The Lord Lieutenant met members of The Nicky who had produced all the work exhibited under the guidance of art tutor, Tracey Flasz. Impressed with the array of drawings, paintings, tapestries and hand-made toys, Smith said that artwork is so important:
“I recently opened a Leonardo de Vinci exhibition and was told that de Vinci believed that when an artist paints a flower it will eventually wither but the painting of the flower remains forever. That’s why he kept many of his own paintings.”
He then congratulated the members on their outstanding work and gave them every encouragement to continue.
A painting by one of the members was presented to the Lord Lieutenant by Nicky member, Anita Rodrigues-Pereira and he was so delighted with the work on display he purchased another piece of work for his personal display at home.
Chief executive Michelle Wiseman said: “It was an honour to have the Lord Lieutenant opening the exhibition and I would like to thank Tracey Flasz for her hard work in our art room. This is just one of the many important and highly popular activities on offer at The Nicky. We always welcome more new members to take advantage of our fantastic facilities.”