The Arts Society City of Chichester was founded in 1995 when there were so many people who were waiting to join the Chichester society it was decided to open an additional society to accommodate the numbers. Both societies continue to flourish and have been joined by two further societies Chichester Lavant Valley and Chichester Evening.
It was Patricia Fay, a Buckinghamshire housewife, who met with friends in 1965 and formed a group which became Chiltern Decorative and Fine Arts Society. Within two years there were seven societies, and in 1968 the National Decorative and Fine Arts Society (NADFAS) held its first meeting in the Victoria and Albert Museum for eleven societies. HRH The Duchess of Kent became its patron. Patricia Fay was awarded the OBE, but sadly died in 1979 aged just forty-six. However, societies continued to spring up and now there are over 350 societies in UK and Mainland Europe with more than 63,000 members. There are also societies in Australia and New Zealand. In May 2017 NADFAS was retitled The Arts Society and an extensive re-branding project was launched.
Each local society has close ties with The Arts Society but is financially autonomous. Twice yearly "Town Hall" meetings are held online to which all societies are invited to send a representative. The national AGM and occasional gatherings of Chairpersons from Sussex societies provide further opportunities for feedback and sharing ideas.
Membership of The Arts Society City of Chichester automatically confers membership of The Arts Society, with benefits including the Arts Society magazine.
Who we are
The aim of The Arts Society City of Chichester is to bring together like minded people through regular lecture meetings, day visits, UK and overseas tours and a number of volunteering activities.
Our exciting and varied lecture programme covers a broad spectrum within the Arts and is delivered by highly accredited Arts Society lecturers. Subjects over the last few years have included Antiques Roadshow expert Eric Knowles on ‘Charles Rennie Mackintosh’, lectures on ‘Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes’, ‘Thomas Heatherwick, British Designer of the Moment’, ‘Van Gogh and Gauguin’ and ‘Eighteenth Century Fanny Burney from her diaries and Letters’. There is no shortage of diversity in the nine lectures we offer each year.
Equally, our day visits have included Wren churches in a City of London walk, Thomas Hardy country, Hampton Court Palace, Dulwich Picture Gallery and Eltham Palace, the Isle of Wight, the Bombay Sapphire Gin distillery, Leeds Castle and Glyndebourne. In recent years we have had tours to Amsterdam and The Hague, Bologna and the Northern Italian Courts, Provence, Suffolk, Sicily, Vienna, Lisbon, Madrid, Puglia, Berlin and in the UK, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Chester, Cornwall, Shropshire, Norfolk, North Wales and Lincoln. These visits and particularly tours often forge lasting bonds of friendship.
Our volunteering activities aim to stimulate interest in the arts locally within the community. Although no longer part of The Arts Society's national activity, members of three local Arts Societies participated in a highly successful Church Recording team. A number of local churches have been recorded and the final record, for St. George's Church, Whyke, has recently been completed. Drawing on the Church Recording work, Church Trails have been devised for Fishbourne and Bosham churches.
Our Arts Volunteering programme aims to inspire local people with a lasting enthusiasm for the Arts. To that end we have sponsored arts projects in various local Primary Schools, and we have a longstanding cooperation with Bishop Luffa School which has a very strong art department. We have joined with the three Chichester daytime Societies to run combined projects, including sponsoring concerts with West Sussex Music and a project with Pallant House Gallery.
Last, but not least, the Society has always provided a very sociable and inclusive milieu which, over the years, has been a wonderful catalyst for creating and cementing friendships. Terry Carlton, a past Chairman and President of the Society, still speaks of the Society opening new windows in his life, after ending a demanding career and moving to the Chichester area with his wife, Diana. He discovered totally new areas of interest, new challenges and made contacts and friendships within and through the Society. His experience is mirrored by many of our members in all different stages of their lives.
Join The Arts Society City of Chichester and find out for yourself!