Crafts Study Centre - The University Museum of Modern Crafts

Simon Olding MA PhD FMA FTS

Professor Simon Olding

Professor Simon Olding
Director
Crafts Study Centre

Simon Olding has had a varied career in the arts and museums sectors since 1979. His most recent senior posts have been Head of Arts and Museums for Bournemouth Borough Council (and Director of the acclaimed Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum) and Director of Policy and Research, Heritage Lottery Fund. He joined the University for the Creative Arts as Director of the Crafts Study Centre in 2002 and was appointed Professor of Contemporary Crafts in 2003.

Simon's extensive lottery capital experience includes roles as project director for the Russell-Cotes refurbishment, and project champion for the recent Salisbury Arts Centre new build and restoration scheme (in his role as Chair, 1995-2005). He is President of Walford Mill Craft Centre and a Trustee of the The Study Gallery, Poole. He has Fellowships from the Museums Association and the Tourism Society. He is an honorary fellow of the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, and writes on craft histories, ceramics and public art.

T +44 (0) 01252 892953
E solding@ucreative.ac.uk

Area of Research Expertise

Modern and contemporary crafts and craft history.

Research Profile

My research interests are allied to my career development  with roles from specialist curator in the decorative arts through to senior management roles, for example as Head of Arts and Museums for Bournemouth Borough Council and Director of Policy and Research for the Heritage Lottery Fund. My current research and publications are focused on: the life and works of contemporary ceramic artists, especially those in Southern and South West England; the history and contribution of craft organisations in England; life and works of fine artists, especially those located in  South West  England; public art and craft projects.

I am a keen participant in the development of craft and arts organisations, and in the delivery of craft policy for regional and national organisations. I am a recent member of the regional council of Arts Council England, South West, a Trustee of The Study Gallery, Poole, a subscriber of The Shape of Things and President of the Walford Mill Crafts Centre, Dorset, and an Honorary Fellow of the Arts Institute at Bournemouth.

Research Degree Supervision

Modern and contemporary crafts and craft history.

Professor Simon Olding

Publications 2002-2012

Books

  • John Hinchcliffe (Canterton Books, 2006) ISBN 0 9541627 7 3
  • Rezia Wahid (Crafts Study Centre and the shape of things, 2007),ISBN 978 09554374 2 7
  • Matthew Burt: idea to object (Crafts Study Centre, 2008), ISBN 978 09554374 4
  • The etchings of Bernard Leach (Crafts Study Centre and The Leach Pottery, 2010), ISBN 978 0 9554374 8 9
  • The art of R J Lloyd (Edward Gaskell, The Lazarus Press, Bideford, 2011) ISBN 978 1 906769 29 1

Exhibition catalogues

  • Guy Martin: whole life cost (The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, 2006) ISBN 0 95200162 8 1
  • Yew Tree: new work (Salisbury Arts Centre, 2006), ISBN 0 9552266 0 0
  • Simon Olding and Jim Hunter, A short grand tour (The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, 2007), ISBN 0 9011961 7 7
  • Object descriptions in ed., Held, P, Innovation and Change: ceramics from the Arizona State University Art Museum, (Arizona State University Art Museum, 2009), pp. 166-173, ISBN 0 9817957 3 0
  • Alice Kettle: allegory (Crafts Study Centre, 2009), ISBN 0 9554374 6 6
  • 'Disparate connections', in The narrative line: Alice Kettle and Bernie Leahy (Crafts Council of Ireland, 2010), pp.5-8 ISBN 978 1 906691 16 5

Co authored books

  • Vivienne Light and Simon Olding, Peter Thursby (Canterton Books, 2006) ISBN
  • Vivienne Light and Simon Olding, Martyn Brewster: the prints 1975-2007 (Canterton Books, 2007), ISBN 978 0 9552266 1 8
  • Emmanuel Cooper and Simon Olding, Magdalene Odundo (Lund Humphries, 2004) ISBN 0 905173 457

Essays in Books

  • '"The courageous association of free, individual workers": a short history of The Devon Guild of Craftsmen', in 50 (Devon Guild of Craftsmen, 2005),
  • 'Invented Landscapes', in A Quiet Study (The Study Gallery, Poole, 2002), ISBN 0 953624064
  • 'Robin Welch', in Robin Welch: ceramic artist (Maltby Contemporary Art, 2002) ISBN 0 9541627 2 2
  • 'Craft and Place', in Edmund de Waal: a line around a shadow (Blackwell, 2005) ISBN 1 902458 25 9
  • 'Muriel Rose: an introduction' in ed., Vacher, J, Muriel Rose: a modern crafts legacy (Crafts Study Centre, 2006), pp. 6-15 ISBN 0 9554374 0 7
  • 'A rightful place in the scheme of things', in ed., Baird, C and Watban, R, The Cutting Edge (National Museums of Scotland, 2007), pp. 47-88 ISBN 978 19052 671 0 1
  • 'Crafting a visual language' in Word Matters: text + work (The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, 2007), ISBN 9788 0 901196 231
  • 'Memorial and memory', in Ashley Howard: ritual and setting (Crafts Study Centre, 2009), pp.20-23 ISBN 978 0 9554374 5 8
  • 'In conversation with Lizzie Farey', in Inscriptions by Lizzie Farey (Dumfries and Galloway Council, 2009), pp.4-5 ISBN 978 094628081 0
  • 'The founding of the Crafts Study Centre', in ed., Britton, A and Olding, S. Three by One: a selection from three public craft collections by Alison Britton (Crafts Council in partnership with the Crafts Study Centre, 2009), pp. 58-67, ISBN 9781903713181
  • Foreword in Abi Kremer: colour and inspiration paintings 1979-2009 (Modern Times Art Publications, 2009) ISBN 978 0 9564418 0 5
  • 'Craft Studio1, in Simon Murchison-Bowie, Artists and Studios: private views (Oxford Folio Publication, 2012), pp 10-15 ISBN 978 0 9567 405 3 3
  • Foreword, in Ed., Alice Kettle and Lizzi Walton, Pairings 11: conversations and collaborations (Stroud International Textiles, 2012), p.3 ISBN 978 190 54767 2 5

Editor

  • Editor and contributor, New Art for the Historic Environment (Heritage Lottery Fund, Crafts Council, Arts Council England, 2002)
  • Co Editor and contributor with Carter., P. Essays for the opening of the Crafts Study Centre (Canterton Books, 2004), ISBN 0 9541627 4 9
  • Urban Field (Crafts Study Centre and urban FIELD, 2006), ISBN 978 0 95537410
  • The R J Lloyd ceramics collection: the artist as collector (The Burton Art Gallery and Museum, 2010), ISBN 978 0 9565279 0 5
  • David Colwell: making chairs (Crafts Study Centre and Ruthin Craft Centre, 2010) ISBN 0 9554374 0 6
  • Fred Baier: the right angle (Crafts Study Centre and Ruthin Craft Centre, 2011) ISBN 978 0 9554374 9 6
  • Richard La Trobe-Bateman: making triangles (Crafts Study Centre and Ruthin Craft Centre, 2012), ISBN 978 0 9570212 0 4

Articles

  • 'Now and Then', Ceramic Review, 210 November/December 2004, pp. 26-29 ISSN 0144 1825
  • 'In Residence', Ceramic Review 203, September/October 2003, pp. 48-51
  • 'Capital gains: how crafts benefit the NACF', Crafts, 184 September /October 2003
  • 'The Crafts Study Centre: from vision to reality', Craft Almanac, Craft Victoria, 2004
  • 'Joanna Still', Ceramic Review , 211 January/February 2005, pp. 26-29
  • 'Scarlet Fever' in Ceramic Review 217, January/February 2006, pp. 36-37
  • 'Noble Designs', in Resurgence 236 May/June 2006, pp.50-51 ISSN 0034 5970
  • 'Symbolic Visions', in Ceramic Review, September/October 2006, pp. 30-33 ISSN
  • 'Calligraphy at the Crafts Study Centre', The Scribe vol 81 (Summer 2006), pp. 22-28 ISSN 0265 6221
  • 'End and beginning', in Ceramic Review 225, May/June 2007, pp.34-37
  • 'Spirit and Place', in Resurgence, 239, November/December 2006, pp.34-35
  • 'The only thing I think about is yellow', in Ceramic Review, 225 May/June 2007, pp.34-37
  • 'Joining Forces', in Ceramic Review, 229, January/February 2008, pp. 30-33
  • 'Rhythmic irregularity', in Ceramic Review, 235, September/October 2008, pp. 28-33
  • 'John Makepeace: heritage and innovation', in Craft Arts International, 75, March 2009, pp.26-29 ISSN 1038 846X
  • 'Garden Theatre', in Ceramic Review, 237 May/June 2009, pp.50-55
  • 'The Willow River', in Resurgence, 254 May/June 2009
  • 'Quiet isolation', in Ceramic Review 238 July/August 2009, pp.28-33
  • 'Order and poise', in Ceramic Review 241 January/February 2010, pp. 36-39
  • 'The slightly estranged', in Ceramic Review July/August 2010
  • 'The dog that barked in the night', in Ceramic Review, issue 254, March/April 2012, pp. 46-51
  • 'Magdalene Odundo: art of grace, poise and power', A D Magazine, issue 3 (NSEAD, November 2011) pp. 14-16 ISSN 2046-3148
  • 'A sense of home', in Resurgence, September/October 2011, no 268 pp. 54

Conference papers

  • 'The value of craft in education and the creative industries' University of Reading Crafts in education conference, September 2003
  • 'The state of the crafts in England' University of Northumbria, Locate and Classify conference, September 2003
  • Conference Chair, Edinburgh College of Art, April  2005 and paper on 'The history of the Crafts Study Centre'.
  • 'Using museum objects' University Museums Group, Women's Library, June 2005
  • Chair and presenter,'In conversation, South Hill Park, September 2005

Projects

  • Project Director: craft makers testimony, Headley Trust 2004-5 at the Crafts Study Centre
  • Co-Director: urban FIELD, 2007 onwards