Welcome
Welcome to the Exe Decorative and Fine Arts Society. We are based in Topsham, and cover the towns and villages on both sides of the Exe estuary south of Exeter. Our purpose is to give our members opportunities to appreciate the arts.
We have a programme of nine lectures on various aspects of the arts, held monthly on Thursday mornings, from October to June. The lectures are illustrated and given by experts in their field. These lectures are supplemented by special interest days where we look in greater detail at a particular topic.
We also have visits to places of interest in the south west, and tours further afield, including abroad. Some of our members take part in activities such as Heritage Volunteering, Church Recording and Young Arts, where we try to involve young people in the arts through initiatives in local schools and colleges.
In 2017, most decorative and fine art societies changed their names to The Arts Society, following the rebranding of the national body NADFAS. We as a society decided to retain our name ExeDFAS while remaining affiliated to The Arts Society.
We welcome new members at any time, although we currently have a waiting list. We invite anyone who is interested to come along to one of our lectures, to see how informative and entertaining they are. Please let our membership secretary know in advance so that a place can be reserved.
Rob Forster, Chairman 2019-20
Contact and Queries
Coronavirus Action
The committee still intend that the lecture programme from September to December can proceed unimpaired in one form or another. However they are very aware of the constraints of government legislation and social distancing. The speaker at the September lecture has agreed to give the lecture twice – once in the morning and again in the afternoon. But a final decision has yet to be made. Members will be informed of any changes to the programme described on this website as soon as possible
Members should note that the Special Interest Day planned for October has in any event been postponed until March 2021.
The Annual General Meeting is now postponed until 1030 a.m. on September 10th, when we hope that John Osborne can give his lecture on the Painted Monasteries of Bulgaria. The secretary will give further details nearer the date.
The subscriptions for next year have been reduced to £30 for existing members. This reflects the reduced programme caused by the Coronavirus situation. The last date for the payment of the next subscription is June 11th. It is at this point in the calendar that the membership secretary can offer spaces to people on the waiting list who are wanting to become members of the society.
The subscription for new members next year, and for all members in future years will be £35.