Despite the restrictions causing the postponement of this year’s flagship annual art event Making A Mark, supported by the Arts Council and Preston City Council, Oxheys has been busy ensuring Preston’s art scene has remained active within the constraints and in a safe and secure way.
2020 has been a unique year with unique challenges, yet has also provided opportunities and examples of communities coming together in ways not previously thought possible but in ways that show that community spirit is alive and well, opening up possibilities for the even greater challenges we all face from climate change. Little could we have known the scale and immediacy in the truth of the chosen theme “changing world” for the Making A Mark event, now postponed til 10th July 2021
We are very excited to advise that 10th July 2021 has been confirmed by Preston City Council, who have also reconfirmed their support for the event. The Arts Council have also confirmed support so our previously agreed funding can be transferred to this new date which is a great relief and means we can begin planning again. The event, originally planned for July 2020 had to be postponed due to the Coronavirus lockdown and subsequent restrictions meant everything was put on hold.
We are now working on revising some of the plans and reworking the budget and will be in contact shortly with those artists who had previously submitted proposals before lockdown.
We plan to try and keep to the same theme as initially planned but it may of course be interpreted slightly differently in view of recent events.
The theme for Making A Mark 2020, now postponed until 2021, was Changing World. Who could have guessed just how relevant that would prove to be? The world has changed in so many different ways over the past few months for every one of us – we are all living by different rules, in different ways, some in different places.
When Oxheys’ artist Tim Saunders took delivery of the 250 trees he had ordered pre-lockdown for his Changing World installation, he started re-imagining some alternative options. The result was an intervention that took place on Sunday 31st May 2020 on the deserted Flag Market, all in full compliance with lockdown guidance and regulations.
The Artful Line exhibition opened at the Harris Museum & Gallery in Preston on 14th February this year, featuring drawings on loan from Courtauld’s alongside those commissioned from Preston artists Gavin Renshaw, Kathryn Poole (who have both previously exhibited at Oxheys) and Anita George. Oxheys’ artists Bernie Velvick and Robin Fanner delivered workshops to encourage exhibition visitors to try drawing using materials provided by the Harris. These proved popular and more activities were planned but sadly, due to lockdown, these had to be cancelled.
The Harris however were determined to ensure that activities continued, by providing a virtual tour of the exhibition and asked us to prepare some online drawing exercises which anyone can do in their own homes with whatever they can find to draw with and on. These have now been launched so catch the virtual tour, artworks and all three drawing presentations by Oxheys’ artist Bernie Velvick on the Harris’ website here.
We have maintained contact during the past few weeks with both Preston City Council and the Arts Council and now sadly, must advise that our Making A Mark event, planned for July 11th 2020 in Preston city centre, has had to be postponed. It is an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of the current situation regarding coronavirus.
It is a great shame as it was set to be an exciting event with a number of artists planning a diverse variety of activities. By postponing the event until next summer however, we can continue with developing and planning, so aim to bring an even better event then. We are pleased to say that artists who had been commissioned or who were preparing work or activities, will be able to carry that forward and the Arts Council have confirmed that we can use the funding received to pay artists for any work already done or materials purchased, up until postponement date. This is important as we fully support artists being treated fairly in these difficult times and thank the Arts Council for taking this approach.
We would also like to thank Preston City Council for their ongoing support during a very difficult time and for taking steps to pledge further support for the postponed event in 2021.
As soon as we have confirmed date for 2021 we will advise.
A quick update regarding our Making A Mark event due to take place in Preston City Centre on July 11th. We are monitoring the current situation closely and liaising with Preston City Council and also following advice provided by the Arts Council.
We are very aware of the impact on artists if we have to cancel the event, so we are hopeful that the current situation concerning the virus will ease by then. We are however trying to find an alternative date later in the year that may be held in reserve. If it becomes necessary, we will then postpone so that the planned activities can still go ahead and artists still get paid.
Please bear with us – we’ll update further over the next week or so as more becomes known.
Saturday 22nd February 2020 – after a week of torrential rain which flooded Avenham Park and surrounding area, we were uncertain it would go ahead but on the day the rain finally let up and the very first Preston Mardi Gras parade took place.
Huge thanks to all of the members of Worldwise Samba Drummers for their support as they played their socks off in the absolute freezing cold marching through Preston city centre and down to the Pavilion in Avenham Park where freshly made delicious pancakes were served. Thanks also to Preston City Council for allowing us to stage the event and to the Pavilion for such delicious pancakes! And not forgetting those who joined the parade and followed us all the way – thank you!
Come and join in the fun on Saturday February 22nd to celebrate Mardi Gras with a parade through Preston city centre, down to Avenham Park. Led by Worldwise Samba Drummers, the parade is open to anyone to join in and wearing of costumes is encouraged. Musicians, dancers and performers – you are all invited to just come along and join in the fun. On arrival at the Pavilion in Avenham there will be further performances before pancakes are served.
Mardi Gras, literally meaning Fat Tuesday, marks the day before Lent when tradition in many countries and religions is to eat as much as possible before fasting begins. In Britain and many Commonwealth countries that became Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, the day before Ash Wednesday. Elsewhere, the day became more celebratory and carnival-like, so in the Deep South of Louisiana in the US for example, thousands take to the streets in parades led by jazz bands from all across the state, ending up in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Whilst Shrove Tuesday is actually on Tuesday 25th, it was felt that in Preston a Saturday was more practical for a parade as families would be free/able to take part and whilst not on the same scale perhaps, this is our opportunity in Preston to celebrate and just have fun.
The parade starts at 11am Saturday 22nd February from the Mobility Centre Car Park. Meet there or join at any point along the route up Cheapside, along Fishergate, in Winckley Square or in Avenham Park.
Costume-making workshop – run by Preston City Council and led by our Evelyn, is free to go along to at the Pavilion in Avenham Park on Saturday 8th Feb 10am-1pm. Everyone and all ages welcome. Take any old clothes or fabrics along and make a fantastic costume to wear in the Mardi Gras parade.
We were excited to hear our Arts Council bid for 2020 had been successful as this meant our ideas for expanding Making A Mark could be realised. This will be our 4th Making A Mark so we wanted to both extend and expand it’s reach whilst enabling more of Preston’s artists and creatives to be part of it. In turn this would help reach a wider audience and offer even more opportunities for visitors to take part in a broader range of activities.
Are you an artist, musician, poet, performer or other creative practitioner based in or near Preston? Would you like to be part of Making A Mark in 2020? If so, send us your proposal by 21st February and we’ll select those we feel show creativity, that best reflect the spirit of the event and which will best complement the other activities planned. The theme this year is Changing World which is open to wide interpretation.
Download further information and a proposal form here:
Oxheys in the Community Gallery at the Harris Museum
This last weekend, Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December 2019 saw the Harris Christmas Fair at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston. It was a lively event, which saw the Harris packed full of artists, makers and traders with a wide variety of stalls offering all kinds of products making ideal Christmas gifts.
Oxheys was there of course, on the first floor in the Community Gallery. Four of our member artists, Caroline Finnegan, Evelyn Rose, Bernie Velvick and Denise Swanson provided the items and took it in turns to man the stall. We had pretty little table and tree decorations from Bernie, beautifully hand-made crocheted scarves with hand-dyed wool from Caroline, delightful hand-made reindeer greeting cards from Evelyn and a selection of photographic prints and greeting cards from Denise taken in local nature spots. It was a busy couple of days in which we saw a lot of people including many old friends from our days at t’mill, making a lovely opportunity to catch up.
We had a steady stream of visitors and sales throughout the event, although Saturday seemed to be the busiest day – most popular were probably the Diversity Elves from Bernie, all of which were sold, bar one. Caroline’s Nail Binding kits also proved very popular as did Denise’s small prints.
Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello or to buy something. We do appreciate your support, as always.
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