Two weekends of Chichester Open Studios Art Trail lies ahead

SussexWorld

Two weekends of Chichester Open Studios Art Trail lies ahead, a chance for the public to meet local artists in person in their own creative worlds. It also offers a platform for emerging artists to showcase their talents and engage with a wider audience.

Transcript

00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Lovely

00:06 this morning to speak to Jasmine Saunders. Now, exciting times for the Chichester Open

00:11 Studios Art Trail. This is your first year as Chairman and you've got a fantastic line-up,

00:16 haven't you, over two weekends, the last two weekends of May. Why is it going to be special

00:22 this year? And you're saying that it's going to feel a little bit different, a bit of a

00:25 new era, isn't it, for the trail? It is a new era for the trail. New era, new committee,

00:32 fresh look, a look that we are planning on keeping. As we said before, we've brought

00:37 back the green. The logo and everything was changed last year to a blue colour, but with

00:45 popular demand, we've brought back the green. But people will recognise, won't they? That's

00:51 it. The freshness of the art trail is because we're all new. We've all put our own approach

00:57 in. The committee as a whole is fantastic. Everybody has different experiences and they

01:05 have all put their experiences into bringing this art trail together with me. And you've

01:12 got a fantastic number of artists, haven't you? You've got 149, as you were saying, had

01:18 you taken part this year, it would have been the round 150 that you wanted. But the point

01:22 is, first year as chairman, you will be touring round, checking everyone's OK and happy.

01:27 Absolutely. I want to go around and see the artists' work and so that they can also get

01:32 to know me. And if they need any extra support, then they know who to come to.

01:37 Yeah. And over two weekends, including the bank holiday weekend, it's a good long run,

01:43 isn't it? That's the usual amount of time you have.

01:46 Absolutely. Yeah, it's always been two weekends. We always try and keep at least one bank holiday

01:52 as well. So hopefully next year it will be around the same dates as well, if not the

01:58 first weekend of May. But we'll have to sort of, as a committee, discuss the dates when

02:03 next year, before next year comes, before the open call for artists for 2025.

02:10 And why do the artists do it? They love doing it, don't they?

02:14 They do. They really enjoy doing it, each one. We've had several artists that have been

02:20 doing it since before it even became Chichester Open Studios, and it was just called Open

02:27 Doors. So although it's been going for 23 years now, it was going for a few years prior

02:34 to that. So I'm keeping something going that has now become part of Chichester's art and

02:39 cultural history.

02:40 Yeah.

02:41 So the artists feel very proud of that, and the artists themselves feel very proud to

02:45 be part of the Open Studios. They really enjoy engaging with the public and showing their

02:52 work.

02:53 Absolutely. But the point is, it's also a renewal, isn't it? You have new artists each

02:57 year.

02:58 We do. We have several new artists this year as well. We're very excited to have this bursary

03:04 scheme that we have managed to procure this year, and we'd like to continue that bursary

03:10 scheme for new artists. It is only for new artists. So the several artists that got the

03:18 bursary scheme this year were supported by the Chichester District Council, as well as

03:23 the Jewellery and Watch Company and Chichester Art Classes. So we had a couple of businesses,

03:30 and a few more businesses are interested in supporting artists for next year. So we'll

03:35 include that in our open call.

03:38 So the first chapter of a new era. It sounds like you are set very, very well there indeed.

03:44 And just mention the dates then. It's May the 16th and 17th.

03:47 Right, it's going to be May 18th, 19th.

03:51 18th, sorry, 18th, 19th.

03:54 And then 25th, 26th and 27th.

03:57 Fantastic. Well, good luck with everything. Lovely to speak to you.

04:01 Thank you very much. Take care.

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