This May’s Wivenhoe Art Trail could arguably be our best yet! A long weekend of sunshine, together with being named as the best place to live in the East of England by The Sunday Times, increased the number of visitors.

We are particularly thrilled this year with Wivenhoe named as the winner and to be described, “This picturesque fishing town and former smuggling hotspot, part way between Norwich and London, is bursting with architectural charm and artistic spirit.” The piece goes on to say “art is at the heart of this picturesque town.”

The Art Trail team were contacted earlier in the year by a journalist from the Sunday Times, prompted by our social media profile and the Wivenhoe Art Trail’s creative reputation.

This year’s event boasted over 40 artists and makers across 25 venues. With a variety of work and creative skills, we are always amazed by our local supporters and delight in the many Wivenhoevians who specifically invite friends for the weekend to sample our collective enjoyment of art and creativity. Many venues are the artists’ working studios and visitors find it particularly rewarding to see the skills and materials used to create their work.

Each of our artists and makers is a small business, heartened by the positive responses from our regular Wivenhoe customers. In turn we hear that our local eateries and businesses also benefitted from the incredible footfall, with reports of queues to sustain our art loving visitors.

Once again we invited both Broomgrove and Millfields primary schools to contribute to the occasion by adorning St Mary’s churchyard with their individual art works. The Art Trail organisers introduce the project by means of an assembly in each school and provide all the necessary materials, giving teachers and pupils free range to create work across diverse themes chosen by each teacher. It’s always a pleasure to watch the children seeking out their contributions in the churchyard and a joy to see the next generations’ ideas fluttering in the breeze.

Wivenhoe’s resident artists are yet again setting a national tone with their work as ceramicist Georgina Lorton featured in June’s edition of Country Living magazine. Zen and the Art of Home making is a multi-page article charting her serenely beautiful work and influences, styled in her home and studio.

Rosanna Gethin is a contributor on the daytime TV programme Money for Nothing with her upcycled leather creations, and two of our regular contributors to the Art Trail have been included in this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Jo Angell’s painting, Basket Island, and Alison Stockmarr’s two Alphabetical Encyclopaedias, K is for knowledge and E is for Extinction, are on display until 18 August. Several of our artists including Jo Angell, Richard Hayward and Alison Stockmarr have pieces in The Minories Summer Open Exhibition, which features work by over 200 artists from across the UK

We can safely say that Wivenhoe’s creative community are well and truly on the map!

Our next Art Trail is scheduled for 15 - 17 November. Please pop the dates in your diary and, for more information, why not sign up to our mailing list on our website. Alternatively follow us on our social media platforms where you can see the plethora of makers in the run up to each show. A warm Wivenhoe welcome awaits next time.

To keep up to date with all our events, visit our social media platforms and website - a very warm Wivenhoe welcome awaits.

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Website: www.wivenhoearttrail.com