---

The Hub Gallery is a venue for the second time during this year’s Cheltenham Open Studios festival 8 – 16 June.  This biennial celebration of the visual art being made in the area has become an important part of the cultural landscape for artists and art lovers alike. 

 

When it started, in 2001, just 46 artists took part; in 2011, the last time the event was staged, over 10,000 people visited the studios, workrooms and exhibition spaces of over 200 artists working in Cheltenham and its surrounds. And with the boost of some Promoting Cheltenham Fund money, this year’s event should be even better.  

 

With our doors open to such an extensive audience, we at Christ Church are also holding a second Faith through Art exhibition simultaneously in the church.  Let the mind be stirred vividly by six artists’ contemporary perspectives on faith including Diana Green’s epic, 21 image depiction of the King James Bible’s account of the Creation and Fall.  

 

The Launch party for the whole event takes place at Christ Church and our own Celebration View is open to everyone on Sunday 9 June, 12 – 2pm. Also an illustrated talk by Nikki Seville: Faith, Creativity, Healing and Football takes place on Friday 14 June, 7.30pm.

 

For the uninitiated, this is a great opportunity to get up close and personal with the work being made locally. You can talk with the artists, watch them at work or be inspired to have a go in one of a range of hands-on workshops. It offers anyone interested in art first-hand insight into the creative process. It’s also a great way to pick up some beautiful original art at affordable prices, direct from the artist.

 

Organised by artist-run association, Cheltenham Open Studios, this is the eighth such celebration of the visual art being made in the area. Focused on the centre of Cheltenham the art trail radiates out as far as Twyning and Broadway, in the North, Stow, in the East, Elkstone, to the South, and Longlevens, to the West. Free, colour, art-trail guides will be available from Cheltenham Tourist Information office or the COS website www.cheltenhamopenstudios.org.uk from the middle of May.