Cheltenham Art
Art in the Park 2007
The 2007 Exhibition was exceptionally wet! Like a couple of damp book-ends, disasterous rainfall levels blighted weeks one and four, the latter leading to some of the worst flooding ever to affect the county of Gloucestershire. To the credit of the organisers, the event remained open for much of the time, and the artists braved if not hell then definitely highwater to get their work on show! And thanks to the people of Cheltenham the event appears to have been as succesful as ever.
This year, the Exhibition was opened by the Honourable Martin Horwood MP, to whom we extend our grateful thanks.
Martin also made a presentation to last year's Artist of the Year winner, Mark Bennett:
The Exhibition ran into some early controversy locally when several members of the visiting public objected to some of the work exhibited by one of our younger artists, who happens to be doing a degree in fine art. Her work included controversial material involving the Twin Towers, and also a dead sparrow. When continuing objections from the public led us to regretably withdraw one of her works of art (the Exhibition is in a park and accessible by all, including children), the decision was met by a large protest by the artist herself, which ended up making the front page of the Gloucestershire Echo.
We found it rather ironic that they chose to go with this rather negative story, rather than covering our opening ceremony (despite having sent a photographer and reporter to the event), but there we go. There's a common saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity!
We do remain committed to giving young artists the opportunity to exhibit their work. We are not able, or willing, to pre-judge art before it is exhibited. That is not the point of our event. However, we also have a duty of care to our visitors, and are not able to warn them of the content of the work we present. As such, we must rely on a degree of common sense when deciding on what is acceptable to display in the Imperial Gardens. Clearly, the views of our visiting public have a strong impact on those decisions. And the decision of the committee member each day must be final!
Artist of the Week 1
Smiles all round as Annie Rowcraft wins Week 1
Artist of the Week 2
Committee member Jane Ware shows the beautiful figurative work of week 2's winner, Luke Vercombe. Well done, Luke!
Artist of the Week 3
The very popular and diverse work of Jenny Sterry won week 3. Here she is seen with her husband Issy.
Artist of the Week 4
Mike Kingston 's ever-popular work topped the bill during Week 4, for the second year running!
