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Rebecca Chitty & Jessamy Kelly are making Coal Bowl, Blue Plaque Plate, Soot Storm at Woodhorn Northumberland Museum Archives and Country Park

The selected makers Rebecca Chitty and Jessamy Kelly, working with retail consultant and artist Kit Grover, have developed products for sale in the Museum shop.

The Queen Elizabeth II Country Park at Ashington includes: a specially commissioned new Museum housing Woodhorn’s collections; the buildings of the former Woodhorn Colliery, which stretched out under the North Sea; the Northumberland Archives; major temporary exhibitions galleries and a permanent display of paintings by the Ashington Group. Interest in these “Pitmen Painters” has recently heightened. This is in large part thanks to the success of playwright Lee Hall’s National Theatre hit (www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/pitmen).

At Woodhorn, the focus of the museumaker commissions is retail development. Rebecca Chitty’s Miner’s Helmet ceramic bowl and Blue Plaque Plate and Jessamy Kelly’s Soot Storm (a new take on an old favourite – the snow dome) are now on sale. All three products are inspired by the makers’ response to the spirit of the work of the Pitmen Painters.

To purchase any of the Woodhorn commissioned pieces please contact the shop at Woodhorn on 01670 528080 (Wednesday – Sunday 10am – 4pm)

Prices:

Coal Bowl £60, Soot Storm £60, Plaque Plate £15, Plaque Coaster £6.50, or 2 for £12

Postage and packing £3.95 for standard delivery anywhere in the UK, please contact the shop for quotes to send overseas.

Take part: Woodhorn’s participatory project ran from 21 June to 2 July 2010. This intensive two week project enabled groups of young people from local schools to simulate setting up a fashion/design label inspired by the Ashington Group . Throughout the two weeks they were mentored by professionals from the creative industries in product design, business planning and brand development. Each group designed a new product for Woodhorn’s shop and presented their company brand, design ideas and product prototypes to a panel of experts. The winning group, from King Edward VI school in Morpeth, designed a range of surface prints for textile products such as canvas shoppers. Woodhorn is currently taking their prototype to production for sale in the shop in Autumn 2010.

Before visiting any museumaker project, please contact
the museum for visitor information and opening times.