Visual Arts & Exhibitions

When Neil Pilling’s consultant told him that he must take more exercise and advised him to get out and walk daily, no-one could have anticipated just what this would lead to.  In fact, if someone had told Neil two years ago that he would be holding his very first photographic exhibition this month he would probably have laughed at the idea. Neil, who suffers from the painful condition hip dysplasia, had previously always been active and would have described himself as a man who enjoyed traditional male pursuits, such as fishing and definitely not an ‘arty type’.  But two years…

Coastal Explorers, is a series of free summer events for the community, delivered in collaboration with Art Gene and Fylde Council, to explore what the local people value most about the Fylde's coastline, its nature, history and people. Funded by Arts Council England with partners Ribble Rivers Trust, Fable Arts, RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts and Leftcoast, the first event saw representatives from organisations and volunteer groups focused on protecting and promoting Fylde's coastline take a walk around Lytham and Fairhaven. The walk was led by Art Gene, lead artists for the Coastal Explorers programme, as they start to map the…

A few months back I interviewed Jill Reidy regarding her planned road trip photographing seaside towns.  You may have seen this, you may even have contributed to the successful crowdfunding campaign.  Now there is an exciting opportunity with LeftCoast for a budding curator to contribute to the forthcoming exhibition showcasing the project. LeftCoast are working with Jill to create an opportunity to support her in the selection and presentation of works for her forthcoming exhibition, Seaside Towns out of Season at Abingdon Studios in late September 2017.  LeftCoast's Studio scheme offers professional practice development opportunities at three levels; this is…

The launch night of local artists, Ben Hunt and Aimi O’Donnell’s exhibition, ‘Illuminescent Futures’, at the Urban Arts Studio in St Annes, was not your usual ‘opening’ event with a glass of sparkly and a canapé while everyone gazes intently at each canvas. Owner and events director, Jay Andrews, told me, ‘We host work by a different local artist every month and we like to launch each show in an interesting way’. So this month, in addition to viewing the artworks, we were invited to spend the evening listening to some groovy beats from the guest DJ followed by a…