Best of both worlds at Dorman Museum exhibition

By Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette

TWO artistic worlds have come together in a new exhibition at Middlesbrough’s Dorman Museum.

While working as lecturer in textiles at Middlesbrough College, Margaret Smith became well known in the region for her intricate embroideries.

Since her retirement she has returned to her first love of painting and drawing.

So with this new exhibition she has combined both fields to produce a display that mirrors some of the themes found in the museum’s galleries.

The main focus of her new work is a 17-panel extravaganza that extols the nature of water in all its various forms and is rooted firmly in the northern region.

Her work can be found in private collections both at home and abroad. The Mothers Union banner in the Lady Chapel in York Minster, and the leather applique on the back of the bishop’s chair in Middlesbrough Cathedral are among her many commissions.

Her series of embroideries based on the life of Captain Cook were widely displayed locally, as well as being shown at Surrey University Gallery, and in London at the Australian Studies Centre.

The show runs until March 28. Details on 01642 813781.

A NOSTALGIC exhibition about life on the Home Front in Hartlepool during the Second World War is returning by popular demand.

STOCKINGS, SUGAR AND SHRAPNEL: WORLD WAR II ON THE HOME FRONT will be back at the Museum of Hartlepool at the town’s Maritime Experience from tomorrow until Sunday, February 14.

Organised by Hartlepool Council’s Heritage and Museums Service, it originally ran last summer to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the war. As well as being open to the public, the exhibition will also be the venue for some special schools educational workshops.

Using a combination of original artefacts from the Museum service’s collections and full-size wartime rooms created by Cleveland College of Art and Design’s theatre design students, the exhibition tells the story of life for ordinary people on Hartlepool’s home front.

A 1940s kitchen takes visitors back to the hardship of rationing and the determination of the Dig for Victory campaign, while an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) office is recreated complete with helmet and an air raid warning rattle.

A railway station waiting room stirs memories of the evacuees and the Hartlepool people who travelled to work in the munitions factory at Aycliffe, and a car boot stocked with luxury goods recalls the lure of the black market.

Entry to the museum is free and it is open every day from 10.30am to 4pm until and including Friday, February 12, and then from 10am to 5pm. Details on 01429 860077.

For details of the special workshops for schools, call the Heritage and Museums Service Learning Team on 01429 523449.