The Artists and Makers Guild is a new venture based in Guildford and is kicking off its events calendar by launching the Artists and Makers Festival at Holy Trinity Church on 20 September 2014. The festival will be showcasing innovative Artists, Designers and Makers with an emphasis on quality from across Surrey, London and the South-East. This is the first of many festivals and projects by the Artists and Makers Guild and the festival is set to be a growing fixture on the Guildford Art’s scene for many years to come.
The Artists and Makers Guild came about when three local ladies, Amanda Flitcroft, Daniela Cocchiarella and Rachel Benneworth bemoaned the lack of independent, creative places on the high street in the UK nowadays. The three of them wondered how great it would be if there was a local, grass-roots venue that celebrated the arts and the individual maker, where artists could meet and exchange ideas.
They may not have been able to fix a permanent location as of yet, but they can promote some of the extraordinary talents of those artists, designers and makers that are working in tucked away workshops and studios all across the South-East and the UK now. With this biannual festival and through offering talks and lectures on business development and how to market your work as an artist, the Artists and Makers Guild will help spread the word.
The Artists and Makers Festival will be an arts festival with a difference. Not only will there be outstanding arts on display, but affordable drop-in taster workshops throughout the day, a pop-up café and music featuring a play-list of up and coming local talent mixed with great live music. All this will be housed in the beautiful High Street venue of Holy Trinity Church in the centre of Guildford.
The festival will run from 10am-5pm on Saturday with only a £2 entrance fee, with free goody bags containing gifts and discount vouchers for the first 150 people through the door. Drop in workshops are £3.00 a taster session and they include skills such as learning how to screen print and having a go at throwing a pot. There will also be demonstrations on individual stalls throughout the day.
Exhibitors include Nicky Chubb who paints vibrant wild flower pictures to Nancy Shafee who makes unique felted poppies that you can buy in time for Remembrance Day (they are fully endorsed and licensed by the Royal British Legion).
Rachel Benneworth says, “It’s very exciting to be on the team launching this festival. We have had such a positive response from Artists and Art groups across the Surrey area. Everyone we have spoken to agrees that there is a real need for events showcasing some of the really talented people working every day to an outstanding standard. I think people are really beginning to reject the bland, overpriced and corporate stuff that has dominated our High Streets in recent years”.
And Daniela Cocchiarella added, “We have some excellent artists on board already from very established creatives to ground-breaking, emerging talent. We have a couple of recent design graduates who are pipped to be very big. They are designing our goody bags which we hope will one day become collector’s items!”
So if you’re an art enthusiast looking to support a great local event, please do head down to Holy Trinity Church on September 20 for the first ever Artists and Makers Festival.
Image sourced from: http://tinyurl.com/k92ahxg