Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The City Council is delighted to bring to Salisbury the nationally and internationally acclaimed Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition, which showcases the very best in Wildlife Photography from across the globe. It is an international leader in the artistic representation of the natural world and a competition that photographers worldwide aspire to.

The exhibition, which is organised by The Natural History Museum in London, will run from 20 July – 17 August in the stunning setting of the Banqueting Hall within Salisbury Guildhall.

Exhibition highlights include, the much coveted title of Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year awarded to Hungarian photographer Bence Máté for his image A marvel of ants, a simple shot that captures the complexity of the behaviour of leaf-cutter ants in the Costa Rican rainforest. Máté is clearly a master of his craft with an artist’s eye. Fergus Gill from Scotland was crowned Veolia Environnement Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year for the second year in a row. His image of a fieldfare, The frozen moment, was judged to be the most memorable of all the pictures by photographers aged 17 or under.

Claire Burden, said, “This is an amazing exhibition and a real coup for Salisbury, to coincide with the exhibition we are planning a series of events to complement the theme. Check out our website for details of photography workshops in conjunction with Trinity Photography and other organisations. The exhibition will certainly appeal to keen photographers and wildlife lovers alike.” 

Tickets are on sale now at www.salisburyguildhall.co.uk
Exhibition information for visitors:
Venue: Salisbury Guildhall
Dates: 20 July – 17 August 2011
Opening times: 10am - 5pm Monday to Saturday / 10am – 4pm Sundays
Visitor enquiries: 01722 342862
Admission: Adult £3.50 / Concessions £2.50

SciTech Visit. - Butterfly walk 25th July

Just to remind members that this is happening on the 25th next Monday.

Time: 10.30am start
Place: By the Stag Inn, Charlton All Saints on the Downton road.
It has been suggested that public transport is used since the pub car park is not large and the publican may be upset.
The X3 runs twice an hour. From the bus station that is 10 past and 40 mins past the hour.
Returning from the Stag at 07 and 37 mins past the hour.
Leader: Arthur Bryant of Butterfly Conservation.
Distance: Up to 3 miles.
All weather dependent.

U3A Partnership Projects – July 2011

U3A Partnership Projects – July 2011
(1) Archaeology of Wessex Gallery
Salisbury Museum is planning to redevelop our Early Man and Pitt Rivers galleries – which have been little changed since they were installed in the early 1980s. We have initial funding support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and are planning to submit a major application to the HLF later in 2011. If we are successful the new gallery will open in 2013. This will tell the story of the Salisbury area, including the Stonehenge World Heritage site, from prehistory to the arrival of the Normans in 1066. The gallery will have the following objectives:

• We are a local museum telling an international story – visitors will understand how key events in British and world history are linked with the story of the Salisbury area;

• People are central to the story – visitors will be invited into the lives of both ordinary and extraordinary people from Salisbury’s past;

• The process of discovery – the gallery will offer not just a story about the past, but also how we understand the past. Visitors will be able to examine archaeological and historical evidence and will be encouraged to come to their own conclusions;

• The story of Stonehenge, Old Sarum and Salisbury will be placed into the chronological story of the south Wiltshire area.

We would like to develop a ‘shared learning project’ with members from Salisbury’s U3A to work with the curator to select and research artefacts that will go into ‘artefact drawers’ within the gallery. These will be ‘open storage’ displays within the exhibits where we will be able to display many objects that would otherwise be hidden away. There will drawers for most historic periods throughout gallery, from the Palaeolithic through to the early medieval period.
The culmination of this project will be the displays themselves and a series of public lunchtime ‘tea and talk’s’ led by the U3A based on their research.

(2) Gallery Stewards

The new Archaeology of Wessex gallery will also need to be staffed by volunteer guides and stewards. We are also hoping to train volunteers to deliver object handling sessions based on our archaeological collections and take visitors on ‘behind the scenes’ tours.
We would like to start recruiting volunteers to undertake these activities now – as they are already part of what the museum offers to the public. Potential stewards or guides would need to under take research, have training in customer care and have an induction to the museum.


(3) Collection Documentation

Salisbury Museum has a team of volunteers who undertake the cataloguing of the collections. We are always looking for new volunteers to add to this team – particularly people who are computer literate and might have a particular interest/passion in an area of our collections. At the moment we are seeking enthusiastic and committed people to work on our costume and geology collections. The main task will be record descriptions of objects and their physical location in the museum on our Modes database.


ADRIAN GREEN 3 JULY 2011

SciTech Visit. - Butterfly walk 25th July

Don't forget anyone is welcome to come on our short walk on Monday 25th July starting at 10.00am from the Stag Inn, Charlton All Saints.
I hope to see you there.
Meanwhile from the the 16th to the 31st of July is the big butterfly count.
The big butterfly count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and an impressive 10,000 people took part, counting 210,000 butterflies and day-flying moths across the nation. We hope that many more people will join this year's big butterfly count (16th-31st July 2011).
To take part simply note down the butterflies you see during a 15 minute period and email the result.
See http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/about for more details.