19th November: Mini Market - lots of lovely unique gifts!.

This Saturday sees the opening of Green Door Printmaking's Christmas exhibition at the Crompton. From 12 - 6 p.m. there will be a mini market of handmade prints and other lovely things created by Green Door Printmaking Studio. Green Door do a fantastic job of providing open access printmaking - in a green, non toxic way - and all without any funding so come along and support them. Have a drink, look at the exhibition of prints, meet some of the artists and do a bit of Christmas shopping - all under one roof!

29th October - party, party, party!!

Art at The Crompton and Derby's vision for the future...

Current show The Drawing Project until end of October.

With the current news that Derby's arts funding is going to be decimated over the next few years I've spent some time reflecting on this and our own small contribution to the art scene is Derby. Derby has always been a city that feels like a town and thinks like a village. The council actually seem incapable of joined up thinking - instead of seeing the big picture they concentrate on one area at a time and then move on, leaving the previous focus of attention to fend for itself. Apparently any focus on the arts has ended.
The area we are based in (which is a couple of minutes walk to the shopping centre) is blighted by an empty Duckworth Square site and the Hippodrome building (a listed building) is still in a terrible state after it's wanton demolition. The old School of Art (which housed the Metro) has been empty for years and the old Debenhams site is an eyesore (- allegedly sold to Westfields to encourage Debenhams to move to the new shopping centre leaving Westfields in charge of what happens to it -surely a conflict of interest if ever there was one). I felt that some of the buildings/ sites in our area should have been used when Quad was built or at least there should have been some plan to integrate them into the future cultural map of Derby (but better elsewhere than nowhere). Instead this area has been ignored and buildings left empty. To make matters worse we have only just become accessible again after two years of being virtually cut off by foot and road for two years. (The initial estimate was 6 months). All of this has played a part in forcing our decision to put the pub on the market.
We have been hosting exhibitions for the best part of 22 years and are, I think, the longest running non gallery art space in Derby. We have made art accessible to hundreds if not thousands of people who would never go into a gallery. We have given artists the opportunity to experiment and control what they show and how they show it (with a few obvious limitations) free of charge and without any commission on sales. There have been many times over the last 22 years when I have wondered why we do it -   to be honest the level of interest from outside our existing customers is limited, in particular ongoing support from artists is disappointing and it has certainly been a labour of love. However, when an exhibition or piece of work sparks off a lively debate between customers, empty walls prompt impatience for the next show and especially when someone loves something enough to want to buy it, I remember why. Art isn't just about aesthetics - it also stimulates, provokes and enriches people's lives. It isn't just about making money - if we always expect a financial return many exciting and experimental events will never take place and we will all only be exposed to the predictable.
Our small contribution to the arts in Derby is soon to end - but I really hope that the council rethink their current intentions to remove arts funding and see creativity as a worthwhile investment. If Derby is ever to become a city of culture we need a council who support and nurture the arts and most importantly respect and believe in it's importance and value. Unfortunately, it appears they don't.

Crompton 'Salon' 2012??

I've been giving a lot of thought about how to organise our exhibitions next year. The difficulty is that, as many of you are aware, the pub is on the market - as a result it's a bit tricky to programme when we don't know whether we'll still be around. We have a drawing exhibition on currently - organised by Crocus Gallery and the fantastic Green Door Printmaking will be showing during November & December - but I need to make a few decisions about next year... (Those who I've already booked will still have their exhibition as agreed)
What I'm considering is dividing the pub wall space into sections (6/7) and along with the 2 craft cases offer on a monthly first come first served basis. The artist is responsible for hanging their work and taking it down (as usual we'll look after sales where possible, at 0% commission). What is shown is completely up to the artist (with the usual provisos) so it may be new work or work which is gathering dust and needs to be cleared out to make some space. (The idea came about as I have quite a lot of work which is no longer relevant to what I'm now doing and it would be good to try to sell some). It can be a single piece of work or it can be 'piled high'. At the beginning of every month we'll have an 'opening' for the new cycle of work. Hopefully this will result in a really eclectic range of work.
The fee for a space will be an entry for our mail art exhibition which will still occupy the pool room space :) More details soon - but in the meantime can all you artists out there let me know what you think?

The barMate????

If you saw Dragon's Den this week you'll know what the barMate  is.Read an article about it here: http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Opinion/The-Guv-nor/Dragons-Done/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=NHhM%2FF2wC%2FO4bbluFlo5VxmsTEcKyfNa

The Crompton 1945 - 1961

Back in June we had a very special visitor at The Crompton. Richard Land and his wife Marian popped in. Those of you with a copy of Psssst (Anniversary edition) will know that we had a list of all the licensees since the pub opened in 1864 (copy on sidebar). From 1st November 1945 Eric Land was the licensee and from 6th March 1952, after his death, until 4th January 1961 his wife Mabel Land took over the licence. Richard Land is their son and was born in the pub (then known as Queens Hotel).

Eric Land

Mabel Land

Mabel and Richard in the pub garden

Richard and Marian bought along lots of newspaper clippings and photos and have very kindly sent me copies to share here. On January 8th 1954, the Derby Evening Telegraph ran a whole page feature. At the time many of the artistes who played at Derby Hippodrome stayed at the Hotel. It was a really lovely opportunity to talk about the Crompton's past with someone who was a part of it.

The lower photo above is captioned 'Cocktail bar joke between Mr M. Ausell, Mr Wood and Mrs H McLoughlin' Apparently the cocktail bar was in the upstairs front room and was for the use of guests staying at the hotel.

A letter to Mrs Land from Roy Leo who was staying at the Hotel whilst playing at the Hippodrome

Mrs Land standing outside the side entrance to the pub (blocked up now but still visible)

Skipper the dog

Unknown group

Mr. A Watson & Mr. C Bradburn playing cribbage

Mr A Porter, Mr H Fearnehough and Mrs Land

Mrs E Willetts who lived on Crompton Street and had been a regular for 40 years

Mrs Land - caption in newspaper 'close up of the Queen's charming hostess, Mrs Land'

(So - no more landlady, barmaid etc. in future charming hostess please...)

Newspaper caption 'Studying photographs of stage artists who have stayed at the Queen's are Mr and Mrs A. Houldsworth'

Says it all...

Red Nose Day....this Friday,

For more info go to events calender on website or visit our team page HERE.

Tasty Food and Wine.....

Valentine Amuse-Bouche 

The next Amuse-Bouche - with an Easter theme - will be on Tuesday 19th April - get your name down behind the bar and prepare for a delicious array of tasty food. Also coming soon - a series of monthly wine tastings by Spirit of the Place which will take place on the first Tuesday of every month (beginning on the 5th of April with 'Sparklies for the Summer'). More info and how to get tickets will be on the website very soon...

Beer Mat Publication

I have just embedded an issuu publication of (nearly) all the beermats from our 2010 exhibition (- view from the sidebar). I've used the latest beta edition - so any problems let me know! Apologies if I've not included yours or it's upside down etc. but I did my best to include almost everything which involved a very long scanning session! (I have excluded some - so those of you whose children have contributed should be able to safely explore!)

Ooooh look! Curtains...

We now have curtains which can be pulled across the pit for a bit of extra privacy - they'll be put to use on Wednesday for the first time when we have the Drawing Conversation. We thought it would be good to have a space groups could use for meetings etc. without distractions from the rest of the pub, so let us know if you want to reserve if for something specific and we'll put it in the diary.....

Meet Jasia - Sunday 30th January 2p.m. onwards

Our current exhibition 'Art matters 2' is an exhibition of photographs by Jasia McArdle. As well as being a practising artist, Jasia also acts as an Arts Consultant,  Curator, Producer, Project  Designer and Manager specialising in public art, site specific commissions and engagement programmes encompassing art,architecture, the built environment, and the spaces in between - the public realm. She will be in the Crompton on Sunday 30th January from 2p.m. so come along for a drink and chat - all welcome

Crompton Open Show 2011 - Mail Art

Back in September this envelope arrived from Italy containing beermats for our 2010 open show from Fabio Sassi. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away and have decided to use it as the inspiration for this year's open show. The idea is simple - post us an envelope, sealed and decorated in whatever way you wish and we will display it. We're going to use the pool room so we can have a year long exhibition (almost) and will start adding mail art as it arrives. At the end of the year I'm hoping to compile an issuu publication of all entries so make sure you add your name/ web address if you want the publicity. More photos/ info soon...

Exhibitions in 2011 at the Crompton

Valentine Amuse-Bouche - Tuesday 15th February 2011

Date for your diary if you love food! - the next amuse-bouche is on February 15th. Get your name on the list by Friday 11th. As usual, it's not a competition - everyone involved makes enough 'mouth amusers' for each participant to have one - so you get to try lots of delicious morsels. If, like me, you're not a great cook - remember it's worth participating to eat everyone else's concoctions ;)

Prices may have gone up....but get a crompton card and your beer will be cheaper than before the increase!!

Cards available from 8 p.m. tonight.