The Lightbox turns ten this September! We're feeling all nostalgic this month, so we're looking back over the years with a few of our team's favourite memories from the past decade.

Grayson Perry at the Transmitter Reciever, The Persistance of Collage exhibition 2012 (c) The Lightbox 

Yvonne Scott, Front of House Supervisor

My special memory from the last 10 years is of my encounter with Grayson Perry. I had long admired him and had been to see his exhibition at the British Museum the previous day, so was thrilled to meet him in person when he was the guest of honour at the Transmitter Reciever, The Persistance of Collage private view in 2012. As one of my roles at The Lightbox is to find new local designer/makers and invite them to sell/showcase their work in our shop, I was pleased to show him the ceramics we had for sale made by local artists. We had a long chat and he engraved his name on my locket necklace, a piece he had also designed.

 
Amy and Lee installing our current Still Life exhibition

Amy Plewis, Exhibitions and Collections Officer

A highlight of this year was going on a training course with Crown Fine Art, to learn about how artworks are transported by air. After a thorough presentation on the procedures, practicalities and legalities of packing art safely to travel by plane, we were taken onto the apron at Heathrow Airport in hi-viz jackets, where we were able to see the theory in action. The most fun and least stress I have ever experienced at an airport!

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, A Bather © The National Gallery, London. Presented by Sir Anthony and Lady Hornby, 1961

Pru Chambers, Marketing Manager

My favourite memory of The Lightbox was about 6 months after I joined the organisation in early 2014 when the fantastic exhibition Renoir in Britain opened. I was so impressed to see that such an important collection of Impressionist works had been brought together for a unique exhibition in Woking and I was proud that I had helped by promoting and raising awareness about it amongst press and visitors. My favourite piece in the exhibition was ‘The Bather’ (above) as it captures the beauty of Renoir’s work and why he was a leading painter in the Impressionist movement.

Henry Moore: Sculpting from Nature installation

Beth Hopper, Marketing & Communications Officer

The first exhibition installation I experienced at The Lightbox was this year's Henry Moore: Sculpting From Nature. It was so exciting to see behind the scenes how the gallery space was transformed and filled with Moore's stunning works - getting the big sculpture in was no easy feat! This is still my favourite exhibition so far at The Lightbox, as it gave such a fascinating insight into the working mind of a great artist.

The Lightbox team, just after winning the Art Fund Prize, 2008

Marilyn Scott, Director

My stand out memory of the last ten years has to be winning the Art Fund Prize (Museum of The Year) in 2008 – just six months after The Lightbox opened. We had entered for the award not expecting to even be shortlisted. We were so much ‘new kids on the block’ and all previous winners had been long established galleries. The whole application process was arduous - visits by a very high profile panel but also mystery shopping so we had to be on our toes for months on end. We felt pleased to be on the shortlist and the publicity was amazing. When we actually won it was the most incredible night – certainly one which I will remember for ever.

ARTIST ROOMS: Jenny Holzer – 2009 © The Lightbox

Peter Hall, Exhibitions Manager

The first time The Lightbox mounted an installation in the Main Gallery. A series of giant electronic scrolling text boards displayed sayings, truisms and cliches from all of Jenny Holzer’s previous text-based works. Bathing the gallery in blueish/purpleish light, cutting edge contemporary art was explored through the mesmerising ‘Blue Purple Tilt’ from Tate and National Galleries of Scotland courtesy of Anthony D’Offay’s ambitious ARTIST ROOMS programme.

Elizabeth Ransom, Marketing Assistant

One of my fondest memories of working at The Lightbox is the Quentin Blake: Inside Stories exhibition in 2015. As a child I grew up reading Roald Dahl and remember getting lost in the bright and beautiful illustrations by Quentin Blake. From ‘The Enormous Crocodile’ to ‘The Story of the Dancing Frog’ Quentin Blake’s illustrations transport you to a colorful world of giants and talking animals. I was overjoyed to get to help install the Quentin Blake exhibition on my very first day as Exhibitions Intern two years ago. It was great to experience Quentin Blake’s work as an adult and once again get to return back to the magical worlds he created.

Heather Thomas, Learning and Engagement Manager

One of my most favourite memories (and there have been a few and so difficult to choose) was working with a school group in the Horse at War exhibition. We were discussing an artwork ‘Forward the Guns’ by Lucy Kemp-Welch from 1917 of some horses charging towards the viewer. I wanted to find out if the children would know how she would have been able to paint the horses so well as she was not allowed on the front line. A hand shot up and I asked the question of how do you think she would have been able to study the horses so well? – ‘She would have googled it’. Now the reply I was going hopefully for, was that she would have studied horses at a training ground.  But in a world full of technology now, I see why he thought differently.

Help us celebrate our 10th anniversary at our Birthday Party on Sat 16th September.

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