T Dartington Arts Society

DATE: 1963-1990

LEVEL: Series

The records of the Dartington Arts Society provide information about the many performers who have appeared at and around Dartington Hall and Totnes, as a result of the Society's efforts. Other records consist of administrative and programming correspondence; finance and budgeting information; programmes; newsletters; and committee meeting minutes.

Some music and arts programming was on a subscription basis prior to the formal establishment of the Dartington Arts Society. The archive therefore contains records of performances from the early 1960s on.

An interim report by Peter Cox dated August 1988 analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the Dartington Arts Society at that time and makes recommendations for future development (T/DAS/23/B).

Approximately 150 photographs of performers and performances at Dartington have been removed to the photograph collection.

The new Society was formally launched by Lord goodman on 24 June 1967. The governors of the Dartington College of Arts convened the inaugural meeting of the Dartington Arts Society Limited in July 1967. The intention was to create a separate limited charity which would take on the task of administering public performances and cultural events programming, in order to relieve College of Arts administrators of some of the administrative duties and budgetary issues associated with providing a vibrant arts culture at Dartington.

Initially four advisory panels (in the respective fields of music, dance and drama, visual art and film) were established to provide a voice for subscribers in selecting programming. Additional panels were added later to encompass other branches of the arts such as poetry.

The Company Secretary of the Dartington Arts Society was Derek Bignold. Technical officers included Nigel Amherst, Ruth Foster and Ivor Weeks. Maurice Ash, as a governor of the College of Arts, was instrumental in starting the Society and served as its chairman until 1976, to be followed by Jim Putz. Subscriptions were strong at first and an initial winter season was approved. In addition to subscriptions and annual operating grants from the Trust, the Dartington Arts Society has attracted substantial grant funding from South West Arts, the Devon County Council; and local district councils.

In 1971, Leslie McCracken was appointed as Arts Society development officer, working from the College of Arts. A Patron's Fund was established to enable the Society to commission original music and performances. McCracken became secretary of the Society about 1975, at a time when the Society was in financial trouble. Derek Bignold resigned from Dartington College of Arts and the Society, his place at the College being taken by Gareth Keene with the title Senior Administrative Officer.

Changes were made to the management and administration of the Arts Society, bringing it more closely under the control of the College, and Alison Fife was appointed Arts Officer at the College in about 1976, leaving in 1983 to be replaced briefly by Sue Sharratt. Rawdon Corbett from the College served as Arts Society honorary secretary. In 1985 Christine Rawnsley was appointed Arts Officer , leaving in 1990 after the appointment of Christine Fraser in a new Arts management role to head up both Dartington International Summer School and Dartington Arts.

The Dartington Arts Society became known as Dartington Arts in 1987 and became more involved in an integrated Dartington programme of arts activities, moving away from direct management via the College. Proposals to amalgamate the management of Dartington International Summer School and Dartington Arts were considered as early as 1988, but did not happen until 1992 when Dartington Arts (Society) became the subscription support group for a newly formed department of the Trust called Dartington Arts, which, together with Dartington International Summer School, was called the Dartington Arts Unit. Marcus Davey, administrator of DISS became Arts Manager in 1993 to be followed briefly by Andrew Kyle. With the departure of Kyle, the management of Dartington Arts and DISS were again separated but working in close co-operation under the control of The Dartington Hall Trust.

Information for Researchers

All papers belonging to The Dartington Hall Trust Archive (with the exclusion of Dartington Hall School pupils individual records) are held at the Devon Record Office. All enquiries relating to research should be made to Devon Records Office, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton, Exeter, Devon EX2 7NL
+44 (0)1392 384253
+44 (0)1392 384256
devrec@devon.gov.uk
www.devon.gov.uk/record_office

The following requests should be made direct to the Archives & Records at The Dartington Hall Trust as shown below:
Copies of images as seen on The Dartington Hall Trust online catalogue with appropriate reference number (Ref No.)
Permission to publish or quote from any document held in the Dartington Hall Trust Archive
Former pupils of Dartington Hall School wishing to view their records
Archives & Records
The Dartington Hall Trust
Dartington Hall
Totnes TQ9 6EL
01803 847200
yvonne.widger@dartington.org

This information is copyright The Dartington Hall Trust