Update 15th December 2021
Although the Omicron variant of COVID is currently surging across the country, there is no indication that the festival will not be able to run as normal in May 2022. If we find restrictions of any kind are in place, as in 2021, then we each venue will be expected to put appropriate covid-secure measures in place. In the unlikely scenario of a full lock-down then the festival will take place on-line as it did in 2020.
We have committed to printing a festival guide in any scenario.

Update 23rd February 2021
Boris’ roadmap out of lockdown schedules the reopening of non-essential retail and commercial galleries for 12th April. We expect most Artweeks venues to fall into this bracket and are pleased that we can, therefore, continue largely as planned in a COVID-secure way. Artweeks is, however, an umbrella for many types of venues including museums and as every venue's circumstances are different, each artist/venue is best placed to define themselves. Please reinforce and publicise your COVID-secure measures and keep up-to-date with any further updates to regulations.
The current government document outlining Step 2 can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021.
Depending on your venue type, venue size and expected visitor numbers, you may wish to implement an appointment system so that only individuals or single households come inside at any one time. You might also consider a ‘waiting area’. You/your exhibition organiser can add By appointment/By appointment recommended/Call for an appointment/a link to a web-based system such as Calendly or any appropriate alternative to the Long Description of the Exhibition Entry in your/their user account.
Should this roadmap change closer to the time causing you to cancel or if you/your venue know now that you are not able to open, please let us know. If, alternatively, you wish to postpone, you/your exhibition organiser should add the new dates you have chosen in the Long Description of the Exhibition Entry in your/their user account. TIP: scroll down to the bottom to save the changes to your exhibition registration.
TIP: scroll down to the bottom to save any changes to your exhibition registration.

New information: 9th January 2021
To take part, whether physically or just virtually, you need to have submitted both a membership and an exhibition entry of your own/some kind, be part of a registered group exhibition by 31st January. Please be aware that if you sign up for Artweeks membership 2021 but are not exhibiting physically this year you will not automatically have the benefits of an artist profile/a presence in the virtual festival.

In a normal year Artweeks members are expected to exhibit physically at one or more of the exhibition venues listed in the festival guide. Each exhibitor was encouraged to complete an on-line artist profile (previously called a gallery) which we linked to your exhibition entry and provided for free. This gave further information on the artist(s) at any venue and supported large group exhibitions, in particular.

Some members have concerns about exhibiting and securing venues is proving difficult. Therefore even if you are not exhibiting physically, you can still be part of the virtual festival/Christmas Season/Artweeks social media/and add your events to a new listing of artist-led workshops. For this, you will need to make an additional contribution to cover the administration of Artweeks all year round.

To exhibit virtually you have two choices: 1) Virtual exhibition only in an artist profile/gallery within the virtual festival. This will included in website trails and other promotional activities throughout the year. You will also be able to add workshops and a Christmas event to the website. If you are exhibiting physically, these opportunities will be available to you automatically. You will not appear in the digital festival guide nor on the festival map. Because this is a new option to cater for those who cannot or would prefer not to exhibit physically this year, there is no facility to pay the fee for this - £50 - via the website. Please therefore either make a direct transfer by paypal to payments@artweeks.org or email/call the office for bank transfer details. 2) Be listed as a virtual exhibition in the digital festival guide/artist directory with your name, image & contact details in addition to the artist progile/gallery and inclusion in the virtual festival/Christmas Season etc. For this option submit your exhibition entry as normal (and at the normal price) ticking all the dates, writing Virtual Exhibition Only in text in the address boxes with either your ‘click-and-collect’ address or Artweeks postcode OX2 9LF by 31st January. Prior to and in May, the digital festival guide will be our key marketing device and so visitors planning their visits will also see your details alongside those of physical venues. For Virtual only Large Group entries please contact office for bespoke costings.

Please be clear that this is a very financially-challenging time for Artweeks: if you have benefitted from Artweeks in the past and hope to do do so again in the future, please show your support for the organisation, by registering an exhibition this year as normal so that an annual Artweeks festival can continue to take place and support Oxfordshire artists beyond 2021.

News release 8th October: looking ahead to 2021

The Board has given detailed consideration to the best way to approach 2021 at a time when, while we all hope COVID-secure physical exhibitions will take place, we cannot be sure that advice and regulations concerning/controlling the pandemic will not still be in place.
The following aproach was endorsed by the Artweeks membership at the AGM held in October 2020.

The Festival Guide
It is currently far from certain that the distribution of the 2021 can take place in the normal way: many places including libraries and theatres do not expect to be able to hand out any printed material until April at the earliest. We plan therefore to produce only a digital version, as a pdf and a flipbook. This will be distributed widely electronically. The website will also show all the information about each exhibition on an interactive map and visitors will be able to browse and search for nearby venues, specific artists and by keyword from their smartphones.

Cancelling the printing of the Festival Guide enables us to delay the deadline date so potential exhibitors in May 2020 can see how the pandemic evolves over the winter.

The revised deadline for registration is 31st January 2021.

Consider an appointment system
As you plan your opening times, consider offering appointments in the mornings/evening or on certain days – for example 12-6pm (10am-12pm by appt). You can plan to use an appointment system from the outset if you wish, simply writing ‘By appt only’ as opening times or 'Please call/email for an appt', or if you opt to do this later, details can be amended on the website on a venue-by-venue basis in real time, up to and during the festival.
Venues can, if they wish, individually link to a simple appointment system - ideally Calendly.com for consistency - from the exhibition text on the Artweeks website so visitors can prebook on-line. We note that opening by-appointment-only stops passing visitors popping in; however feedback shows those who make an appointment are more likely to buy.

All exhibition organisers must agree to take appropriate measures so that the exhibition complies with government guidance on being COVID-secure. If current or similar regulations still apply in May, take tips from shops and galleries on masks, hand sanitizer, etc and think how traffic flow could take a one way path through larger venues, for example. Your text in the festival guide might include phrases such as airy/open venue; large garden; etc. or even Covid-secure. You can alternatively add these things in your on-line text.

The recommended Artweeks COVID-secure policy should reassure even the most wary visitors that your venue is safe to visit.
COVID-secure policy
Risk assessment template
You may wish to include a link to a completed risk assessment in the ‘long description’ within your exhibition entry on this website.

Real time updates
The digital Festival Guide will make it clear that visitors should always check the website before setting out in case changing regulations have caused an exhibition venue to amend its open hours, to limit visitor numbers or introduce an appointment system at short notice. Although the information in the digital festival guide will be as registered, you can amend your exhibition details on the website any time until and during the festival. If circumstances cause last minute wholescale changes as they did in 2020, venues will then be able to choose to mark themselves as Open/Open by Appointment only/Postponed/Closed.

What will happen if the pandemic impacts upon or closes physical exhibitions in 2021?
• Alongside the physical festival, Oxfordshire Artweeks will host a virtual festival over the same period.
• All members can participate simply by completing their extended on-line profile before the festival begins with images and additional information.
• All artist profiles will be included in the on-line art showcase, the mainstay of the virtual festival, which will also offer visitors a choice of themed art trails and general searches/browsing.
• There will be ‘trailer’ videos again & the art showcase will remain on-line until 30th September 2021.
• Again a proportion of the virtual festival will take place live on social media and those who wish can take part for the full 24 days of the festival rather than a single geographic week.

In addition to the May festival, Artweeks support for artists in 2021 will include • NEW: The ability for members to promote workshops & Christmas events on the website
All members may upload details of workshops they are running all year round and Christmas events 2021 that will be listed, simply, by date on the Artweeks website.
• Monthly newsletters, opportunities for additional publicity and all year round networking on the Oxfordshire Artweeks artists Facebook group and through the activities of local Artweeks coordinators/groups.

We have also been asked ‘If the physical festival doesn’t go ahead again in 2021, will I get my money back?’

Unfortunately not. Oxfordshire Artweeks is a non-profit organisation which has worked to support both emerging and established artists for nearly forty years and it is entirely reliant on the income received from artists on a yearly basis. We don’t receive any grants or support from elsewhere.

The fees each year fund the staffing of the organisation by two part-timer, other running costs and the marketing of the festival including the website and web support, costs largely incurred before the end of February. This means income from 2021 registrations will have been spent/committed before we know for certain whether coronavirus will impact upon festival plans.

We therefore ask our regular exhibitors to be clear that this is a challenging time for Artweeks: if you are in a position to do so, please you show your support for the organisation through these difficult times, by registering this year as normal so that an annual Artweeks festival can continue to take place and support Oxfordshire artists in the future.