Around 1,000 artists and designer-makers in Oxfordshire are preparing for more than 400 exhibitions and events as part of this year’s Oxfordshire Artweeks.
Taking place from May 2-25, there will be more than two dozen in and around Banbury for the longest-running and biggest open studios event in the country. Locations include Market Place, The Mill Arts Centre, The Artery and Restore on Calthorpe Street.
Painters and designers, potters and sculptors, wood-turners, photographers and jewellers will also be opening their homes and studios across the county to the public for free to showcase their talent through exhibitions.
Banbury artist Gena Johns presents the town in 3D handcut photographic collages and digital collages transferred onto wood. Painter Stuart Roper explores Oxfordshire’s secret places on a large scale at Hamptons International in Market Place.
At The Mill, discover colourful natural canvases in a new airy attic studio space. Just a stone’s throw away, enjoy striking art photography in both bold colours and black and white by Steve Gold on Queen’s Road.
Find watercolours and acylics by local arts groups at The Artery on Parsons Street, and consider art and poetry intertwined as the talented members and volunteers of Restore expresss their experiences and feelings about mental health.
On Tramway, ground-breaking Oxfordshire artist Claire Reika-Wright displays engaging interactive art inspired by trees in the Cotswolds.
In the countryside around, find quirky animals in a Swalcliffe pub, big bold abstracts and pots of pleasure and purpose in Bloxham and, in Deddington, Cloudcuckool and courtesy of designer-maker Tony Davis from the art collective Art More Lovely.