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The Country Wife Mural was designed by Constance Howard and was made by her and some of her students at Goldsmiths College for the Country Pavilion at the Festival of Britain in 1951. Many of the craftwork features on the mural were made by members of the WI who were experts in such fields as glove making, canework, and embroidery. At the close of the Festival the mural was given to the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and it has been housed at Denman College in Oxfordshire ever since.
After over 50 years the mural is in need of conservation work but sadly to date, grant applications for this work have been unsuccessful. A project is now being planned by the National Needlework Archive for volunteers to be trained to undertake this work, under the strict supervision of qualified conservators. The mural is to be moved, probably to the south of England, to a venue suitable for this work to be carried out. We will still need to raise many thousands of pounds to complete this project.
If you are interested in helping this project by raising funds, helping with the conservation work, providing materials, or have a suitable building, please write to the NNA.
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