My focus this past month has been The Gleaning, a community art project I’m co-curating with Gill Sakakini. It’s thrilling to see all the installations looking so fabulous in the church windows, and to receive such wonderful reception. it’s been a huge success - all-consuming, as usual with ambitious projects involving numerous strands and people. We had a great Launch on 22 September, opened by Rt Rev Bishop Ruth Worsley (of Taunton, and Bath & Wells Diocese), and have since had excellent attendance at our exhibition with numerous events almost daily, still ongoing. This weekend is the finale of our exhibitions/events, part of Somerset Art Weeks Festival. The project has been rewarding in many ways, and I’ve enjoyed collaborating with so many different people.
Open Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5, St Peter & Paul’s church, Shepton Mallet, Church Lane BA4 5BW
Events
Sat 8th Oct, 3pm, "Song & Celebration" - Local School Choirs perform a specially-commissioned song for The Gleaning with a balletic response by dancer Joe Ducille
Sun 9th Oct, 8-10pm, Evening at the Gleaning. A celebration: poets, musicians and artists share their responses to The Gleaning
We’ll reopen for Shepton on Show next Friday evening, 14th October 6-8pm.
We’ve had some excellent publicity. This evening (Fri 7 Oct) I’ll be chatting to Jenna on BBC Somerset Radio at 6.10pm 95.5FM, if you fancy listening in!
To see the development of the project visit instagram page
Thanks to supporters including Shepton Mallet Town Council, The Arts Society Wessex Area, Diocese of Bath & Wells, Glastonbury Festivals, Tesco, The Eaton Fund, Cranmore Parish Council and Chrisi Kennedy.
Special thanks to Polly Hall, Bella Frey, Chris Lee, Rosalind Teesdale-Ives, Lizzie Britain, Steve Bruce-Jones, Alastair Bolt, Dominic Weston, Mark Adler, Vaughan Ives, Martyn Sheppard, Jenny Short and Beacon Photography Group. And thanks to the many people who joined us in the making process, and who donated recycled materials to the project. The project relied on a great deal of time, labour, goodwill and voluntary work. We have a donate button on the website if you’d like to support.
Do visit if you can!
Curators Gill Sakakini & Fiona Campbell, with Polly Hall, Shepton Mallet church. Photo Vaughan Ives
ACE Developing Your Creative Practice Award
I’ve been researching Kenyan artists in advance of my trip to Kenya later next month. Have also been sketching, walking, stitching, and gathering a few more ideas. Visit my DYCP instagram page for details.
