Oxfordshire Artweeks 2019 set to be the UK’s biggest ever open studios event

Submitted by Esther Lafferty on Tue, 15/01/2019 - 7:25am
Vital Peeters in his glass studio (venue 17).

Around 1000 artists and designer-makers - including two hundred new faces with fresh ideas - are preparing to hold their biggest ever festival this spring (4th-27th May).

For 24 days, a colourful spectrum of artists, artisans and designers will be opening hundreds of studios and spaces, presenting pop-up exhibitions and giving demonstrations in interesting venues in Oxford, the Cotswolds and the Thames Valley, in villages and market towns across the county. Visitors will be invited, for free, into garden studios and open houses, cottages, manor houses, city apartments and college cloisters to enjoy paintings, porcelain and pottery, sculpted stone and iron from the forge, warm woods, furniture, fashion and treasures in gold and silver. Visitors can see the materials and methods used to create tens of thousands of pieces, have a go themselves (and even book onto workshops), and enjoy beautiful art and designs with a difference from the creative talent based in Oxfordshire, inspired by people, places, the past and the present.

Visitors can experience places as far apart as Morocco and Amazonia in striking shapes and vivid colours or choose to follow the Silk Route in Uzbekistan in photographs. There’s a chance to marvel at delicate Chinese brush strokes or to dicover the diaries of ‘adventure artist’ who painted her way through challenging and formidable environments in the Arctic circle during one of the world's toughest expeditions. Closer to home, marvel at sumptuous textiles inspired by Matthew Arnold’s ‘Cumner hills’ or take a look at life at HMP Bullingdon in an exhibition created by the men who live there.

Visitors can enjoy meadows and shores by renowned British print-maker Angie Lewin or an exhibition of paintings by James Kelso whose work is regularly shown by the Royal Academy; there’s a chance to discover a collection of ceramics from the world famous Leach-Cardew studios or meet Chris Davies, a 2018 finalist from the BBC’s Big Painting Challenge.

From the real to the surreal, there’s fun of the fair and a feast for the eyes in flora, fauna, folklore and fable so whether an art aficionado or interested day-tripper, be enchanted, inspired and choose something unique to adorn your own home this May.

Oxfordshire Artweeks is supported by Designers Guild.