24-26 August 2013
“Bridport & West Dorset Open Studios 2013”
This coming Bank Holiday weekend 24-26 August, Bridport is celebrating
its 15th annual Open Studios event with over 100 artists in 40
venues in Bridport and across West Dorset. Pick up a free 44-page Open Studios Guide (or view online at www.DT6.co.uk) which
includes directions and 5 Art Trails.
Bridport Open Studios gives both
art lovers and discerning collectors an opportunity to discover a new
generation of artists – both established names and emerging talents - who are
making Bridport one of the most respected artistic centres in the West Country.
Since the 1960’s a new
generation of artists have chosen
to move out of the city and set up studios in the towns and countryside of West
Dorset. At the centre stands Bridport, a quiet market town with a uniquely
enterprising and resourceful community. With this steady influx of artists and
musicians the towns artistic culture began to blossom and supportive venues
began to spring up. The Bridport Arts Centre opened in 1973 in a former chapel
on South Street, followed in the 1980’s by the West Dorset Art School in
Symondsbury - just outside Bridport - and the adjacent Oakhayes Art Residency which
ran throughout the 1990’s.
The Bridport Open Studios event started
in 1999, and the same year, St Michael’s Studios opened in an old ware-house on
a former rope-making estate in Bridport. Providing work spaces for over 20
artists, the studios have become a highly visible community of painters,
designers and illustrators, and its popularity has led a renaissance on the
industrial estate that has seen the emergence of the Art & Vintage Quarter,
with a resurgence of crafts, traditional skills, antiques shops and creative
trades.
This year there is also a preview
exhibition called ‘6 by 9’ of small works by participating artists at the
Electric Palace, Bridport from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 31 August, Monday to
Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Pick up a Free Guide from Tourist
Information Centres, the Bridport Arts Centre and the Electric Palace. View an
online version of the Guide at www.DT6.co.uk and follow Bridport Open Studios on Twitter @bridportOS with more
information about the event at www.bridportopenstudios.co.uk
For more information call 01308
424582 or visit www.facebook.com/BridportOS
If you are interested in sponsoring,
advertising in or taking part in Bridport Open Studios in 2014 please contact
Event Director Kit Glaisyer on bridportopen@gmail.com
