AOH: Off the wall!

Go crazy this month and celebrate the very best of Brighton & Hove’s creative scene with Artists Open Houses – and vote for your favourite exhibition too

Visiting the Artists Open Houses in May is an unmissable part of the annual calendar for many living in the City and beyond. But as well as having a look round some fascinating artists’ houses, viewing and buying the work, chatting to the artists and makers and having tea and homemade cake in their gardens – many Open Houses offer a great array of events, workshops and other surprises.

If you love dogs, The Dog Show, in the Brunswick Town trail, is an Open House you must see. As well as a variety of doggy works, including knitted dogs, china dogs and dog sculptures, Sally Muir will be on hand for on-the-spot charcoal dog drawings on Saturday May 16th. There will also be dog themed teas and dog biscuits – so don’t forget to bring your canine friends!

At the Well Being Gallery in Brighton’s Health and Wellbeing Centre, alongside thought-provoking work by artists from Outside In, you can take part in workshops, artists’ talks, and taster therapy sessions. The free workshops, themed around Being Creative is Good for You, include artist-led workshops which re-frame personal narratives using art and collage to make something unique and beautiful. At the end of the session a group discussion looks at how the creative process might be of use in other areas of our lives.

In another workshop on offer here, you are invited to sit in a Wishing Chair to reflect how the wishes we make reflect our personal narratives. You are then invited to stitch or draw your contemplations onto fabric and add them to the Wishing Chair – which will then form part of the exhibition.

New gallery 35 North Contemporary Fine Art shows the work of several local artists, including John Whiting’s exhibition Two Cities, a collection of new works inspired by two of the worlds most exciting cities, London and New York – visitors can also visit the artist at work in his adjoining studio. Joining the gallery’s artists will be Tony Felstead and Dave Waddell performing their 100 word stories. On Saturday afternoons, festival-goers, passers by, in fact anyone who is in the mood for a story is welcome to come in and demand one! Felstead and Waddelll have been entertaining audiences on the Brighton comedy circuit for years with their madcap, left-field stories performed on demand – and their first book, House Paint & Other Stories, was published at Christmas.

Visiting Open Houses can be a hands-on creative experience not just for you, but for your children too. For instance Little Boxes, a new house on the Hanover trail, looks at the theme of The Home; visitors are invited to view the creative installation, then to explore your own ideas and do a themed drawing. And while you do this, your kids can take part in Arty Farty art club, creating their own handmade books, drawings, paintings and even 3D sculptures.
The Red Door, at 37 Barnett Road, was short-listed for Best Open House last May. This May it will once again provide a free craft area in the garden for children, while an exciting selection of internationally respected artists will be showcasing their work and there will be a performance from poet and artist Tamsin Williams.
The Grace Eyre Foundation in the Seven Dials trail proudly presents an exhibition of Outsider Art from the Montefiore Artists Collective. These artists use a broad range of media to create an inspiring set of work and each Saturday there will be an artist-led, family-friendly mosaic workshop. Grace Eyre is a local charity supporting adults with learning disabilities towards greater independence and freedom of expression.

And finally, don’t miss The Ceramic House in the Fiveways trail – where an exhibition of international ceramicists will show an amazing collection of themed black and white ceramics in the DARK LIGHT show. The show will kick off with a black and white themed cocktail party – including both dress and drinks!
For more information on all Artists Open Houses offering special events during the festival, visit the Events page of the AOH website: www.aoh.org.uk/may-2015-festival-events

VOTE
Remember to vote for your favourite Open House to win the Latest’s Best Open House Award. From the start of the festival, you can simply visit the AOH website: www.aoh.org.uk, follow the links and place a vote for your favourite house – the one that you believe best captures the spirit of the Artists Open Houses.

The Artists Open Houses May 2015 Festival runs weekends 2nd-24th May. For full details on all Open Houses venues visit: www.aoh.org.uk,

You can pick up an AOH brochure throughout the festival at Brighton and Hove train stations, libraries and museums, and look out for the Festivals of Brighton pop-up booth at Brighton station (near the Doddle office). AOH brochures are also available at all Open House venues from the start of the festival.