What makes Kettle’s Yard a significant space in Cambridge; what role does it play in the art scene here?

Kettle’s Yard is both a house with a permanent collection, and a gallery showing a changing programme of exhibitions. The house is a unique and distinctive place that is a work of art in itself - natural objects are interspersed with painting, sculpture and furniture in a beautiful way and everything is carefully placed.The house offers a unique way of experiencing art and encourages visitors to appreciate how art can be an important part of every-day life.It is the only place in Cambridge where you are encouraged to sit in the chairs, read the books and enjoy the art of people such as Ben Nicholson, Constantin Brancusi, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Joan Miro. This gallery is the place to come in Cambridge to experience modern and contemporary art – at the moment the gallery is a riot of colour, filled as it is with Bridget Riley paintings from the last 30 years. Come to Kettle’s Yard to escape the fusty side of Cambridge and enjoy something different – sometimes challenging or beautiful; always questioning.

Outside of the exhibition calendar, Kettle’s Yard hosts regular talks and workshops throughout the week – what is the importance of these events?

These events offer an opportunity to scratch beneath the surface - free lunchtime talks offer insights into artists in the collection, or tours of the exhibition. On Fridays we have free lunchtime concerts programmed by a student music programmer. This is an important strand to our music series - it offers the audience fantastic chamber music, and the students the experience of programming and presenting music to a general audience. Tickets to our other music series are also heavily discounted for students.We have many other one off events so keep an eye on our web site and Facebook page for news of what’s coming up.Like the Fitzwilliam Museum, admission to Kettle’s Yard exhibitions is free of charge. It is extrmely important for galleries to keep their exhibitions free; Jim Ede’s (founder of Kettle’s Yard) ethos was about showing that art is an important part of everyday life. We couldn’t show that if we charged. Kettle’s Yard and the Fitzwilliam are public museums - essentially we belong to our audiences so there should be no barrier to visiting and it should not be an activity only for those with the means to afford it.

Kettle’s Yard hosts a ‘picture loan scheme’ for students – could you say a little more about that?

When Jim Ede lived here he used to loan out works from the collection - people such as Sir Nicholas Serota (Director of Tate) borrowed works as students here and many have fond memories of the experience. Kettle’s Yard now has a dedicated Student Picture Loan Collection from which students at both Cambridge universities can borrow works of art. I think it is a great scheme (I wish I could borrow something!). This year the selection of works is on Monday 10 October 12-3, the loan cost is £10 per picture for the year plus a £25 deposit per picture.We also like students to get involved in other ways - we have a representative scheme (we need reps in each of the colleges, e-mail susie@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk) and if you are interested in pursuing a career in the arts you might want to consider volunteering for Kettle’s Yard.

What is your favourite piece from the permanent collection, and what makes it so special?

This is a really hard question - it depends on the day! Can I pick a room instead? Natural light is so important at Kettle’s Yard and there’s a room we call the ‘dancer room’ in which Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s dancer stands atop a table behind which there is an arched window and to the left of which is an abstract sculpture called Birds by George Kennethson, as the light changes this room becomes magical - the shadows of the dancer are amazing and at times Birdsseems to glow. One winter, I was locking up; the light was fadingand snow started to fall. That really made it worth working Christmas Eve.