Phew! …& two shiny new courses for next term!
Us, after much sleep, stark mad for joy at having survived the term
& (nearly)2021 !
aka Long Look'd for Come at Last for John Bull and His Wife Stark Mad for Joy!!, 1802
Image here: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1981.25.1938; https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:43100
I’m not quite sure how we’re at the end of term, but here we are! We’ve enjoyed this term immensely, and very much hope that you have too.
Since the end of the full courses and around the Shock of the New on subsequent Saturdays, we’ve slept, and we’ve slept, and we’ve slept some more.* But now we’re ready to shake ourselves down, do a little jig as above(ish), and look to next year.
Me, feeling poorly and wafting around pathetically
aka Alexandre Cabanel, Ophelia (1883)
Private collection. Image here: public domain, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexandre_Cabanel,_Ophelia.JPG
*[In not-entirely-unrelated news, should you ever wonder whether it’s a good idea to have your covid booster and flu jab on consecutive days… anecdotally, I’d advise against it unless you’ve cleared your diary for full-on sleeping]
Robert, being uncertain and discombobulated
aka John Bull in a dream or: the effects of uncertainty!, 1803
Oxford, Bodleian Library Curzon b.3(170): https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/7dd6eda3-20fb-446a-b79b-632fbc66af37/
There have been so many Wright History “anniversaries” over the past months: Robert’s first zoom course… when we finally plucked up the courage to invest in a website… when I finally managed to get it to look like a website and unleashed it into the world… our first freelance online course… I could go on, and there are plenty more yet to come. But somehow our first full calendar year seems an especially significant anniversary. It was at this time last year that we decided that we should indeed pull out all the stops in the hope of enabling Robert to keep doing what he loves doing, i.e. what, in my humble opinion, he does so very well.*
*[Don’t tell him I said that. He’d blush and get all “Come on, old girl. Let’s not get silly about this, darling”.]
We met many of you for the first time in January, and there was an instant and glorious sense of community amongst both new and longer-standing Denizens. Mostly, of course, that’s because you’re all lovely people - and we count ourselves inordinately lucky that you’ve found and stayed with us! - but in our (rare) more confident moments, we like to think that we’ve had something to do with that too.
Thank you all for making this such a wonderful year.
Oh… and we’d like to let you know that we have two new short courses for you…
One of the things we’ve learnt along the way is that you don’t need us to be tied to WEA rhythms, and we’re going to act upon one of the many fantastic suggestions we’ve received (for which thank you - you know who you are!), namely outlining what we’re planning for several terms ahead, so that you can plan ahead if you enjoy following specific ‘strands’. One of our jobs over the Christmas break is to work out how best to do this. One thing we know right away, however, is that most of next term’s full-course offerings are pre-modern. We’ve got lots of exciting modern stuff planned for April and beyond, but we don’t want those of you who have so enjoyed Robert’s recent modern art courses to feel neglected.
So… ta-daaaahhh….!
Voila two short courses - like the taster courses in terms of logistics (note the slightly more forgiving start time), but more stand-alone in terms of content, providing a bridge towards the content of the courses we’re currently designing.
Ladies & gentlemen, I present unto you…
Luminists and Realists: Light, colour, and the sublime in late C19 art
Saturday 5 & Saturday 12 February, 10.30-1.00
Online via zoom.
And as if that weren’t enough excitement, there’s yet more!
We’ve bitten another bullet and invested in a shiny new registration system, which means that you can now complete and pay for your registration - by debit or credit card - in one fell swoop. O brave new world…!
There are several advantages to this. First, you won’t need to leave the comfort of our website to complete the whole process - no faffing about with BACS or cheques (unless you’d prefer to, in which case email me). Secondly, the option to use a credit card means that you can get whatever benefits your card gives you for your Wright History course.*
*[Personally, for example, I like the vouchers which my John Lewis card “gives” me.]
And thirdly, this system should take care of many woman-hours’ worth of behind-the-scenes registration admin, which have rather grown like Topsy over the year (e.g. this will send out the weekly reminders of log-in details which so many of you have requested) - giving me some time to sleep, concentrate on marketing to find new Denizens, &/or design a Joanna-course.
James Gillray, The Plumb-Pudding in Danger;–or–State Epicures Taking un Petit Souper, 1805
Image here from: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/367748
I’ve spent a lot of time ironing out potential wrinkles in the new system, and have successfully run test registrations. Apologies if there are any residual wrinkles - if you come up against one, please let me know and I’ll sort it - but we’re now at the ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’ stage.… Let new-style booking commence!
NB We’re trialling the system with our new short courses only, so for now, January’s longer courses are still booked as usual. Thank you for bearing with us during the transition!