Society Activities

Each NADFAS socieity is an independant body with its own constitution and traditions, but they all subscribe to the basic principles laid down by our founder, Patricia Fay and they have similar kinds of activities. The following are some of the activities that you can expect to find in a typical NADFAS society. Most societies welcome guests for some or all of their activities on payment of a small fee.

Lectures: This is the core activity and it is supported by the NADFAS directory of lecturers which ensures that every lecturer is highly professional and informative. NADFAS lecturers tend to be leaders in their chosen field - often world authorities with many books to their name and well known as university lecturers, broadcasters and tour guides. Most society lectures are illustrated with high quality visual aids, usually last for between 60 and 90 minutes and are frequently followed by a lively question and answer session. Most societies have between nine and eleven lectures at monthly intervals through the year, with a break during the summer. Some societies meet in the morning,some in the afternoon and some in the evening. You can check out local societies on the area societies pages.

Study Days: These often follow on from lectures and the lecturer will use the extended time to go into the subject in more depth, often more informally and involving audience participation where appropriate. Typically, societies will offer one or two study days each year and they will usually be booked up well in advance. Often they also involve having a meal and other refreshments together and thus form a valuable social environment for members.

Visits and Tours: This is another opportunity to enjoy learning as a sociable experience. Day visits to local places of interest (often linked to a recent lecture) and more extended tours to other UK regions and abroad provide the chance to enrich ones knowledge of the decorative and fine arts in a friendly and interesting environment. Visits and Tours will often involve special access and the benefit of expert guides and are invariably very enjoyable and rewarding.

Volunteering: In keeping with the aims of NADFAS, most societies provide the opportunity to undertake voluntary arts activities in the community. This may take the form of Heritage Conservation in museums, libraries and great houses and NADFAS provides training to those involved. Another type of volunteering is Church Recording, in which a group of members undertakes a painstaking and detailed inventory of the contents of a church and the production of a record, sometimes combined with a written guide for visitors. A third type of community activity is Young Arts which can take many forms and which is aimed at adding to the opportunities for young people to appreciate the decorative and fine arts. This may involve providing arts workshops for schools, setting up competitions and exhibitions of work, sponsoring art students or providing the equipment to enable young people to get involved with the arts in the community.

Special Events: Most societies take the opportunity to organise other special events such as annual dinners, new members' evenings, anniversary celebrations and the like. There is usually the opportunity to be involved as much or as little as individual members like in social events of various sorts. There is also the opportunity to serve on the societies organising committees and this can be a rewarding way of putting something back into the societies that provide us with so much enjoyment.

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