The Sir Kyffin Williams Trust are delighted to announce that this year’s Sir Kyffin Williams Lecture at Oriel Môn will be given by the renowned Welsh artist, Eleri Mills.

Eleri will share with us many fascinating anecdotes and stories about the friendship that she shared with Sir Kyffin, and their deep respect for each other as fellow artists.

Eleri Mills lives and works in rural mid Wales where she was born and brought up. During a career spanning four decades she has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad including the Museums of Modern Art Kyoto and Tokyo, Museum Textil d’Indumentaria, Barcelona and the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid.

In 2010 she won the Arts Council of Wales ‘Creative Wales Ambassador Award’ followed by a residency in New York at Columbia University and a showing at SOFA NYC (the international art fair for sculpture, objects and functional art) at Park Avenue Armory.

Her work is featured in national collections which include the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh and the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.

In 2021 she was the winner of the ‘Sir Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize’ and the recipient of the 2013 ‘Glyndwr Award’ for an outstanding contribution to the arts in Wales.

She is represented by the Thackeray Gallery, London and Celf Gallery, Cardiff.

Sir Kyffin was well into his eighties when Eleri first met him at Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, Llanbedrog. Numerous letters were exchanged between them, and many of her visits to Pwllfanogl, Sir Kyffin’s home, would involve transporting elaborate home cooking for their lunches together.

Eleri stated, “At the time, I was launching myself back into the world of art after a period of bringing up my daughters, and his kind and generous support gave me huge encouragement. It was Kyffin who introduced me to the Thackeray Gallery, and I shall always be indebted to him for writing the introduction to my first London solo exhibition at the Thackery in 2003.”

The lecture ‘Kyffin – the mentor’ will take place at Oriel Môn on Friday 9 May at 7pm.

The lecture will be given in Welsh with English Interpretation available.

Entry is £5 and includes refreshment. To book your place please contact Oriel Môn on 01248 724 444.

Ends 23 April 2025