If this is the year you are planning to get more art into your life, either making or appreciating it, look no further than Art in Poundbury.
Our mass participation events – Art in the Park and Art in the Sunflowers are days when anyone can come along with some materials and take part in making art outdoors. It really doesn’t matter if you are accomplished or you haven’t picked up a paintbrush in years: our events are inclusive of all standards and all ages. Art in the Park will take place on 6 June this year at the Great Field, Poundbury and Art in the Sunflowers will be sometime in August at Maiden Castle Farm depending on when the sunflowers are at their peak.
Art in Poundbury artists are filling walls with bright and brilliant art, enriching environments that may otherwise be unwelcoming and stark. At Dorset County Hospital in Damers corridor and in the Prince of Wales GP surgery you will see paintings and 3D artwork appearing. We’re not always at our best when we need to use these services so to be in a bright and interesting environment can be a distraction and a comfort. The art display in Dorset County Hospital will be in place until April this year. The display in the GP surgery is permanent.
Throughout the year we hold art clubs for children at The Pavilion in the Park in the Great Field and we take artmaking into local schools, youth clubs, care homes and workplaces. Some of that art comes together in a huge community art piece at our Winter Exhibition. It’s a reminder that everyone can make art and when we come together as artists and art lovers the impact can be quite something.
If you are interested in seeing and buying affordable local art, our artists provide art for the walls in two local cafes – the Pavilion in the Park and Crossroads, with a regularly changing display of pictures. This not only gives accomplished and emerging local artists the opportunity to exhibit their work, it connects artists and art lovers.
The Art in Poundbury year ends with a big bang – the Winter Exhibition in the Jubilee Hall. This year it will open on 21 November. It’s one of the highlights of the art year in Dorset and we’ll share more details as the year progresses. What we don’t always shout about is the fundraising that happens as part of the exhibition. Last year £3,000 was raised for the Dorset County Hospital Emergency Unit Appeal. Thank you to everyone who bought Tiny Art Gallery pieces and took a chance on a raffle prize, and to all those who donated prizes and artworks including Tony Prior, Jackie Walker and Monica Perry. The money raised will help to enrich the environment in and outside the new emergency department for patients, their loved ones and the staff who treat and support them.
When artist Jack Dickson spoke at the Art in Poundbury Winter Exhibition last year, he said: “We need to value these sorts of events and organisations – an infrastructure that allows people to be creative. Community groups are at the front line of that.” To all our artists, art lovers, volunteers and supporters – thank you for being part of this flourishing community.