wELCOME!


​​Welcome to the Harpenden Arts Club!

The Harpenden Arts Club aims to provide a wide range of creative workshops, demonstrations, life drawing and studio practice evenings, as well as a sociable meeting point for artists of all abilities. We meet most Thursday evenings at 7.30 - 9.30 pm in the small public hall, Harpenden Public Halls, Southdown Road, Harpenden, AL5 1PD (behind the Harpenden Arms pub) from September to May.
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Regretfully we are having to cancel all indoor meetings until further notice due to Covid-19. We will resume meetings as soon as it is advisable. Please accept our sincere apologies.
SUMMER OUTDOOR SKETCHING
We are organising five sketching sessions through the summer months to offer a chance for members to meet outside whilst maintaining social distancing.  Each session will be led by a committee member who will happily help where they can. 

Please bring all your own materials, e.g. drawing and/or painting materials, brushes/pencils etc, paper/canvasses/sketch books, an easel or boards to lean on if necessary, water containers and water, paper towels, tape/clips to hold down paper. Also please bring portable seating if you need to and all your own refreshments. A wide brimmed hat or cap is very useful to help judge colours and tones in sunshine.

Full details, meeting place addresses and contact telephone numbers will be emailed to HAC members in the week before the sketching session. Outdoor sketching sessions usually last around 2 - 2.5 hours and are relaxed and untutored, but people are happy to chat and exchange ideas.
​The list of sessions are as follows:

Wednesday 8th July at 10.30am, meeting at Sarah Poppleton’s house in East Common, Harpenden to sketch her garden or the surrounding southern end of Harpenden Common.

Saturday 25th July at 2.00pm, meeting at The Silver Cup Pub to sketch the northern end of Harpenden Common, Baa Lamb Trees, the Ponds and the cricket club.

Wednesday 5th August at 10.30am, meeting in the Walled Garden, Wheathampstead, to sketch the Walled Garden, St Helen’s Churchyard or the River Lea.

Saturday 22nd August at 10.30am, meeting at Peter Brown’s house in the countryside between Redbourn and St Albans, to sketch the garden, surrounding woods and maybe the odd pheasant or two if you’re lucky!

Wednesday 2nd September at 10.30am, meeting in Redbourn to sketch the Common and surrounding buildings.
Picture
Sketching by the canal, Hemel Hempstead, 2019
Hopefully we will be able to start indoor art sessions at some point in the autumn, but in the meantime, we are staying in touch with Members via the weekly emails, and a private Harpenden Arts Club Members' group page on Facebook. Also you can see our Brushstrokes newsletter here:

Change of Venue Notice

The redevelopment of the Harpenden Leisure Centre is impacting our art sessions unfortunately. All the group exercise classes are being relocated at short notice from the Leisure Centre to the Harpenden Public Halls from Monday 16 March onwards, and our art meetings are having to be relocated.
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When we are advised that we can start up our programme of meetings again (currently cancelled due to the Coronavirus advice) we will be meeting in Bennet's, in the Royal British Legion building, directly opposite the Public Halls on Leyton Road, Harpenden AL5 2HU. 

We apologise for these changes, and hope you can bear with us.
We usually break for tea/coffee and biscuits halfway through the session. Please bring your own coffee cup. This is particularly important in the light of the current coronavirus situation. Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided for a minimal charge.  Please do not attend if you have a dry cough, sore throat or other flu like symptoms or have been in contact with someone who has recently returned from the Coronavirus high risk areas. Finally please wash your hands frequently to minimise the risk to all members at meetings. 
How to Find Us:

Location of the weekly (7.30 - 9.30pm) Thursday evening meetings are no longer at the Harpenden Public Halls, but in Bennet's, Leyton Road, Harpenden, AL5 2HU:
HARPENDEN ARTS CLUB ANNUAL EXHIBITION!
7 - 10 November 2019
What a great exhibition that was! Our exhibition had more than 250 original artworks on display, beautifully created by 54 talented artists from Harpenden and the surrounding area. There was an exciting variety of media, styles and subjects, ranging from richly coloured oil paintings and serene watercolours, to contemporary abstract mixed media paintings, and skilful pencil and pastel paintings, in a showcase of art that inspired all! Many thanks to all who came and visited us!

​For more information and photos from the exhibition see the 2019 exhibition page:
BEST IN SHOW PUBLIC VOTE RESULTS
We are delighted to announce the results of the vote by the public for their favourite artworks. More than 700 voting slips were filled out by visitors with the following result:
First place: "Footprints in the sand" - oil painting by Sarah Poppleton
Second place: "St Peter's, Rome" - oil painting by Peter Brown
Third place: "Harpenden Arms, wet evening" - oil painting by Peter Brown

If you would like to see the full voting list click on the button below these pictures.

First prize:  "Footprints in the sand" by Sarah Poppleton

second prize:  "St Peter's, Rome" by peter Brown

third prize:  "harpenden arms, wet evening" by Peter brown

aBOUT uS


We are a sociable and creative group of people who enjoy learning new art techniques and sharing ideas. We have over 130 members and a strong committee of nine enthusiastic individuals who, along with many willing helpers, organise and run the activities.
 SOME MEMBERS CELEBRATING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY
If you would like to join:
MEMBERS' GALLERIES

Don't forget that there are pages here on the HAC website that can display your work. If you would like your own section or would like to update the current pictures you have on display, please do email Sarah Poppleton on poppleton94@yahoo.co.uk with jpegs of your paintings (up to 6 images, under 1MB file size each please) and a paragraph about you and your work.
Have you seen our Facebook page yet? We post regular photos from the weekly sessions there and more day-to-day information. If you use Facebook, do "like" our page to hear from us!

gdpr iNFORMATION

Harpenden Arts Club has now published a data protection policy in line with the new General Data Protection Regulations.

Are you getting our emails?

We have changed our email system over the summer. Emails to members now come from info.hac2018@gmail.com . Please make sure your email system accepts this new address and doesn't put our emails into your Junk folder! Also, please make sure we have your current email address. If in doubt, contact Membership Secretary Peter Brown on 01582 793174 or pjbrown4242@gmail.com.
If you have any comments or suggestions for this website or would like to contact the webmaster, please email Sarah Poppleton on info.hac2018@gmail.com .