News and Exhibitions

The group have always celebrated the visual arts with exhibitions of their collective work, which gives an opportunity for the public to meet and talk to the artists and craftspeople and see their latest work.

The diversity of the differing skills and creative interests of the members has always created successful events with wide appeal. For the most part, two exhibitions have been held each year – Spring and Autumn, usually based in Calne utilising the Marden House facility or The Calne Heritage Centre.

Winners of the Calne Artist's Prize for 25’s and under
A new prize of a £100 of artists materials offered by ‘The Calne Artists’ at the Calne Music and Arts Festival 2010 was won equally by Phoebe Ramshaw(13) and Joshua Simpson(25). The idea of the prize is to encourage and support young artists in the area. See winning entries

Calne Artist's Prize for under 25’s in the Calne Music and Arts Festival
The prize is awarded by the Calne Artist’s Group to encourage young artists of 25 years and under who have entered the Calne Music and Arts Festival. This year’s prize of £100 worth of art materials was awarded to Alessandra Cattaneo. Alessandra is a young Fine Artist working across disciplines encompassing a range of media; installation, video, sculpture and performance. Her work challenges active engagement, ideas of authorship and questions the role of the artist. Currently her practice is looking closer into the relationship between installation, movement and the surrounding space, along with exploring architectural interventions.

Much of her inspiration comes from her surroundings; space, architecture, nature and the people that interact with them. Alessandra is exploring the architecture we inhabit and says that it should not restrict us, but instead, it should challenge us, inspire what we do and influence the way we move. She is keen to bring other people into her work, whether this is as the audience, the creator, the material or the participator. The work Alessandra produces bridges the gap between the artist and the audience, the audience and the work, and the work and the world it sits in. She challenges the audience to allow them to be engulfed by the work, become part of it and explore it for themselves. She aims to bring ‘people art’ on a personal level, giving the audience a real experience. Work stems from her relationship with the audience, it makes them think, contemplate and works along with their natural curiosity. The work Alessandra produces understands the spaces that it is exhibited in but takes the viewer beyond the ’gallery walls’ and allows them to become the way finder. For more information on Alessandra visit her tumblr site here