In this issue of Community Update, we are delighted to welcome The Armitt as the recipient of our Commitment to Excellence.
The Armitt is a museum and library located in the charming market town of Ambleside in Cumbria. The Lake District has long been associated with many gifted artists and writers such as Romantic Poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge, the children’s writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter and Ambleside’s adopted German artist Kurt Schwitters. The museum’s history dates back to 1912 under the will and foundation of historian and naturalist Mary Armitt when it first opened as a subscription reference library.
In 2024, the museum pays homage to Kurt Schwitters with an exhibition dedicated to his portraits of local Ambleside people in: ‘The Armitt explores… Kurt Schwitters.’ The artist fled Germany just before the outbreak of the Second World War and eventually settled in Ambleside in 1945 as a refugee. Throughout his artistic lifetime, Schwitters experimented with dadaism, surrealism and is best known for his ‘Mertz Pictures’ collages. The reclusive painter’s portraits dabble in expressionism, with keen observations of each sitter.
From adopted painter to national treasure, we often associate Beatrix Potter with her loveable, illustrations of Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tiggy-winkle in her timeless classical children’s books. However long before she created the fantastical world of Peter Rabbit, she had a deep fascination with fungi. Bearing astute naturalist skills, she began drawing many different types of fungi species, often using a microscope to look deeper. Following her death in 1943, a large collection of her drawings was bequeathed to the museum and now you too can see her drawings in the ‘Beatrix Potter. Under the Microscope’ exhibition this year.
The third and last current exhibition is entitled ‘Running Int’ Fells’ and explores what many consider to be the ‘spiritual home’ of fell running in Cumbria. The exhibit was co-curated with the local fell running community and includes a wonderful collection of historical objects, archived photos, equipment through to never-heard-before audio recordings of former record holders like Billy Bland. This exhibit is the first of its kind in Cumbria and showcases the fascinating evolution of fell running from 19th century shepherd’s races to the ultra-marathons of today.
Over the month of August there are a series of expert-led events exploring the local area and cultural heritage:
A hunt for Fungi!
Literary walking tour of Ambleside
Photography Walk
Walking Talk: Kurt Schwitters in Ambleside
The Armitt Talk Series 2024: John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter & Tree Cultivation in the English Lake District.
All three exhibitions are open to the public until December 2024.
To book event tickets, view museum entry prices and opening times, see the website below:
https://www.armitt.com/