Theatre by the Lake, Cumbria’s only regional producing theatre, prepares to open its doors again this Autumn after nineteen months of closure due to the impact of the pandemic. To mark the occasion, the team are once again staging ANON, their popular anonymous art fundraiser where artists and celebrities are invited to create CD size artworks which then go on sale to the public later this year.
The twist? None of the artworks are signed on the front so people are buying blind for a fixed price of £50. The theatre team are hoping to confirm big names from the world of art and entertainment over the coming weeks, however, they are on the hunt for more artists to take part and support as they launch ANON3 – can you help?
In 1998, as Dame Judi Dench manned a JCB to dig the first sod of a new theatre in Keswick, Chris Wadsworth, then owner of Cockermouth’s Castlegate House Gallery and leading Percy Kelly exponent, organised an anonymous art exhibition, ANON, as a fundraiser for what was to become Theatre by the Lake. Artists and actors were sent a piece of art card and asked to create a work of art on it. Each one was sealed in a CD case, singed on the back, displayed anonymously and the public invited to buy ‘blind’. A true artistic adventure unfolded as people flocked to buy art they liked but might subsequently discover had been created by such luminaries as Ian McKellen, Prunella Scales, Percy Kelly, Jimmy the gallery cat alongside many Royal Academicians and well-known artists. Suffice to say, much fun was had, and fine art produced. In 2009, ANON2 followed raising over £15,000 for the theatre’s 10th Anniversary Fund.
Today, 12 years later, the theatre is preparing to reopen its doors to live shows. Once again they are asking for the help of artists and actors to support us as they launch ANON3. Anyone interested in taking part is asked to email sam.bunting@theatrebythelake.com by Fri 10 September. Participants will be supplied with two pieces of art card which they can use to produce two artworks using any medium or style.
The ANON3 Exhibition will open to the public at 10am on Saturday 20 November. All artists will be clearly credited alongside the exhibition and in associated publicity, wherever possible. The Theatre team anticipate most artworks to sell on this first day (historically there have queues around the block!) however the exhibition will run for a further three weeks until Sun 12 December 2021.
