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Malcolm David Thackwray, born 1943, Holland on Sea, Essex, is and has been an artist craftsman, in the broadest sense of the term, all his life. He describes himself simply as a maker. Others have described him as a creative polymath due to the range of his creative endeavours. A scholar of Northgate Grammar, Ipswich, and Woking Grammar, Surrey, he went on to Guildford School of Art in 1959: graduating in 1963 with a National Diploma in Design, specialising in Fine Art. His only other academic qualification is a Diploma in Community Education from Oxford University. His first creative employment was as an associate in the studio of the civic sculptor William Mitchell, then at the height of his fame. In the mid 1960’s the studio was in great demand. Mitchell was showered with commissions and churning out designs whilst his artist and designer associates turned them into the full size pieces. Some, like the inlay mosaics, were created entirely in the studio and shipped to site for fixing. Others like the in situ concrete pieces were often sculpted on site with the expanded foams attached to the shuttering. The associates would do this and supervise the casting, returning later to remove the mould and do sandblasting and texturing as required. In his two or so years with Mitchell, Malcolm spent a good half in cities like Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Coventry, Sheffield and Chester casting decorative walls for pubs, design centres, Masonic lodges, police headquarters, barracks and the like. Mitchell was a great entrepreneur, always on the look out for new materials and techniques, and Malcolm admits his influence helped free him from the rules and formalities of his fine art education and open his eyes to another world of creative possibilities and potentials. However, the ability to draw, he continues to believe, is the single most important thing an artist or designer must be able to do. For the simple reason that the only way to enter into and know a subject, to see into its heart and soul and appreciate its essence, is to join with it. Drawing facilitates that happening like no other process. In 1966 Malcolm left the London studio to pursue a freelance career. His first major commission came from a London County Council competition to design and create a memorial wall to commemorate Robert and Elizabeth Browning’s residence in Warwick Crescent, Little Venice, W2. That work remains in excellent condition to this day. There followed a time of working alone with intermittent one off commissions making feature pieces for banks, companies and public spaces: plus the pursuit of ideas for products for small scale manufacture. Eventually Malcolm teamed up with an old art school colleague, Brian Charles Evason and formed Malcolm Charles Design Associates (MCDA). The pair developed a range of paper engineered products that sold widely and were awarded the coveted Design Centre kite mark. Approached to design diverse things their reputation grew and they were often working night and day to fulfil orders. They made prototypes for people like Conran and Henry Long, designed and printed silk scarves for Mary Quant, T-shirts for Simon Eva, posters for Surrey University, plus numerous one off commissions for private clients and businesses, including a lute in kit form with early musical instrument maker Michael Heale.

On an initiative of Professor Lewis Elton (Ben Elton’s father), Malcolm was appointed to pilot an arts workshop at Surrey University. The year long experiment produced a valuable report and suggestions for the future as well as a large anti-Vietnam war mural of the American eagle mounted on coke cans and studded with bottle tops. This work survives and still graces a balcony wall of Senate House. The loss of MCDA’s workshops to sudden redevelopment broke up the firm and Malcolm moved to Warminster, Wiltshire and the house he had been rebuilding for several years. There followed a fallow time creatively with family, children, mortgages and no workshop. Eventually a new workshop was found and purchased in nearby Westbury and Malcolm began again to design and manufacture one off specials and a range of glassfibre planters and seating. For fun he also sculpted a quarter size pony which he cast in glassfibre and mounted on rockers for his children, and now grandchildren. Amazingly, he was also teaching a day a week at distant Reigate & Guildford Schools of Art. Warminster, despite its size, boasted a small arts centre, The Atheneum. When they discovered his background he was encouraged to join the centre’s management committee and review its activities from a new-comers perspective. His discoveries and subsequent report precipitated a numbers of changes and economical improvements done by volunteers led by Malcolm. He completely redesigned the marketing, with a new bold logo, dramatic posters and leaflets and a pavement obelisk after the Paris 19th Century fashion, and the dreary gallery area was repainted with spotlighting track added. He then canvassed the local arts community and organised an exhibition programme which was so successful the coffee bar was making more money in a day than it previously had in a month. Theatre audiences more than doubled and the accounts soon had a healthy surplus. Malcolm was by this time well into and hooked on the whole idea of community arts: the mantra ‘Every Town Should Have One’ became his credo and his other creative activities took a back seat. Then the universe intervened. In mid-1978 a job description circulated to all arts centres arrived at Warminster and was passed to him. He fitted the requirements perfectly, made an application, was interviewed and appointed. The venue was a derelict, Edwardian school in downtown Aylesbury: 10,000 sq.ft., of burst heating pipes, broken windows, falling ceilings and dirt: it was perfect, a blank slate. Added to this no one had any idea what an arts centre could or should be. It was carte-blanche but with little funding and loads of scepticism as to its likely success. With what funds were available the initial contract was begun to restore services, leaving Malcolm to make contacts, canvass the area, raise money, beg and borrow equipment, seek volunteer help and enthuse local artists and craftspeople with his ideas for the centre. 18 months later, having personally plumbed all workshops, laboured for volunteer electricians and bricklayers, applied more than 300litres of emulsion paint, sanded and varnished floors, adapted and refurbished quantities of 2nd hand furniture and designed and printed the first marketing materials and brochure, the educational charity Queens Park Arts Centre opens its doors for business. Ten art and craft workshops a week soon grew to fifty in three sessions a day 10am – 9.30pm. Funds accumulated and were ploughed back purchasing equipment unaffordable at the outset. Drama was a great draw for the young and soon there was strong support to create a proper theatre facility in the old school hall space. This needed to be flexible to double as a work area: thus Malcolm designed a scaffolding mezzanine with a pull out bleacher seating rake and a flat floor proscenium stage (later copied for Stowe School studio theatre). In the summer of 1983 Malcolm approached local resident Sir John Gielgud to ask if he would dedicate and open the theatre. He soon received a reply regretting Sir John was away filming but sent his blessing for the enterprise and saying good it was to hear of a theatre opening rather than closing. The Limelight Theatre duly opened in September 1983 with its own logo, time slots in the programme and running a mixture of touring drama, music and comedy. Malcolm programmed the first season while seeking job creation funding and staff. Subsequent young theatre managers learned the business and brought wonderful artists to perform, superb touring theatre companies like Hull Truck; Orchard; Theatre de Complicite; Not the National Theatre; Trestle; The People Show & Forkbeard Fantasy: Poets Adrian Henry; Roger McGough & Brian Patten: comedians Joe Brand; Jeremy Hardy; Julian Clary; Eddie Izzard; Jack Dee; Lee Evans: musicians Vin Garbutt; Ralph McTell; John Renbourne; Martin Taylor; Alan Price; Bert Jansch: singers Maddy Prior; Hazel Oconnor; Mary Coughlan; Julie Felix: and many more too numerous to mention. The space was also ideal for master classes, and people travelled the length and breadth of the Country to attend demonstrations by internationally renowned potters. And with the bleachers away, theatre companies came to give special dance, drama and mime workshops. The Arts Centre gave Malcolm huge scope to develop his ideas and exercise his creative muscle. He promoted free exhibition space for artists, created an art reference library for centre users, a low cost materials shop, expanded and developed the workshops, converted a derelict outbuilding to a large new art studio, multiplied kiln space, developed projects with schools, negotiated park use for Sunday in the Park events involving numerous local organisations, got the bandstand refurbished, established regular weekly workshops for the various disability groups, organised County wide talent competitions and the subsequent gala events, as well as serving on the District Council Arts Committee, the Bucks Arts Federation and Bucks Arts Association Executive Committees and chairing the Community Arts Sub-Committee. The hugely popular Christmas Pantomime Projects were one of his favourites; though an immense amount of work for him as producer, set designer/maker and stage hand throughout the Christmas period run, sometimes stepping in to perform as Trees or in Peter Pan as the crocodile. He also wrote a modern panto called Green Teddy complete with libretto and lyrics, a theme that preceded but echoed the film Toy Story. For this he designed a complex magnificent set where in the last act a fourteen foot high robot transformed from the flat floor of the stage. Limelight productions became so good that they were encouraged to tour, one notable success being West Side Story which received standing ovations wherever it played (again Malcolm designed the set). Malcolm’s tenure at QPC came to an end in 1997 when Bucks County Council faced with a huge education budget deficit, withdrew all none essential funding, thus making QPC and all its staff redundant. Malcolm reluctantly accepted an offer of early retirement. As a Registered Charity the Council could not close the Centre and the management team led by Malcolm’s deputy, Peter Cusick Riley, leased the property to continue trading. There followed some lean years but with loyal support, much hard work and fund raising the Centre was eventually purchased by the charity. Now in 2015 Queens Park and the Limelight Theatre are thriving and can claim to be the only independent arts centre in the Country. After Queens Park, Malcolm converted a minibus to a mobile home and he and his partner spend several seasons painting and selling their work. Caught up in the Golden Jubilee fever, the pair created an exhibition of 50 portraits of the Queen showing her from childhood to the new millennium. With the Queen’s permission the collection was offered to community arts charities to auction to raise funds, unfortunately so far none have been willing to make that effort. In 2000 they moved permanently to the West Country to refashion yet another property in need of lots of TLC. The painting, interior design work and making continued with objet d’art, e.g. like the story box collection sampled here, being evolved from discarded materials and a single idea. For several seasons Malcolm became the designer and maker of theatre sets for the Ondaajee Theatre in Blundell’s school, Devon, producing some amazing sets with limited resources, as well as teaching students the rudiments by involving them in the processes. In 2006, concerned about climate change, Malcolm set about trying to write a novel set in the future after the consequences of our stupidity had taken there inevitable effect. His idea was that the only way to initiate any change in human behaviour was to cultivate the young in the complacency of their parents and the consequences of inaction. It was hard work learning the craft as he went but the book was eventually finished and is being re-edited. Two further novels have followed, one a time travel adventure for young teens and the other an art crime and love story for adults. They are to be self published in the near future and will probably be available on the Amazon free download list. Malcolm is currently fighting a serious illness, but continues to write and be creative on a daily basis.

August 2015