Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s oldest and biggest open studios and pop-up exhibition event, and the 41st festival, which runs from 6-29 May and begins with a coronation, promises to be fit for a king. As the country’s creatives open their doors to welcome visitors, for free, there’s a wealth of art and intrigue to explore.
In the villages around Wantage as many as 30 artists, ceramicists, sculptors, jewellers – many of whom are taking part in Artweeks for the first time this year invite you to explore more than twenty locations venues including the Biblio Press in Oxford’s Bodleian Library and the National Trust Heritage and Rural Skills Centre in Coleshill, just beyond Faringdon once the top-secret training headquarters for the secret British Resistance. You’ll find artists, designers, and makers showcasing extraordinary talent, explaining their materials and, often, demonstrating their methods. Touch and talk about thousands of pieces of art and craft and uncover the stories of their inspiration.
In Wantage itself, visitors to the Vale and Downland Museum can enjoy landscape paintings by perennially popular artists Jill Smith and Patsy Jones in traditional oils, as well as linocut prints and paper collage. You can also visit The Old Stables on Stirling Close, a space reanimated by Makespace Oxford who are on a mission to transform empty and underused spaces in local town centres where you’ll find a number of artists working in a variety of media. Over on Segsbury Road John Gunter offers a warm welcome and a large selection of surprising artworks to browse: he often paints on driftwood, roof slates and other found materials, and enjoys capturing the ever changing sea and coastline structures. Alongside more local views, you’ll find puffins, beach huts, boats and more.
Jill Smith and Patsy Jones (Artweeks venues 55 and 56)
Vale and Downland Museum, Church Street Wantage OX12 8BL
9-27 May museum opening hours
Makespace Oxford (Wantage) (Artweeks venue 57)
The Old Stables, Stirling Close OX12 7AU
makespaceoxford.org
8-13 May (11am-4pm; Sat 10am-4pm)
John Gunter (Artweeks venue 54)
4 Segsbury Road, Wantage OX12 9XR
6-14 May (11am-5pm)
Other local top spots
In Stanford, a trio of treasures
In Stanford-in-the-Vale nine artists are coming together in three venues within a few hundred metres of one another. They offer a warm welcome, and a great variety of work including charming ceramics, intriguing jewellery, delicate collaged wall art, stunning stained glass and tactile wood pieces. Look out for Lawrence Ward’s latest atmospheric landscape paintings which are carefully worked and evocative. The exhibition takes the viewer on a tour of local walks, the Ridgeway and the woods and hills of other historic corners of England. Alongside, Chloe Romanos is a jeweller working with traditional goldsmithing techniques. Who handcrafts her pieces using recycled silver or gold and incorporating colourful gemstones. Her background in archaeology and her fascination for art history has inspired her to explore metal transformation and texture and capture the beauty of small details.
Kate Daunt | Jamie Macfarlane | Noriko Macfarlane (Artweeks venue 51)
53 High Street, Stanford in the Vale SN7 8NQ
Open 6-14 May (11am-6pm)
Kerry Houghton | Chrissy Morton | Ben Houghton (Artweeks venue 52)
10 Spencers Close, Stanford in the Vale SN7 8NG
Open 6-14 May (11am-4.30pm)
Lawrence Ward OAS | Anne Mills | Chloe Romanos (Artweeks venue 53)
The Vine, Mill Farm, Faringdon Road, Stanford in the Vale SN7 8NP
Open 6-14 May (11am-6pm)
In East Hanney, artist/teacher Shelia Hore works in a variety of mediums which explore and represent direct observation. She invites you into her tucked-away studio to see a collection of moulded and hand modelled ceramic/porcelain pieces, plus drawings and paintings, and abstract developments. Beyond in Marcham, Pip Stacey of Feathered Glass promises colour and intrigue, inspired by a deeply ingrained love of flora. Her glass pieces are fused, pressed, and cast, and often spontaneous! “On first glance,” says Pip, “glass is a hard and unforgiving material. But used in its many forms, with varying degrees of heat manipulation, you can create intriguing results. All of my art is kiln formed, some are cast, most are fused, and all are lovingly cold worked by hand to a beautiful finish. I hope they arouse your curiosity, and you find the beauty I have tried to work into each and every one.”
Sheila Hore (Artweeks venue 58)
Broad Meadows, Ashfields Lane, Wantage OX12 0HN
6-14 May (11am-5pm)
Pip Stacey (Artweeks venue 31)
Pear Tree Cottage, 7 Packhorse Lane, Marcham OX13 6NT
6-7 11-14 May (12pm-5pm)
Looking East, Greg Whiteman is an artist based in East Hendred. In the old church rooms “Tin Hut”, Greg has recently created the Hendred Creative Hub, a place for art, workshops, and life drawing classes, and this is where he is exhibiting his own art, from portraits to automotive art, botanicals and his dusk to dawn series. Greg’s work is striking: his photorealistic style often has viewers commenting if it’s a drawing or not?
Greg Whiteman (Artweeks venue 59)
Hendred’s Creative Hub, Newbury Road, East Hendred OX12 8LG
Also open 6-8 12-14 19-21 26-29 May (11am-6pm)
You’ll also find three talents artists in Chilton where Ardington resident Lisa Wallis is showcasing her jewellery alongside the stunning pottery of Jo Marshall – whose smile you’ll often see in Wantage Dolphin Gallery – and watercolours and oil by talented painter Lin Kerr.
Lisa Wallis, Jo Marshall and Lin Kerr (Artweeks venues 60-62)
41 Limetrees, Chilton nr Didcot OX11 0HY
12-14 May (11am-6pm)
Across the whole county, during the festival, as many as 2.000 artists, ceramicists, sculptors, jewellers, furniture-makers, milliners and more than 200 new exhibitors will be presenting over 500 shows at nearly 400 different locations. They will be showcasing their creative talent, explaining their materials and, often, demonstrating their methods. Visitors will be able to see, touch and talk about hundreds of thousands of pieces of art and craft and uncover the stories of their inspiration. The art on show both celebrates iconic Oxford views and local landscapes and promises a global journey through the eyes of local artists who have been influenced by people and places around the world and the colours, fabrics, and styles of exotic destinations. Explore a five-acre sculpture park in the Cotswolds and take an art trail through the towns of Woodstock, Watlington and Wallingford, or tour America on a motorbike, go on safari in Tanzania, head to Svalbard or Cuba, and be enchanted by Rajasthan.
For more information on these venues and hundreds more, visit artweeks.org
