The newly-launched website will enrich the experience the collection can provide.
15 Aug 2013
Thanks to the long-term generous support of Michael Aldrich and his family, the University of Brighton is able to collect art works for the benefit of a wider community audience.
Based on this support, a new website has been developed and is now formally launched. The new Aldrich Collection website will see the growing Aldrich Collection of art and design works brought to a wider audience. Plans include not only the improving online gallery facility but also the development of a community resource including a service for the loan of artworks.
Founded in 1995 by Michael and Sandy Aldrich, the Aldrich Collection focuses primarily on the work of students and staff since the institution’s foundation as the Brighton School of Art in 1859. It includes over 300 works of visual art encompassing ceramics, textiles and photography as well as painting and sculpture, prints and limited edition books. It includes the work of graduates purchased at the Faculty of Arts’ annual Graduate Show and is a valuable part of the history of art education in Brighton resources on the faculty's website
The Aldrich Collection was established with the express intention of reinforcing and further developing public recognition of the faculty as a quality provider of art and design education in Britain and a recognised national centre for creativity, innovation and research in the visual and performing arts. Important areas of the collection include works by John Vernon Lord, George Hardie, Brendan Neiland, Alan Davie, Quentin Blake, Kenneth McKendry and Mark Power.
Michael Aldrich and his family have had a strong supportive relationship with the university since sponsoring student employees for electronics engineering and computing degrees in 1977. Michael became a member of the governing body in 1982 and is the founding chairman (1988-1998) of the university.
In 1996 the university dedicated the new Moulsecoomb Campus library to Michael Aldrich. In 2002 the final stage of the Aldrich Gardens at Moulsecoomb was opened and Michael Aldrich received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the university. In 2008 he donated the Michael Aldrich Archive, which offers an invaluable and fascinating insight into his innovative work as one of the founders of modern information systems.
The Aldrich Collection will also be available to a wider audience through its link to the BBC’s Your Paintings initiative. This website aims to show the entire UK national collection of oil paintings, the stories behind them and where they can be viewed. It consists of approximately 200,000 paintings held in museums and other public institutions around the country. It is a joint initiative between the BBC, the Public Catalogue Foundation and participating collections and museums from across the UK.
