Western Mail article titled "Artistic 'thank you' to valley neighbours" about an art exhibition, held in Israel, 9 December 1987

Description

A Western Mail article titled “Artistic ‘thank you’ to valley neighbours” about an art exhibition that was to be held in Israel on 20 December 1987. The article is dated 9 December 1987.

According to the article, the art exhibition was comprised of thirty drawings and paintings by Olwen Hughes which celebrated the close relationship between the Jewish Community and south Wales. The project was initiated by Rebecca Fine, who lived with her mother in a village of Gilfach Fargoed in the Rhymney Valley, in the 1930s. Although the pair faced financial hardship they were supported by the local community. Following her mother’s death in the mid-1980s, Fine decided to thank the village by commissioning Olwen Hughes to paint two pictures of the Cathedral Road Synagogue in Cardiff. The Jewish community in Cardiff was moved by this gesture and asked Hughes to create a series of drawings and paintings of the Jewish settlements in Wales. The artwork later became the exhibition.

After being exhibited in Israel, the work was transferred to the National Museum of Wales.

Olwen Hughes was born and raised in Rhymney. She made many illustrations for a variety of publications as well as for the Leicester Mercury and Western Mail. In 2002 she received her MBE for services to the community.

Source.

- Collections Online: Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales, Hughes, Olwen [accessed 21 September 2020]

Newspaper article courtesy of Media Wales.

Depository: Merthyr Tydfil Central Library.

• https://www.walesonline.co.uk (link opens in new window)