This year’s Skipton Open Studios celebration of Jersey’s artistic community will see an Island ambassador, heritage organisations, schools and a steamroller from Sark playing key roles in a variety of events.
The mini-size steamroller is being put to a very unusual use by printmaker Kerry-Jane Warner at the launch of Skipton Open Studios 2014. As part of Pallot Steam Museum’s Liberation Day celebrations, she usws the steamroller to make large lino prints, inviting the public to join in. .
Jersey Arts Trust Director Tom Dingle said: “Skipton Open Studios is certainly a case of a whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The dialogue between artists, partners and public develop the creative opportunities and fuel a creative energy that makes this event so exciting to be a part of.”
Island ambassador Aurthur Lamy – aka Arthur the Blue Badge Guide – will be encouraging Islanders and visitors to get on their bikes as he takes cycle tours around studios Islandwide. He will also be leading ‘Art in the Open Air’ walking tours of St Helier’s public sculptures and monuments.
‘Once again, I look forward to cycling around the studios,’ he said. ‘We’ll take little-used, scenic lanes and we’ll walk up the hills! “Art in the Open Air” is a series of hourly walks that will pass many of St Helier’s iconic statues and monuments. Along the way, we’ll discover who created them, why they are there and how they fit into Island history.’
Primary school children and Le Rocquier School are key players in the celebration of art in the historic heart of St Helier, the Royal Square, from Friday 20 to Sunday 22 June. Le Rocquier School will be helping local artists Ian Rolls, Alasdair Healy and Kerry-Jane Warner with their ‘instant photo booth’ with a difference. Instead of photographs, local artists will be hand-drawing portraits.
And L’Office du Jèrriais and artists from Jersey and France, working alongside primary school children, will be painting large canvas banners in the Royal Square.
Jersey Mencap’s ‘Taking Part Making Art’ is again involved in this year’s event, with an Open Studio at Castle Quay during the weekend of 5 and 6 July, as is the Société Jersiaise Archilse International Photographer in Residence 2014, Yury Toropstov.
The Managing Director of event sponsor Skipton International, Jim Coupe, said: ‘The Jersey Arts Trust has done a great job this year in widening the appeal of Skipton Open Studios to engage the public in a variety of ways in this fantastic community event which celebrates the wealth of artistic talent in Jersey.’
The open studios will be in artists’ homes, workplaces and heritage sites such as Jersey Heritage’s Lewis’ Tower and Tour Cârrée in St Ouen’s Bay; the National Trust for Jersey’s Morel Farm and Bellozanne Abbey and Jersey Trees for Life HQ in St Ouen, the Frances Le Sueur Centre, where archaeological journalist Christine Finn will be launching her Jersey’s lost gardens project
And last, but certainly not least, works by each participating artist will form an exhibition at CCA Galleries International in Hill Street from 20 to 27 June. In addition, CCA Galleries International is offering one artist taking part in the Skipton Open Studios the opportunity to have their work made into a print by the Coriander Studios in London – one of Europe’s longest established and most prolific producers of limited edition prints.
Details of Arthur Lamy’s tours can be found on: www.arthurthebluebadgeguide.com
