No sooner had the Watts Gallery atCompton near Guildford reopenedfollowing its £11m restoration thana new appeal, led by the sculptorAntony Gormley, was launched tosave his house and studio nearby.Gormley has given the fund the£160,000 proceeds from one ofhis sculptures sold at Christie's.Limnerslease, the house andstudio Watts and his wife Marybuilt in the Arts and Crafts styleand which has been in privateownership since 1938, is now forsale and the Watts Gallery Trustneeds £9m to buy and restore it. "GF Watts was a visionary whobelieved in art's potential to transformlives and the power of the artist asa singular independent voice thatcan speak for all," Gormley said. Watts Gallery Director PerditaHunt said the acquisition of thehouse and studio would enable herto complete the mission of turningCompton into an internationalcentre for the study of Victorianart, social history and craft, offeringinspiration to more contemporaryartists. Lady Angela Nevill,Chairman of the LimnersleaseProject Appeal Committee, added:"It is heartening and inspiring thata leading artist of today supportsthe preservation and rescue of thehome and studio of a leading artistof the past. The LimnersleaseProject will save a unique part ofour heritage, complete an artists'village in Compton, and bringinnovation and ideas to artists andart enthusiasts of tomorrow."?? Left: Antony Gormley with GFWatts's sculpture, PhysicalEnergy, in Kensington Gardens12NADFAS REVIEW / AUTUMN 2011www.nadfas.org.ukARTS NEWSArts NewsArts and heritage updates from around the country. Compiled by Simon TaitWatts Gallery innew £9m appealBritain's finest todesign 2012 posters Some of Britain's leading artists areto design posters for next year'sOlympic and Paralympic Games.Fiona Banner, Michael Craig-Martin,Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, AntheaHamilton, Howard Hodgkin, GaryHume, Sarah Morris, Chris Ofilli,Bridget Riley, Bob and RobertaSmith and Rachel Whiteread haveall been commissioned as part ofthe Cultural Olympiad.Since 1912, each Olympic city has commissioned at least one artist to design posters, and in the past they have includedDavid Hockney, Andy Warhol and RB Kitaij. V&A's new DirectorannouncedProfessor Martin Roth (pictured),Director of Dresden's statecollections, succeeds Sir MarkJones as Director of the Victoriaand Albert Museum in September.Sir Mark, whose majorachievement at the V&A has beenthe creation of the Medieval andRenaissance galleries, is leaving tobecome Master of St CrossCollege, Oxford. Roth's main taskwill be overseeing the museum'snew Exhibition Road extension.