doors ajar day?

Spent the weekend setting up and manning my part of a small exhibition of artwork by local artists at The University of the West of Scotland as part of our annual Ayrshire Doors Open Day event.  The new campus on the banks of the River Ayr is wonderful and the exhibition itself was well organised, the studio-gallery a beautiful venue.  The organiser herself had worked beyond the call of duty. 

Unfortunately, almost nobody came.

On the Saturday, the nearby Air Show had certainly attracted most of the potential visitors but we had a few people and they seemed interested. The cafe was open, so was the excellent library, there were willing student guides and it was a pleasant day.  

Sunday, however, was a different matter. The cafe was closed (nobody had told them about the event) and so was the library. There were no student guides on hand - in fact a solitary lassie at the desk told us that she hadn't been asked to attend at all - but had been told by a friend that the venue might be open, and thought that she ought to help, bless her. I arrived to a closed barrier at the car-park and a security man asking me what I wanted. One of the big iron gates of the campus was propped open about two feet - just wide enough for an individual to squeeze through. The whole place looked closed and forbidding. Not so much Doors Open Day as Doors Ajar Day.  All of which is a shame when a  number of people had gone to a great deal of trouble in honour of the event. 

Still, it allowed me to see if it would be feasible for me to do the occasional exhibition. And seems that it will - with help to set up and carry items, as well as somewhere to sit down during the day. At least prints and paintings are much lighter than the woodcarvings I used to show!  

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