Colin’s cultural trips
Kerry Bailey talks to Colin Kirby-Green, GTO for the Colin Kirby-Green Group in Colchester, about his range of cultural and art based trips.
Essex-based Colin Kirby-Green has dedicated the majority of his life to art. As well as teaching painting at various colleges in the UK and lecturing in art history and appreciation, he has travelled extensively and exhibited his own work at art galleries all over the world. When Colin decided to combine his love of art and travel with organising voluntary group trips in 1997 however, he had no idea how popular it would become.
“In 1997, I took a position teaching painting and art history at Grey Friars Adult Community College in Colchester,” Colin explains. “All of my students were local adults who were looking to enhance their knowledge of art.”
A few months into the role, Colin adopted a new teaching method and decided that the only way for his students to really appreciate great works of art was to see them for themselves. As he says, “I wanted the students to actually see what we were talking about in class and so I began planning an itinerary for an art appreciation trip to Avignon in France in my spare time. When I had the itinerary in place, I pinned some posters to the College notice boards and in June of that year, I accompanied a group of 25 students overseas.”
Open to all
This trip was to become the first of many as word spread and today, Colin Kirby-Green’s group boasts a membership of over 350 people, most of whom are based in the Colchester area.
Membership is free and open to anyone who wishes to join. “The idea behind the group is to make great art and beautiful parts of the world more accessible to people,” he says. To attract new members Colin regularly pins posters, which advertise forthcoming trips, to notice boards in and around Colchester. “The posters attract lots of attention but I also think that word of mouth is the best form of advertising,” confides Colin. “I think that people are attracted to the fact that every trip we do is accompanied by several experienced art tutors.”
Since his retirement from the Grey Friars Adult Community College in 2005, Colin has adopted several ways of staying in touch with his members. “I send a newsletter to everyone in the group at the beginning of the year, with details of all forthcoming trips over the next 12 months and a booking form, which has to be returned to me,” he explains. Additionally, prior to an overnight or overseas trip, Colin speaks to all participating members on the phone. “This allows us to go over the itinerary and answer any last minute questions. I also distribute a map of the place in which we are staying along with my mobile number,” he says.
Making a day of it
Colin tries to arrange these days out to coincide with special exhibitions and finds that all museums and galleries he has worked with are very receptive to group visits. “When your group wants to see a certain exhibition, it is wise to pre-book so there is no disappointment,” he advises.
The bulk of the group’s day trips are made to London, where venues such as the British Museum, The National Gallery and The Royal Academy of Arts are all firm favourites. “The good thing about visiting London is that, after viewing the exhibitions, we can do a spot of shopping or have lunch.”
One of the successful day trips, which springs to Colin’s mind was a visit to the Tate Modern in London in 2002. “We made this trip especially to see the ‘Matisse Picasso’ exhibition,” recalls Colin. “Everyone was so inspired by the exhibition and it was wonderful to see the works of two such important figures in art history.”
Tailoring overnight trips
Having experimented with several tour operators during his nine years as a group travel organiser, Colin tends to stick to what works best and now always organises overnight trips in the UK with Tailored Travel, the Croydon-based tour operator.“When I received Tailored Travel’s simple, no frills literature, I was instantly attracted.” Finding that the flexible and intimate approach, used by the small team at Tailored Travel, worked well with his style of organising, Colin quickly formed a close working relationship with the company. “The really excellent thing about this tour operator is that – it isn’t just a gimmick – it really does tailor travel to the specific needs of your group,” says Colin.
Last year, Colin organised a five-day break to Liverpool for 30 people with the company. “We stayed at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, which was very good,” says Colin. “We visited places such as the Tate Gallery and the Walker Gallery as well as Port Sunlight Village, Speke Hall, the National Trust property and the Lowry Gallery in Salford, which was stunning.”
Another enjoyable trip with Tailored Travel was to Glasgow and Edinburgh. “The trip was slightly themed as we mostly visited locations to see the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh such as the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, which was very interesting,” Colin remembers. The group veered away from their theme at times however to visit venues such as the Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh, which Colin describes as ‘breathtaking’.
Exotic locations
For Colin, the best thing about being a GTO is arranging trips overseas. “The overseas trips are the most popular by far and certainly the most enjoyable to organise,” he comments. “I try to make things varied and arrange three of four foreign trips a year.”
Again, Colin finds working with Tailored Travel is a useful tool when organising foreign itineraries. “I meet with Michael from Tailored Travel once or twice a year to discuss future overseas itineraries,” he explains. “I find that my own knowledge of the countries that we are visiting blended with Michael’s professional knowledge makes for excellent itinerary planning.”
Colin’s most recent overseas trip took place in June, when he travelled to Umbria in Italy for eight days with 24 people for a painting break.
Prior to that, in May, the group enjoyed eight days on the Adriatic Coast of Italy and in Florence. “We stayed at the La Fortezza Hotel in Florence for the first four nights, which was lovely.” enthuses Colin. “For the next three nights we stayed at the Villa Bianca on the Adriatic Coast.” Whilst in Florence, the group visited venues such as the Uffizi Gallery and the fifteenth century Medici Riccardi Palace and Chapel. “On the Adriatic Coast, we also visited the beautiful town of Ravenna, the ancient city of Urbino – where Raphael was born – and Bologna.”
Italy is a destination that features quite heavily in Colin’s portfolio of trips. “There are so many different aspects to Italy for an artist,” he explains. “A visit to Rome is entirely different to a visit to Florence for example.” One particularly memorable trip for Colin was one organised in conjunction with Tailored Travel, to Rome and Naples for 50 people for eight days. “As usual, I offered the free places to fellow art professionals, who were on hand to tutor the group. Because there was so much to see, my colleagues and I separated and took smaller groups to varying locations. This enabled the group to have more choice and worked very well.”
Although Italy remains a favourite destination for Colin and many of his members, the group has also visited other locations including Barcelona, New York and Manhattan, Paris and Amsterdam.
Last year, Tailored Travel assisted Colin in planning an eight-day trip to Turkey for 51 people. “This was the first time I had visited Turkey and I found it to be one of my favourite destinations,” comments Colin. “We stayed in Istanbul for the first three nights whilst later in the trip, we also visited the ancient cities of Troy and Ephesus, which was a real highlight of the itinerary for everyone.”
Colin also ventured to Prague and Vienna in 2005 for eight days with his group . “Whilst in Prague, we took advantage of various guided tours with local guides, which had been pre-booked by Tailored Travel. We visited Hradcany Castle and the National Gallery as well as Wenceslas Square. In Vienna, we stayed at the Hotel Steinberger in the city centre for three nights. As well as having a guided tour of the city, we also managed to visit the Schönbrunn Palace and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.”
Another particularly good trip enjoyed by the group was eight days of painting in Collioure in France. “This was a smaller trip with only 24 members but very relaxed and enjoyable,” recalls Colin. “We stayed seven nights at the Hotel Madeloc in Collioure, an informal family run establishment that was surrounded by beautiful countryside.” He continues, “We spent most of our time painting and enjoying the scenery; however a couple of visits to Banyuls sur Mer – an art gallery – and the Museum of Modern Art in Céret took place for those who wanted to go.”
Looking forward
Looking toward the future, Colin has already laid plans with Tailored Travel for a five-day break in Cornwall in October. Further afield and also with Tailored Travel, Colin has organised a seven-day trip to Umbria in May and several themed options for later in the year. These include ‘Provence, Cézanne and Van Gogh Country’ in March and ‘Rembrandt and the Dutch Masters’ in October, which will visit Amsterdam and Ghent.
Colin is also very enthusiastic about joining forces with other groups in the future for combined tours. “I would really like to meet other group travel organisers who would be interested in combining two groups on one tour,” he says. “So, if there are any groups out there with an interest in art and who like the sound of what we do, get in touch!” he concludes.
