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The Skipton Art Series is a Programme of projects and events that are being run throughout 2017, which act as a forum for celebrating the visual arts in Jersey.
Link Gallery Take-Over
Skipton International is to sponsor Jersey Heritage’s Link Gallery from the start of 2017. The Gallery, which is owned by Jersey Heritage, is set in a corridor linking Jersey Museum & Art Gallery to the Société Jersiaise. Each month, the gallery features an exhibition by a different Jersey artist, providing them with a central space in St Helier to showcase their work.
As part of the Skipton Arts Series, Jersey Arts Trust will take over the programming of the space for a three-month Summer Takeover.
Jim Coupe, Managing Director, Skipton International, said: “We have been committed to the arts in Jersey for a number of years though our partnership with the Jersey Arts Trust and sponsorship of the Skipton Arts Series and Skipton Open Studios.”
“The Link Gallery offers Jersey artists a free space in the middle of town to exhibit their work. During the three-month Summer Takeover the JAT will transform the space and bring more artists together to create and display new work.”
The Summer Takeover will take place over May, June and July, allowing a larger number of Jersey artists to showcase work to locals and tourists during the busier summer months.
Tom Dingle, Director of Jersey Arts Trust, said: “We are putting the space out to artists so they will be able to use it in the most innovative way. We will be putting out a call for artists in the near future, and look forward to working with Skipton on this project.”
Chris Addy, Site Curator for the Link Gallery, said: “We are delighted that Skipton International is sponsoring the Link Gallery this year. For many Jersey artists the Link Gallery is their first chance to have their own solo exhibition, so it plays an important role in helping artists establish themselves in the commercial sphere.”
Jersey Arts Trust is inviting artists to submit proposals for ideas to programme the Gallery for two months. Projects or exhibits proposed for the space can vary in duration, and could last for a number of days up to a full month.
The Printing Project
Following on from the success of the Skipton Arts Series’ Jersey Projection Gallery, which saw a public showcase of local work on the façade of Normans in 2015, the Jersey Arts Trust will be partnering with Signtech to take ‘art to the public’ in a new and innovative way in 2017.
Photographs of work created by Jersey’s artists will featured in the public arena on a large scale for all to enjoy. This guerrilla-style manner of showcasing local art in the public domain, aims to engage with new audiences, inspire the community and bring the wealth of artistic talent in the island to the fore front.
The printing will be focused in a prominent area of St Helier and will be in place for up to three months. There will also be a number of smaller events taking place around the project - details of which will be shared in the upcoming months. All of the photographs included, as part of the Printing Project will also be displayed in a month-long Taster Exhibition at the Link Gallery in June 2017; an opportunity for the public to see all of the work in one place.
Paper Talks
Last November saw the opening of the hugely successful ‘Paper Dialogues - the Dragon and our Stories’ exhibition at St. Helier Town Hall. The exhibition was a collection of stunning paper-cut art by Professor Xiaoguang Qiao from China and Norwegian artist Karen Bit Vejle, who were invited to the Island by Jersey Arts Trust. The work comprised a 9 meter long paper-cut dragon and 7 dragon eggs – a collaboration that told the story of Xiaoguang Qiao and Karen Bit Vejle’s quest in search of dragons. The exhibition ran for two weeks, during which time over 5,000 visitors including 600 students came to see the work.
But the dialogue has only just begun…
During their time in Jersey, Professor Xiaoguang and Karen Bit Vejle ran Masterclasses to teach seven local artists how to paper-cut. Thanks to the ongoing support of Skipton International, through the Skipton Art Series and the One Foundation, artists Abi Overland, Anna Shipley, Ben Robertson, Joanna Brown, Karen Le Roy Harris, Lizi Hill and Maria Tarrant will be creating their own pieces of paper-cut art, as well as leading community workshops, in 2017.
With their new skills they will create their own pieces of paper-cut work and will be responsible for igniting a huge community outreach programme with local school children and the general public. As a legacy to the Paper Dialogues exhibition, the work created by students and the community will form Jersey’s ‘paper dialogue’ in the form of our own paper-cut dragon.
All of the work created (by artists, students and the community) will be exhibited in a celebratory showcase in 2017 titled ‘Paper Talks’. The exhibition will tell the story of the process and relations that have formed as well as what has been discovered through the work.
Jim Coupe, Managing Director of Skipton International said: “The Paper Talks outreach programme is a great way for people in Jersey to learn the skills of papercutting from local artists who have been trained by world experts in the art. Skipton International is delighted to help support this project, and we look forward to seeing the end result – Jersey’s first community produced paper dragon.”
Artists interested in participating in any of the Skipton Art Series projects should contact: Alice Bravery at: alice@arts.je or by calling 617521.
