OBITUARY: Tributes paid to arts champion Mary Burkett

Mary Burkett OBE, was a doughty and feisty champion of the arts in the county for more than 60 years. She was a teacher, adventurer, archaeologist, catalyst, traveller, patron, a world authority on felt and author, 
having written the biographies of 12 Cumbrian artists.

President of the International Feltmakers Association and one of the arts world’s finest ambassadors, Mary was director of Abbot Hall Arts Gallery from 1966-86, and recently returned to the revered Kendal gallery for a party as part of her 90th birthday celebrations.

Gordon Watson, chief executive of Lakeland Arts - which owns Abbot Hall - said they were very sorry to hear of the death of Mary Burkett and their thoughts went out to her family and friends. 

He added: "Mary will be greatly missed by so many people. Mary started as an assistant at Abbot Hall when it opened in 1962 and was director for 20 years.

Some of the gallery’s most significant works, including The Great Picture and George Romney’s The Gower Family, were acquired when Mary was director.

She also established the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry which opened in 1971. Mary was a tremendous supporter of Abbot Hall and Lakeland Arts and we were pleased to welcome her recently to the gallery to celebrate her 90th birthday.” 

At Abbot Hall Mary worked closely with Alfred Wainwright, who as Kendal Borough Treasurer, would meet her every Monday morning to discuss finances.
Liz Clay, chairman of the International Felt Makers Association also paid tribute to Mary. 

"Through research and travel in the 1960s Mary brought the knowledge of felt from the Middle East to western culture and for this she is affectionately known by contemporaries in the world of felt, as The Mother of Felt.

Mary was a wonderful woman and her passion was infectious. I knew Mary all too briefly over a 20-year period of her incredible life span.

Her interests and authority knew no bounds, her sharp wit and humour laced with gentle persuasion and kindness made her a true friend for life.

Felt makers worldwide will mourn her passing but rejoice in her gift: the renaissance of felt making."

Mary also championed Senhouse Roman Museum, Ambleside's Armitt Museum and Whitehaven's Rosehill Theatre, where she was president.

"Mary was the president having been involved with Rosehill Theatre since its creation," explained Rosehill director Richard Elder.

"She was a remarkable woman, single minded about the value of arts and culture and in her support of individual talent."

Born in Newcastle in 1924, Mary moved south to teach after obtaining her BA, Teachers Certificate, at St Hild’s College, Durham during the war.

She came to Cumbria in 1954 as Arts and Craft Lecturer at Charlotte Mason College, Ambleside. 

In 1962 she spent seven months travelling in Turkey and Persia in an old Land Rover with a friend Genette Dagtoglu (then Genette Malet de Carteret).

This adventure is described in their book The Beckoning East: A journey through Turkey and Persia in 1962.

And Persia kindled Mary’s lifetime interest in felt.

On her return from Persia Mary became assistant director of Abbot Hall Art Gallery, becoming its director in 1966 at the invitation of its chairman, Peter Scott.

'Abbot Hall was an idea that needed a catalyst to bring it to its full potential," said Alex Scott, of the Francis C Scott Charitable Trust.

He added: "Mary was that catalyst and she made an effective partnership with Peter Scott's ambition for the gallery and for Kendal.

She combined artistic sensibilities with a good business sense, charm with intellect and personal drive with a twinkle in her eye.

She usually got her way and was powerfully persuasive. The gallery and Museum of Lakeland Life are indelible testaments to the Scott/Burkett partnership and made an important cultural contribution to Kendal.'

During her 20 years’ stewardship, Abbot Hall was transformed into an art gallery of national standing and she succeeded in many significant acquisitions for Abbot Hall at a time when funding was very difficult.

These included Barbara Hepworth’s Trezion and Romney’s The Gower Children.
At Abbot Hall Mary worked closely with Alfred Wainwright, who as Kendal Borough Treasurer, would meet her every Monday morning to discuss finances.

She persuaded him to donate the profits of his book Wainwright in Lakeland to Abbot Hall. 

In 1986, the same year she retired from Abbot Hall, she inherited Isel Hall, near Cockermouth, from a friend and kinswoman, Margaret Austen Leigh.

Isel Hall has a 14th Century pele tower and Elizabethan range, a sunken walled garden and magnificent terrace over the river Derwent.

Simon Jenkins described in his England’s Thousand Best Houses how Mary was once introduced to Prince Charles as “the maddest woman in Cumbria.”

Mary never retired. Right up until she died she was tirelessly championing, initiating and encouraging many aspects of Cumbria’s cultural life and heritage. 

On her last Sunday she was, as president of Rosehill Theatre Trust, announcing a crucial grant from the Coastal Communities Fund that will ensure the re-imagining and future of Rosehill Theatre. 

Mary, who never married, made her life’s work art and culture in Cumbria and the Lake District and there can hardly be an arts or heritage charity in Cumbria which she has not supported either as benefactor or patron or president or trustee or member. 

Melvyn Bragg often said no one dared say no to Mary. 

In a tribute to her at this weekend’s Maryport Literary Festival, Cate Haste (Melvyn's wife) said: "A light has gone out of our lives. Mary’s energy, encouragement and promotion of the arts, not only in Cumbria, was inspirational and unfaltering over six decades. We, the public, individual artists, writers, her countless friends and several now flourishing institutions owe her great deal. She kept the creative spirit alive and illuminated all our lives.”

Liam McDowall, long-time friend and director of Strategic Communications at United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said: “Mary possessed a breathtaking life affirming approach to everything she did. It was wonderfully infectious. She radiated a positivity that moved people not only to think differently but empowered so many to achieve great things.

"She had a boundless enthusiasm, as well as an insightful curiosity and intelligence about the world and just about everything in it - the land, medieval architecture, the middle east, languages, textiles, contemporary artists, education, Japanese pottery and much much more.

"Mary’s can-do hands-on approach saw her actively and constantly engaged, often leading, multiple campaigns and efforts to support or promote vital issues to society, both locally and on the international stage. Her selfless and often exhausting commitment to supporting others was truly inspiring.

"Shining through everything Mary achieved was her light, even egalitarian, touch and genuine warmth and compassion for people. The loss of her generosity of spirit and unwavering loyalty to her friends will be deeply felt.”

Mary passed away at her Isel Hall home, Cockermouth, on November 12.
She is survived by her sister Josephine, nephew Christopher and niece Ruth. 

A Thanksgiving Service for Mary will be held at Carlisle Cathedral on Friday, February 6 at 5.30pm.