October news
October Open
There’s no Open, like Barts’ Open, like no Open we know. Held over the October Long Weekend, the Barts October Open was well attended by all sorts of people, giddy with the vertiginous feeling of having an extra day off. It had a really lovely vibe, and was a marvellous showcase of work, this time - for the first time in a while - including 3D, which made for a more diverse range of entries. If you missed out, you can still see and buy the exhibited works on the BARTS website until the end of October- October Open online
Many thanks to our judge, Wendy Carlson from Gang-Gang Gallery, and congratulations to all the prize-winners.
To all the volunteers who made this such a great event - and there were so many you - please take a well-deserved bow.
And a huge vote of thanks to the good blokes at the Blackheath Mens Shed for making nine new plinths. Those chaps do an excellent job and are a pleasure to deal with.
Next exhibition – Easter Exhibition April 18-21, 2025
Left top: Chris Stevenson's 'Hill Geometry', Right top: Sue McNiven's 'Gang Gang', Left bottom: Tess Rapa's 'Paper Bag Lady', Right bottom: Erin Miller's 'Wall Coral'
Grounds-breaking news
Good things are happening. Now that the new kiln shed has been wired up, our new kiln is days away from its first firing. This is hotly anticipated by the clay folk, because it means they will be able to make larger pieces and fire at higher temperatures. The possibilities are truly exciting!
Faithful old Woody - the old kiln in the clay shed - will also move to the kiln shed in the coming days. Shout out to Ray Berry and Steve Ingram who have dedicated many hours to making all this happen.
BARTS member Jo Berenger AKA @indigojo is now well into the process of painting a wonderful landscape mural on the shipping container. It’s looking great so far, and it will be a stunner when it’s finished off. We are thrilled to have an experienced muralist like Jo working on this. It looks wonderful and reinforces the notion that BARTS is an energetic and creative space, inside and out.
Good fences make good neighbours, the poet tells us, which is great because the boundary fence is going up at last. Well, most of it, apart from the bit down the back and on the left, alas. Despite lengthy negotiations, we were unable to reach a compromise with the property owner across that section. Our solution there is to plant a green screen to mark the boundary. We are grateful to our contractor Mick Morrow for his understanding and patience. Growing the screen will take time, but in the end, it will look great.
In the meantime, it’s exciting to be able to say that the landscaping for our sculpture garden will soon begin.
Jo Berenger painting a mural on our shipping container