![\"\"](\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1-3-4-1024x658.jpg\")
The exhibition brings together a selection of sketches alongside their corresponding paintings and prints, offering a rare insight into how Croft developed ideas from initial marks to finished works. Spanning over 70 years of sketchbooks, the collection explores themes of landscape and still life, often evolving into striking abstractions.<\/p>\n
Born in London and based in Northern Ireland since 1959, Croft was a respected teacher and artist whose work captured the beauty of local and international landscapes. In 1967 he was elected as an Academician of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts and was President of the Academy from 1997 \u2013 2000.<\/p>\n
As part of the programme, Amanda Croft, Richard\u2019s daughter, will host a special gallery talk and tour, sharing personal reflections on his life and artistic journey.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the exhibition, Amanda said:\u00a0\u201cMy abiding memory of Richard was that he always had a pencil at the ready \u2013 drawings of people, places, ideas for paintings and prints all recorded in sketch books.\u00a0 We are delighted that Ards Arts Centre is hosting this exhibition of my father\u2019s work.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
The exhibition will run Thu 26 Feb \u2013 Sat 21 March 2026 in Ards Arts Centre\u2019s Georgian and Sunburst Galleries. Admission is free.<\/p>\n
All are welcome to attend the exhibition\u2019s Preview Event at Ards Arts Centre on Thursday 26 February, 7pm \u2013 9pm.<\/p>\n
For more information, visit:\u00a0https:\/\/andculture.org.uk\/whats-on\/drawn-together<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ards Arts Centre in Newtownards is proud to present\u00a0Drawn Together, an exhibition celebrating the life and work of acclaimed artist\u00a0Richard Croft PPRUA (1935\u20132025). Curated before his passing last year, this mini-retrospective shines a spotlight on Croft\u2019s lifelong passion for drawing – the foundation of his creative practice. The exhibition brings together a selection of sketches … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24812,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24810\/revisions\/24812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}