Wandsworth Artists' Open House Teams Up With The RCA
As local creatives open up their homes to showcase their work
Wandsworth Artists’ Open House is back this autumn with over 190 artists inviting you into their homes and studios across the borough, there are locations across Wandsworth.
Over the first two weekends of October, take a peek at the places where art is made and discover artists you never knew were on your doorstep!
• Saturday 6 – Sunday 7 October
• Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 October
• Times: 11am – 6pm
The annual event is all about making art welcoming and open to everyone, and shining a light on Wandsworth’s abundance of creative talent. With every venue free to visit, this is an opportunity for all art enthusiasts – from culture junkies to the simply curious – to enjoy art in a relaxed setting, and connect with a community of artists and makers in their neighbourhood.
As ever, this year there’s a plethora of creative forms to see across the 85 venues, with painting, printmaking, jewellery, photography, ceramics, sculpture, textiles and homewares presented by award-winning artists.
This year for the first time the Royal College of Art (RCA), the world class university of art and design, has teamed up with Wandsworth Artists' Open House to offer bursaries to four young artists aged 16-25. As well as providing them with an invaluable mentoring session at the RCA, the bursaries offer the recipients a platform to showcase their work. With these budding artists working across a broad range of media, including conceptual art, photography, sculpture, painting, performance and video, this is an exciting opportunity to see what the next generation of artists are making.
There will also be opportunities for visitors to make their own art. Children aged 7-12 can be creative RCA students for the day by taking part in a free animation workshop at their Fine Art campus in Battersea. On both Sundays, there will also be free pottery, drawing and printmaking workshops for all ages at Putney School of Art and Design.
This year, two large complexes of artists’ studios have also joined the WAOH trail, showcasing the cutting-edge artwork being produced by the emerging artists busily working there. Visitors can wander around ACAVA studios, opposite the old Ram brewery site in Central Wandsworth, where 25 artists beaver away, or head further south along the River Wandle to Delta House, where over 30 artists will be exhibiting.
Councillor Steffi Sutters
Councillor Steffi Sutters, Cabinet Member Community Services and Open Spaces said, "Wandsworth Artists’ Open House really goes to show the sheer abundance of artistic talent in the borough. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the local community to visit the homes and creative spaces of artists just around the corner and support Wandsworth’s growing creative industry."
Go to wandsworthart.com to see the full list of artists and Open Houses and create your own trail of your favourite artists to visit. You can base your trail on a postcode or by the kind of art you’re most interested in. Printed guides with a map of all participating venues will be available from your local library, and at various venues and organisations throughout the borough.
If you would like a local trail guide contact the Enable Arts Team on 020 3959 0020, email arts@enablelc.org, write to Staff Yard, Battersea Park, London SW11 4NJ or visit wandsworthart.com
September 25, 2018