Helfa Gelf/Art Trail is looking for participants to join this year’s Open Studio event and would love to hear from you. Helfa Gelf/Art Trail invites the public to visit artists at work in their studios. It is a chance for visitors to experience this normally hidden world and get to chat to the artists and crafts people about their creative process.
The open studio concept is a tried and tested formula for increasing the profile and sales of local artists and for bringing art to a wider audience. Similar schemes exist all over the UK; the more established ones have been running for over twenty years.
Helfa Gelf /Art Trail is North Wales’ largest anual Open Studios project, with participating artists from Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire and Flintshire counties. We had 112 artists taking part in 2009. The event had over 6000 visitors last year and the artists sold over £20000 worth of work.
It is becoming an established event in the region, attracting visitors from outside the area to help extend the tourist season into autumn, as well as putting North Wales on the map for its thriving arts scene.
The work in previous years has covered a wide range of the visual arts, including painting and sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, jewellery making, basket weaving, woodcarving and photography. It is an exciting opportunity for the public to not only see where and how artists work but to buy direct from the maker without commission. In addition to the Open Studios, exhibitions of work will be held in a number of venues across North Wales during the year. Artists also get the benefit of free professional development opportunities and the chance to attend masterclasses to try out new methods.
The fifth annual Open Studio event for local artists will be held Friday to Sunday on the last three weekends in September 2010. You can apply now by going to their website www.helfagelf.co.uk (click on apply now). The application deadline is the 14th February 2010.
For further information or the application form visit their web site at www.helfagelf.co.uk. Or e-mail [email protected]
