Stretch by Sophia Clist performed by Jane Mason at Exeter Cathedral. Winner of the Art Soup vote, produced by Art Week Exeter 2017. Photo Naomi Hart.

Artists

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AWE believes that through making together and supporting each other, Exeter has the potential to be recognised as a place that fosters artistic talent and new ideas across genres and forms. To support this we partner with organisations across the city to organise ways for professional and amateur, student and established artists, makers and creatives to share, develop and showcase their practice.

Fliss Shillingford’s Shoe Museum at the Boatshed for Art Week 2017. Photo Rhodri Cooper.
An older woman with grey hair and a younger woman with glasses and Downes Symdrome stand next to a mosaic art work in process and laugh together
Sandra with ceramic artist Lucy Rockcliffe.

Art Week offers a showcase for artists and open studio events, and we broker exhibition venues and production partnerships as part of our event management. We have also run Art Soup – a peer support social with food and dancing where four artists (or groups of artists) have five minutes each to pitch the idea they want resourcing for Art Week to the voting audience.

We also we offer commissions and contribute to opportunities that create, frame and encourage new work to be made and shown in Exeter. We have partnered with Exeter Scrapstore to run The Sandra Finch Prize, a micro commission running in 2023 and 2024 for disabled artists to develop new work. Our 2023 Arts Council England lottery funded Art Week commission was Exeter Mobile Art School – a tour of public art in Exeter City Centre by Folkstone based Pennington and Wright.

Art Work Exeter’s professional development opportunities include artist mentoring, student internships and the embedding of paid ‘Shadow Artist’ roles into our project delivery – offering artists of all ages the chance to learn new skills whilst working with experienced practitioners. We also convene Exeter Visual Arts Forum an informal, discursive space for practitioners and organisations in the visual, spatial, live art and social practice sector to come together and access peer support, development advice and collaboration opportunities.

Plaster moulding drop-in workshop for local creatives with Volkhardt Mueller for Legend of the Custom House 2023.
CANTEEN – University of Plymouth MA show at TOPOS Art Space co-ordinated by AWE for Art Week 2018, artwork by Dr Laurie Reynolds. Photo Rhodri Cooper.