Saltaire Arts Trail 2013
I’m very excited and honoured to be exhibiting again at this weekend’s Saltaire Arts Trail.
If you haven’t been before, it’s a wonderfully quirky event that celebrates creativity and imagination and gives you an opportunity to chat with and buy from some fantastic makers in a relaxed setting.
About Saltaire (taken from the Saltaire Arts Trail website)
Saltaire is a wonderful example of the power of vision. Two tremendous men have shaped the history of the village: first, it’s founder, Titus Salt, and then, Jonathan Silver, who revitalised it after its decline in the 1980s.
In 2001, according to UNESCO, Saltaire was designated a World Heritage site because it ‘is an outstanding and well preserved example of a mid 19th century industrial town…giving a vivid impression of Victorian philanthropic paternalism’ and because of ‘the important role played by the textile industry in economic and social development’. It was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Covering 11 acres, Salt’s Mill manufactured 18 miles of worsted cloth per day on its 1,200 looms. The Mill continued to manufacture textiles for more than 130 years until it closed in 1987. This was no ordinary mill town with its handsome Italianate architecture, Congregational Church, Club and Institute, schools, and hospital. But by the late 1980s, with manufacturing industry in serious decline, Salts Mill was in danger of demolition.
Saltaire’s second man of vision, Jonathan Silver, also a man with a background in textiles, bought the Mill in 1987. Silver had met David Hockney as a school boy pursuading him to design a cover for the school magazine, and, when he had bought Salts Mill, he approached Hockney again and together they created the 1853 Gallery, the largest permanent collection of one of Britain’s greatest artists. It is a stunning collection of works in a vast, magnificent setting.
This bold partnership between Silver and Hockney, together with the rich textile heritage of the village, has inspired Saltaire to become a creative centre.
The Open Houses, where I’ll be exhibiting my work, are just one part of a tremendously varied program of activities, many of which are designed to get children making things and thinking creatively. Take a look at the video below for some interesting examples of the workshops and demonstrations that have been offered in previous years.
I’ll be exhibiting my work at 6 Helen Street. It’s a small house and there are three artists exhibiting so I’m not able to be there in person for the entire arts trail, but I will be there in person on Sunday and Monday and would love to meet you in person.
Saltaire Arts Trail 2011 from Simon Lawson on Vimeo.
