Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' in Preston's Harris Museum back in 2019 (many moons ago!)
#ThrowbackThursday to 18th February 2019 and a visit to #HarrisPreston to see the moon in more ways than one. Truly a thrill to see #TheHarris reopen last October after a renovation. Wonderful place to visit. @visitlancashire.bsky.social
Painted in the years when Britain’s cotton towns relied on child labor, the portrait insists on Annie’s dignity rather than her usefulness. Hill worked as a “half-timer” at Horrockses’ cotton mill in Preston, splitting each day between the mill and school. She wears a shawl that is both protection and weight as a practical covering for cold streets and long shifts, but also a visual metaphor for the adult burdens placed on a young woman. That political edge became explicit in 1908, when this image was carried in London’s Women’s Sunday march as a stand-in for thousands of working women and children. A fellow Preston suffragette, Grace Alderman, later remembered it was “mounted as a Banner.” It depicts a light-skinned, twelve-year-old Annie Hill turned slightly to our right against a hazy, brown-gray ground. Her auburn-brown hair is loosely parted, and a heavy, charcoal-black shawl wraps over her head and shoulders like a hood, pooling in broad, soft folds down her arms. Warm light catches her flushed cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Her eyes look off to the right, not meeting ours, with an expression that feels tired, thoughtful, and guarded. Annie’s hands are interlaced around a thin strap that drops to a small, silvery metal canister. British artist Martha Anne Mayor paints the hands large and steady, emphasizing grip and endurance more than delicacy. Beneath the cloak, a muted brown bodice and a russet skirt or apron appear in quick, painterly strokes, the reds deepening in the shadows near her lap. The background stays almost empty so Annie’s presence, ordinary and working and deserving of attention, fills the picture. Mayor (known as Patti) was a Preston-born portraitist trained at the Slade and active in the Women’s Social and Political Union. By putting a mill girl’s face where public life expected silence, Mayor turned portraiture into a powerful statement that if women (and girls) contribute labor and taxes, they deserve voice and power.
“The Half-timer (Portrait of Annie Hill)” by Patti Mayor (British) - Oil on canvas / 1906–1908 - The Harris (Preston, England) #WomenInArt #PattiMayor #TheHarris #art #artText #BlueskyArt #PortraitofaGirl #BritishArtist #BritishArt #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #Suffrage #WomenPaintingWomen
Will be visiting soon!
#TheHarris
A big thank you to The Harris and Preston City Council for arranging a behind the scenes tour ahead of the reopening later this year🖼️🏯🎙️
A brilliant opportunity for our third year students and they had a fantastic time!
#preston #uclan #uni #journalism #theharris #museum
Friargate Preston from The Harris Museum roof.
#preston #theharris #friargate #uclan #dji #drone #freelancephotographer
