The Club was formed in 1948 by John Holdaway for artists in the Ewell area, and initially it was called Ewell Art Group. It was in 1958 to mark the anniversary of being granted the “Charter” to Epsom and Ewell corporation, that the council, in commemoration of the event, sponsored a special art exhibition and Epsom was added to the name of the group.
The group has had many homes in its 70 years, starting in Ruxley Lane School, then moving to a semi-permanent studio in Pitt House, Ewell that lasted for two years. In 1960, the group moved to Fitznells Music College and was based there for ten years, but when Bourne Hall was built in 1970, it moved there and still meets there today.
The Art group also uses Glyn Hall for some of its activities, particularly the workshops and special events. The Group started its own paper in 1969 called the “Easel” (which is now an electronic publication on our website). In 2009, we began projecting demonstrations and appraisals onto a screen via our own camera and digital projector.
Our first website was launched in 2009 but in 2010 we moved to a better site which allowed easier access for anybody interested in the group. Since 2012, we have an even larger site which means that each member of the art group can have their own page to display as many of their pictures as they wish and we have hyperlinks to any of the members who have their own websites.
In 2013, we opened our own Facebook page to allow anyone to have easy access to information about the group. In 70 years, technology has moved on a long way and even painting itself has changed with some of the members using iPads and computers to create pictures, and since 2013, the group allows computer generated images to be displayed at our exhibitions. No less creative – just different.
This may be history, but the group is very positively forward thinking and ready to meet new artistic challenges.
Epsom and Ewell Art Group 