ARTISTS were invited to the Black Swan Arts for a private viewing of the opening of their 1000 postcards exhibition earlier this month.
The exhibition was launched to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the arts centre. The postcards were sold for £30 each with the goal of raising £30,000 towards restoring the historic Round Tower and keeping the galleries open for another 30 years.
“It is stunning,” said fashion designer Pearl Lowe, who had contributed one of the 1100 mini works of art on display.
“There is so much talent on show in this room, and every single one is different. But what is so fantastic is that for just £30 you can have an original art work and support Black Swan Arts in their 30th year too.”
Amanda Sheridan, chair of trustees at Black Swan Arts, was absolutely thrilled with the launch. She said, “To have such high quality affordable art by celebrities, established and emerging artists, as well as hidden talent locally and internationally all in one place displayed with equal prominence celebrates real, democratic creativity.”
Postcard-sized artworks have been donated by famous names such as actor and musician Rhys Ifans, fashion designer Pearl Lowe, Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey, Oscar-winning animator Daniel Greaves, singer-songwriter Cara Dillon, musician and DJ Huey Morgan.
International award winning folk singer, Cara Dillon, who lives in Frome and brought her family on Friday, secretly bought a card for her husband as a gift.
Celebrated artists including Anna Gillespie, Janette Kerr PRWA, David Brooke, Jeremy Gardiner, David Parfitt, Silvia Dimitrova, Peter Randall-Page and Fabian Peake, as well as emerging and well-established artists and makers from the UK and worldwide, have all contributed to this major fundraising exhibition.
The postcards were all exhibited anonymously (signatures are on the back of the work) alongside the long list of the contributors and artists’ names were revealed at a collection day party on 28th June. Any postcards unsold during the exhibition will be available for sale throughout 2016 at the arts centre and through a dedicated website.