemache between 1480 and 1510.
Complete with a moat and functional drawbridge, the property is surrounded by stunning gardens designed by Xa Tollemache and parkland spanning 400 acres. The quintessential gardens of Helmingham Hall provided a complementary backdrop for our collection of the finest contemporary British sculpture.
We are very grateful to the Tollemache family for hosting us within and around their beautiful home as we raised ever-important funds for our breast cancer network.
Superb Sponsors
We are forever grateful for our large exhibition sponsors each year and this year was no exception with Birketts LLP and JM Finn both generously sponsoring our exhibition. Without our sponsors, we would not be able to put on the exhibitions we do and raise the much-needed grant funding we provide breast cancer research and support.
To thank our sponsors, we held a very special evening reception for them in the Great Hall with complimentary canapés and drinks to enjoy whilst they browsed the artworks.
Sculpture Film
We were delighted to be working with director Mark Chaudoir and cameraman & editor Ben Bishop to launch the Summer 2023 exhibition with this beautiful film which really showcases the sculpture.
The film was beautifully complemented by music composed by Sarah Llewellyn, played by French Horn player Ruth O'Rielly and voiceover by TV presenter Sarah Beeny.
Summer Workshops
Throughout the duration of the exhibition, we hosted several diverse workshops within the gardens at Helmingham Hall.
Each workshop was generously delivered by local experts in their various fields to which we are incredibly grateful for their time and effort given to these events.
June
Lady Xa Tollemache took us on a walk and talk around the award-winning gardens, sharing her philosophy of garden design and her love story with the garden of Helmingham Hall which she recreated.
Loyal artist exhibiting with Art For Cure Sarah Baddon Price provided a fun drawing tutorialsourcing inspiration from around the gardens in charcoal and graphite.
July
Gardener's Hour was run by Helmingham's head gardener Brendan Arundel where he guided an informative tour around the gardens whilst offering a Q&A for visitor's own gardening problems.
Garden designer Caroline Saunders hosted a workshop teaching visitors how to grow a cutting garden from scratch and was joined by flower farmer Victoria Uff who demonstrated vase arranging using flowers she'd grown on her flower farm.
August
Sculptor exhibiting with Art For Cure Anne Curry hosted a talk on her life as a sculptor and demonstrated how she begins her work and develops it from there.
September
Closing our workshop series, professional photographer Lucy Toms shared her photographic expertise using the garden as the perfect location to source beautiful subject matter for capturing.
Photo Credits: Lucy J Toms Photography
Helmingham Hall illustration: Lauren Vince