(Or a creative collection)
Friday 8th September was the official launch of this year’s Swindon Open Studios; an evening where all participating artists could come together and share their work with each other and invited guests. So much of what we do as artists is solitary so events such as this are important dates on our calendar and, of course, taking part in open studios means we cannot visit each other’s creative spaces so it gives us a sneaky peak at what each of us will be showing to you, the visiting public.
We were so lucky to be given the barn at Stanton Park which is run by the charity Every Cloud as our venue for the night. With the temperature still high, we tumbled out of the beautiful stone building into the courtyard as the sun set to enjoy the balmy evening. This really is a treasure of a place and will also be the host venue for five of our artists over the coming two weekends along with artists from Every Cloud exhibiting in the farmhouse.
Swindon has a rich history in the visual arts and Open Studios is growing larger and more vibrant as each year passes. With 48 venues and well over a hundred artists taking part, this year is all set to be the best yet and this was echoed by our guest speaker, Cllr Marina Strinkovsky cabinet member for culture, art, and heritage.
Hopefully, you have picked up one of our brochures and started to plan your visits. All of our artists are putting the final touches to their creative spaces and will be ready to welcome you all.
If you haven’t done so yet, sign up to receive our newsletter especially if you are an artist thinking, yes, this is for me and want to join us next year.
Wishing you all a wonderful Swindon Open Studios 2023 from the committee.
Photographs courtesy of JMW Imaging.