Young at Art

Country Houses are a huge inspiration for our host. After a childhood of being marched around the most incredible houses in the UK, he learnt to love them for their artistic and cultural importance in the landscape of Great Britain. Today, Harry is on a mission to highlight their cultural significance, dispelling their connotations of a grandma’s day-out and instead inspiring people to see the benefit of a storied artistic experience that truly connects people with the history and objects of our past. Harry is lucky enough to have worked at one of the UK’s finest stately homes and so had plenty of first-hand experience of the people who visit them and how to make them more accessible to all.

This week, Harry is joined by two women championing the importance of stately homes. Firstly, we hear from historian and producer at History Hit TV Alice Loxton, who shares some of the stories behind some of her favourite homes, and talks about why more people should get involved with them. Also joining the episode is historian and author Charlotte Furness who discusses her thoughts on how to open up these buildings for all, as well as the reasons they still matter in our cultural landscape. She also shares with us the fascinating history of Anne Lister, a remarkable woman who features in Charlotte’s latest book and whose diaries are still studied today as a record of hidden LGBTQ+ voices in the early 19th century.

Harry Stevens is the host of Young at Art and is a 21-year-old art and interiors obsessive passionate about opening up the art world to all. At Young at Art Harry speaks to the tastemakers who are defining a new image of art and design today, with new episodes out weekly.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to find who we will be speaking to next, you can follow the podcast on instagram @youngatartpodcast. Today’s guests can be found on instagram at @charlottefurnesswriter and @history_alice, and Harry can be found at @planetstevens. For more information about the podcast, please visit the website, www.youngatartpodcast.com

The podcast’s cover art was drawn by Beatrice Ross, @beatricealiceross and the intro music was written and performed by Maggie Talibart, @maggie_talibart.

Houses to Visit

1. Althorp House, Northamptonshire.

A hidden gem only an hour from London, Althorp House has one of the best private art collections in the UK with works by Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Van Dyke and Stubs. Featuring a mix of both modern works and inherited family pieces, the collection at Althorp feels fresh and relevant today. Althorp is also the family home of Princess Diana, and has been lived in by the Spencer Family for over 500 years.

https://althorpestate.com

2. Kenwood House, Hampstead, London.

Set on London’s Hampstead Heath, Kenwood House is owned by English Heritage and was once home to a fascinating character from aristocratic history, Dido Elizabeth Belle, widely considered UK’s first black British aristocrat. Dido’s story is fascinating; her father Sir John Lindsay was a white Royal Naval Officer and her mother Maria Bell was a black slave living in the British West Indies. She was also a niece of William Murray, later the 1st Earl of Mansfield, who was influential in his views towards the abolition of slavery in the UK, some 60 years before the abolition act was passed in 1833. Her story is explored in the 2013 film Belle.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/

3. Castle Howard, Yorkshire

Bridgerton fans rejoice at the sight Castle Howard, which stands in as the fictional Clyvedon Castle, home to the Duke and Duchess of Hastings (played by Regé Jean-Page and Phoebe Dynevor). Castle Howard is a fabulous baroque palace: construction took over 100 years to complete and the result is a masterpiece of early 18th century design. The castle has a wonderful collection of antique sculpture, Canaletto paintings, and is set in acres of beautifully maintained parkland.

https://www.castlehoward.co.uk

4. Mapperton House, Dorset

Home to the Earl and Countess of Sandwich (Yes, where the name for the infamous lunchtime meal comes from) Mapperton is considered ’the finest manor house in England’ and is home to an eclectic mix of objects and intriguing family history. Home to the Montag...

Artist and founder of The Room Portrait Club SJ Axelby joins us for this week’s episode of Young at Art. She talks about the mixed media room portraits she started drawing in lockdown which have since been featured by the likes of The World of Interiors, Christie’sand Liberty. Her mixed media, delicate depictions of interior spaces show an array of homes; from country cottages in the Cotswolds to palatial stately homes in Austria; SJ captures the essence of a space in vivid colour and texture.

SJ gives us the exclusive on her new book, SJ Axelby’s Room Portraits, and tells us what we can expect when it comes out in September. Young at Art is proud to be the first to hear about her book which can be purchased here or from any bookshop worth going to. Please see her website for more details.

The Room Portrait Club is a weekly Instagram art challenge where anyone can interpret the unique look of a interior space in whatever medium they like. It features the work of people of all ages, from across the world and, like everyone’s home, no two interpretations are the same.

Harry Stevens is the host of Young at Art and is a 21-year-old art and interiors obsessive passionate about opening up the art world to all. At Young at Art Harry speaks to the tastemakers who are defining a new image of art and design today, with new episodes out weekly.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to find who we will be speaking to next, you can follow the podcast on instagram @youngatartpodcast . Today’s guest SJ Axelby can be found on instagram at @sjaxelby, and Harry can be found at @planetstevens. For more information about the podcast, please visit the website, www.youngatartpodcast.com

The podcast’s cover art was drawn by Beatrice Ross, @beatricealiceross and the intro music was written and performed by Maggie Talibart, @maggie_talibart.

A fan of the unconventional and the unusual, interior designer and furniture dealer Jermaine Gallacher joins us this week from his pink office in South London for a delve into some of his recent interior design projects – including a rather fabulous Barristers office in Gray’s Inn. Jermaine shares with us his approch to interior design, and offers lots of brilliant advice for anyone wanting to start designing their own space.

Jermaine tells us about his showroom, a place where his creative energy can be seen in the flesh, featuring a cacophony of brilliantly original and creatively sourced homewares designed by him and other makers. He also reveals his plans to return it to a wine bar in the evenings for a mixture of good conversation and good interiors.

Harry Stevens is the host of Young at Art and is a 21-year-old art and interiors obsessive passionate about opening up the art world to all. At Young at Art Harry speaks to the tastemakers who are defining a new image of art and design today, with new episodes out weekly.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to find who we will be speaking to next, you can follow the podcast on Instagram @youngatartpodcast. Today’s guest Jermaine Gallacher can be found on Instagram at @jermainegallacher, and Harry can be found at @planetstevens. For more information about the podcast, please visit the website, www.youngatartpodcast.com

The podcast’s cover art was drawn by Beatrice Ross, @beatricealiceross and the intro music was written and performed by Maggie Talibart, @maggie_talibart.

Self-taught figurative artist Alex Mein joins us this week on Young at Art. He dives into his career across art and fashion, today as an artist and Course Leader of BA Fashion Imaging and Illustration at the London College of Fashion. He shares with us the great story of how he got back into drawing after a ten-year break, being inspired by the characters he would see on his daily two-hour commute, and offers uphill advice for anyone struggling with their creative outlook.

Alex’s incredible portraits and drawings evoke his strong signature style; a combination of lines in saturated colours that capture the personality and style of the people he sketches. This week, Alex shares with us how he approaches a drawing, where he seeks artistic inspiration in London and why making art is open for everyone.

Harry Stevens is the host of Young at Art and is a 21-year-old art and interiors obsessive passionate about opening up the art world to all. At Young at Art Harry speaks to the tastemakers who are defining a new image of art and design today, with new episodes out weekly.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to find who we will be speaking to next, you can follow the podcast on Instagram @youngatartpodcast. Today’s guest Alex Mein can be found on Instagram at @mrmein, and Harry can be found at @planetstevens. For more information about the podcast, please visit the website, www.youngatart.com

The podcast’s cover art was drawn by Beatrice Ross, @beatricealiceross and the intro music was written and performed by Maggie Talibart, @maggie_talibart.

Founder of the innovative culture platform The Wick, Katy Wickremesinghe, joins us for this week’s episode of Young at Art for a dive into her career as an art consultant and leader in business. Katy shares with us the story of why she founded The Wick, as well as her art consultancy company KTW London, which aims to show businesses the importance of art in everyday life. She discusses her role as a trustee of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and why public art is so important in our everyday lives.

Katy gives us a private tour of the art in her home (which she fabulously refers to as the ‘Wicks Fondazione’) and explains how the art that she collects shows the close relationships between her and some of her favourite artists.

The episode ends reflecting on the events of the last two years – the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine – and Katy tells us why art is so important to her in times of uncertainty.

Katy mentions two exhibitions in the episode, firstly Dulwich picture Gallery’s exhibition Reframed: The Woman in the Window (tickets can be purchased here) and also London’s dedicated public art walk, The Line, (more information can be found here).

Harry Stevens is the host of Young at Art and is a 21-year-old art and interiors obsessive passionate about opening up the art world to all. At Young at Art Harry speaks to the tastemakers who are defining a new image of art and design today, with new episodes out weekly.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to find who we will be speaking to next, you can follow the podcast on Instagram @youngatartpodcast. Today’s guest Katy Wickremesinghe can be found on Instagram at @misskatywick, and our host Harry can be found at @planetstevens. For more information about the podcast, please visit the website, www.youngatartpodcast.com

The podcast’s cover art was drawn by Beatrice Ross, @beatricealiceross and the intro music was written and performed by Maggie Talibart, @maggie_talibart.