Chelsea Arts Club
Encyclopedia
The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members club located in London
with a membership of over 2,400, including artists, poets, architects, writers, dancers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club was established on 21 March 1891 (in Chelsea), as a rival to the older Arts Club
in Mayfair, on the instigation of the artist James Abbot McNeill Whistler
, who had been a (sometimes controversial) member of the older club.
During its primary season from September–June the Chelsea Arts Club serves as a host for many functions, from instrumental and choral performances to visual arts exhibitions, literary talks, and weekend artist lunches.
The club has a waiting list for new applicants, who have to be sponsored by current members. As of 2009, the membership subscription costs between £315 and £454 per year, with a £180 rate for younger members. The entrance fee is an additional £150.
From 1908 to 1958 the club held a series of public fancy dress balls at the Albert Hall
, latterly on New Year's Eve, which raised funds for artists' charities, but they ceased owing to their notoriety and rowdiness, and private functions with lavish decorations and themes were held at the club instead.
In 1966 the club was redecorated, a new bar was opened, and membership was opened to women artists. Although normally a plain white building, the club exterior is occasionally painted to coincide with a themed event. In 2010 it was painted bright colours with images of circus performers affixed to the exterior, and in 2011 was painted to appear as if it had been bombed in order to coincide with celebrations marking 70 years since the end of The Blitz
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with a membership of over 2,400, including artists, poets, architects, writers, dancers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club was established on 21 March 1891 (in Chelsea), as a rival to the older Arts Club
The Arts Club
The Arts Club is a London private members club founded in 1863 by, amongst others, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton in Dover Street, Mayfair, London, England...
in Mayfair, on the instigation of the artist James Abbot McNeill Whistler
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
, who had been a (sometimes controversial) member of the older club.
During its primary season from September–June the Chelsea Arts Club serves as a host for many functions, from instrumental and choral performances to visual arts exhibitions, literary talks, and weekend artist lunches.
The club has a waiting list for new applicants, who have to be sponsored by current members. As of 2009, the membership subscription costs between £315 and £454 per year, with a £180 rate for younger members. The entrance fee is an additional £150.
History
The Chelsea Arts Club was originally located in rooms at no. 181 King's Road. In 1902, the club moved to larger premises at no. 143 Old Church Street. In 1933 the club's premises, which had an acre of garden, were remodeled. The clubhouse includes a snooker room, bedrooms, dining room, former 'ladies bar' turned private party room, and a garden.From 1908 to 1958 the club held a series of public fancy dress balls at the Albert Hall
Albert Hall
Albert P. Hall is an American actor.Born in Brighton, Alabama, Hall graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1971. That same year he appeared Off-Broadway in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and on Broadway in the Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death...
, latterly on New Year's Eve, which raised funds for artists' charities, but they ceased owing to their notoriety and rowdiness, and private functions with lavish decorations and themes were held at the club instead.
In 1966 the club was redecorated, a new bar was opened, and membership was opened to women artists. Although normally a plain white building, the club exterior is occasionally painted to coincide with a themed event. In 2010 it was painted bright colours with images of circus performers affixed to the exterior, and in 2011 was painted to appear as if it had been bombed in order to coincide with celebrations marking 70 years since the end of The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
.