Somerset Community Foundation has awarded funding to St John’s Church in Highbridge to hold two art exhibitions in the autumn and spring.
The project is called ‘folk and locus’ and two early-career local artists have been chosen to work with the church to create large-scale exhibitions of their work.
Volunteer curator Sami Green, pictured with Rev Martin Little, held an incredible display of paper butterflies last year in the Highbridge church, and she is overseeing the development of the exhibitions.
“Building on the success of Blues in the Pews and The Transformation Project, the focus is to continue to develop St. John’s as a centre for Community Arts and offer opportunities for local people to connect with the arts,” Sami told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
Elizabeth Woodger has won the first of two places to work at St. John’s Church over the next 9 months from October 14th.
“Elizabeth Woodger has taken an image from her current Diagenesis project to St. John’s Church. It will be hung as an installation and open to view until the end of November when the church is open,” adds Sami.
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“We are inviting people to a free celebratory viewing where Elizabeth will treat attendees to a short talk about her background in Geology and how this has inspired her work as a photographer on October 14th.”
“Over the course of this project, Elizabeth has been working with Cheddar Gorge and Somerset Film at The Engine Room, Bridgwater. There will be folded artworks at the launch, to see and handle, tea and cake, and a community-centred workshop to come and join in with, draw, paint and maybe get messy. The event runs from 3 – 5pm and people of all ages are welcome to attend and enjoy.”
Sami adds: “I am passionate about the positive impact that access to culture can have on how people feel about where they live. Since the beginning of SEED Sedgemoor, Highbridge’s creatives have formed Highbridge Arts Collective (HAC) to continue SEED’s work and continue to build on the opportunities created by the team and the Arts Council England.
