We were very sorry to hear of the death of Mary Moser (6th Dec 1921 – 15th Feb 2022) who died earlier this year, aged 100.
As soon as Mary moved to Oxford in 1984 she became involved in Artweeks. She was chair for many years until 2001.
During her time as chair she oversaw Artweeks growing into one of the first and most successful open studio festivals anywhere. She was also instrumental in developing both Kids@Art and Art for Age, 2 projects which had the aim of widening access to art – something she felt passionate about. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Mary spent 3 weeks every summer walking the streets of Oxford and driving round the lanes and villages of Oxfordshire to visit as many Artweeks sites as possible. As a keen artist herself she also exhibited her own work in various settings, including at Wadham College and Sutton Courtney Abbey.
As someone who had always combined art with being a wife and mother and having a career in social work, Mary was always particularly happy to meet artists for whom art was not their first or only career. This led to the establishment of the Mary Moser award in 2003 – an award given to an artist exhibiting in Artweeks who has taken up art as a second career. Well into her 90s, Mary made a point of meeting the Mary Moser award winner each year. This was something that gave her great pleasure.
Mary always considered her role in Artweeks and the associated projects to be one of her proudest achievements.