Art & About

The visual arts element of the Festival delivered an exciting programme of exhibitions, installations, workshops and even an art trail in 2009.

Our outdoor I-spy trail — A Flight of Fancy — saw a fabulous flock of uniquely designed curlews descend upon the town. A live auction afterwards meant all the curlews found a nice new home. It was a truly outstanding project and our thanks go to everyone involved!

Meanwhile, our Town Hall art exhibition explored digital techniques in print, photography and illustration — a theme that was continued in some of our workshops.

All the workshops were well attended and fun for everyone — imaginations ran wild!

Go Digital with Dad transformed the Octagon into an obstacle course for some digital film fun, meanwhile the ‘It’s A-mazing’ workshop saw the same space morph into a huge interactive maze, created by the public. This ‘sensory quiz’ of networks and passages was made out of reclaimed materials.

Helen Peyton’s papermaking workshop taught participants handmade techniques with some wonderfully colourful results. Our Newspaper Clothes workshop saw some weird and wonderful outfits hit the catwalk. And, as if that wasn’t enough, our Artist in Residence brought us a temporary public interactive artwork in the village square. The ‘Grassington Square Maze’ was a bright playground of imagination for all who stepped into it.

Rest assured there’s lots more in store to delight and inspire you for 2010, as the visual arts programme celebrates 30 colourful Festival years!

Bryony Pritchard
Visual Arts Director