The director of a North Wales arts centre will be bowing out in style with his final exhibition set to feature work by\u00a0world-renowned artist David Nash.<\/p>\n
The exhibition\u00a0at Ruthin Craft Centre\u00a0will be the last one organised by Philip Hughes, 66,\u00a0 who will be retiring from his role after 33 years at the end of September.<\/p>\n
Philip and his team have brought ground-breaking exhibitions to Ruthin, given hundreds of new artists their first chance to show their work, and attracted millions of pounds worth of investment to the region\u2019s arts and crafts industry through grant funding.<\/p>\n
Under his stewardship Philip oversaw the \u00a34.3 million redevelopment of the centre, which is now regarded as one of Britain\u2019s most outstanding\u00a0venues\u00a0for the applied arts.<\/p>\n
Philip, who received an MBE in 2016 in recognition of his service to art and craft, said he was delighted his final exhibition would feature the work of David Nash.<\/p>\n
Globally respected for his work with wood, trees and the natural environment, David, who is based in Blaenau Ffestiniog and is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has exhibited at major exhibitions throughout the world.<\/p>\n
Philip\u00a0said the exhibition, which opens on September 27 and runs until January 11, would be a perfect way to end his time at the helm of the craft centre.<\/p>\n
The exhibition will be opened by Dr James Fox, who regularly appears on television presenting arts programmes.<\/p>\n
Philip said: \u201cAt the exhibition, we are going to show David\u2019s\u00a0sculptures, his\u00a0prints, works on paper, and some sculptures in the courtyard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid is probably the most important contemporary artist in Wales.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurator Gregory Parsons is working with David to curate the exhibition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic exhibition for me to bow\u00a0out on and for the new director Samantha Rhodes to come in on.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0David Nash,\u00a0he was honoured that his exhibition would be Philip\u2019s last at the centre.<\/p>\n
The artist, who was awarded an OBE in 2004, said: \u201cWhat has been great about Philip is he has developed Ruthin into the premier craft gallery of Britain, there isn\u2019t anywhere as good as it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe standard and integrity of Ruthin Craft Centre has been maintained and developed and it\u2019s rare in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhilip really understands the making aspect of art, not just the finish, and he has been so thorough and consistent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always regarded the centre as a very special place.\u201d<\/p>\n
David said the exhibition would feature more than 100 of his works.<\/p>\n
He said: “I\u2019m very much looking forward to the exhibition, the craft centre are a joy to work with and I\u00a0have such a\u00a0good experience there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip first started working at the centre in the summer of 1991 and became director in December 1992.<\/p>\n
He said he was proud of how he and former deputy director Jane Gerrard were able to lead the transformation of the centre.\u00a0He said: \u201cIn the early 2000s we started the redevelopment project because the building, though it wasn\u2019t an old building, wasn\u2019t a very good building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got the money to rebuild and the new building opened in July 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpening the new building was certainly a high point.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy colleague Jane Gerrard, who was deputy director until a year ago when she retired, was pivotal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pulled it off and it\u2019s been successful ever since – but I wouldn\u2019t want to do it again!\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip said the award of his MBE was down to the team effort at the centre.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe MBE was really for the whole team who worked there, because you don\u2019t do it on your own.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what we took over and what we have now, the centre is completely different, there\u2019s no comparison between one and the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tiny little exhibition space where we did good things;\u00a0we toured exhibitions and as they toured to bigger venues they expanded.\u00a0We now have the space ourselves to show all the sorts of things that we aspired to show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through working with grant funding bodies, Philip and his team have managed to secure millions of pounds worth of investment over the years to fund artists in North Wales.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cA lot of the artists that we show have had Arts Council of Wales grants, a recent\u00a0example is\u00a0Verity Pulford, from Eryrys, who was awarded the gold medal for craft and design at this year\u2019s Eisteddfod in Wrexham.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we have helped to put a lot of money into artists\u2019 pockets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support artists by working with them in\u00a0many\u00a0ways; through exhibitions, but also they do short residences, they do educational work etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years we have shown an awful lot of people who have had their first exhibition here at Ruthin\u00a0and have gone on to have careers in the arts; we show a lot of people who have just came out of college for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we have taken people\u2019s work abroad to exhibit\u00a0in the past too, such as Chicago and Barcelona.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip said he had enjoyed being at the forefront of the UK\u2019s art and craft scene, with the centre often being the first to showcase leading artists from Wales, the UK and internationally.<\/p>\n
Those artists include influential textile designer Anni Albers while work by renowned ceramist Ruth Duckworth has also featured at the centre.<\/p>\n
Philip said: \u201cWe were the first to show textile artist Anni Albers for example,\u00a0in a long while, then Tate Modern followed us with an exhibition afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other exhibition which was very pivotal for us was Ruth Duckworth\u2019s 90th birthday exhibition, which was her last exhibition. Poignant as she and her family originally found asylum in Wales from Nazi Germany\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip said those two exhibitions in particular were important to the growing international reputation of the craft centre, and helped it to attract work from other leading artists.<\/p>\n