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Exeter City Council Media Release 16 April 2008 The search is on to find artists to take part in the third Exeter Open Studios event. The City Council has given a grant to Exeter Art Spaces who with support from a committee of participating artists will coordinate the event which is due to take place between Friday 7 and Sunday 9 November as part of the City Council's Autumn Festival. Last year saw 29 venues across the city opening their doors to the public to show art in its working environment, with 38 individual artists and two artists groups with over 46 members taking part. It is estimated that over 2,500 people attended the event, contributing over £18,000 worth of sales for Exeter's thriving art and crafts community. The group is keen to hear from any Exeter based artists who would like to take part this year. A registration fee of £75 will be charged to take part in the event and that will go towards the production of 10,000 copies of the event guide in full colour, with individual entries for each artist, plus the publicity and marketing costs.
Francis Ives, Director, Exeter Art Spaces said: "We are delighted to be taking over the management of Exeter Open Studios. As the largest organised group of artists with our own thriving studio space, it is the next logical step for us to take the lead in this event."Councillor Greg Sheldon, Lead Councillor for Economy and Tourism said: "The Open Studios events have gone from strength to strength and are now established in the city and grown to be popular with visitors and artists alike. We are delighted to be supporting Exeter Art Spaces to deliver this unique and important event on the city's cultural calendar." There will be a meeting for Exeter-based (EX1 - EX4) artists interested in participating, which will be held on Thursday 1 May at 7pm at Exeter Art Spaces, 4 Red Lion Lane, Exeter, EX1 2AL. In the meeting artists will have the opportunity to nominate themselves as members of the organising committee of the event. Registration forms are now available from www.exeter.gov.uk/openstudios . The first deadline for participating artists is May 21. More information on Exeter City Council's website |