I recently visited the Spennymoor Mining Museum to do some research for a project I had coming up called ‘Settle North’.
It was a project which looked at the importance of the arts within the mining community (and more specifically in Spennymoor). Visiting the museum really gave me a deeper understanding of the area’s heritage and its links to the topics in Settle North. This included the work and life of Norman Cornish: a painter from Spennymoor who’s artwork was based mainly around mining and his hometown.
When I went to the museum, we were greeted by Colin Ranson who works there. He took us around and showed us the art and gave information about it. He also gave us a talk about how to museum is run and the business side of it which I personally didn’t find very interesting as I was more interested in the art and artists. There were many different art forms there which included paintings, prints and murals.
Something I liked about the event was the Norman Cornish exhibit. This was a room in the museum dedicated to the local artist with some of his paintings up with information about them and their origin. There was also an educational video playing which you could sit down and watch. The best part of the room was a replica of how his studio was before he sadly passed away. It had paint tubes scattered all over, there were pots and pans here and there, and to the average person it was a mess. Although I initially thought it was messy, I then realised that there was organisation within the clutter. The paints were scattered in order and everything else was sorted like that and it made so much sense once I figured it out. This gave me a lot more context for the scenes involving Cornish in Settle North as I understood his work process.
If I had to pick something that I didn’t really like about the event it would be the lack of advertising for the museum. It was an informative place with so many amazing pieces of art and it disappoints me that there isn’t much attention drawn to it. Especially as someone living in the local area surrounding it, it shocks me that I had never heard of it before.
I would definitely recommend this event because it gives you a thorough look into the role of arts in our local history. It also informs young people of their heritage so they don’t forget and can continue to tell many influential figures’ stories.
I learnt many things from this event, which assisted me in giving the best performance I could for Settle North. I learnt especially how miners were given an outlet for their creativity which let them transition into a life outside of it. For example, Sid Chaplin became a writer and his books were often based on mining, like Norman Cornish’s paintings were.
If I had to pick an event to go to next, I would love to see Picasso’s ‘Weeping Woman’ painting at the Tate Modern, as I love his work and this one is so intricate and ahead of its time.
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