Taking inspiration from the people, places and landscape of Uttlesford, Saffron Walden Museum presents its exciting summer programme of art activities. The programme includes an exciting new exhibition, “The Uttlesford Open 2023” in addition to the “Wild about Walden” art trail, both opening to the public on the 22nd of July.
“The Uttlesford Open 2023: A Sense of Place” will feature artworks by over 50 local artists, exploring the theme of the people, places, and landscape of Uttlesford. The artworks cover a breadth of artistic disciplines from painting to millinery; quilt making to stained glass; all evoking the intrinsic character of Uttlesford and the emotive bonds and attachments that people experience in response to it.
Building on previous work with “Support 4 Sight”, the exhibition will also feature audio descriptions of some of the art works on display, written and performed by the artists themselves thus giving a more personal narrative to the pieces and understanding how Uttlesford has provided inspiration for the art.
Charlotte Pratt, Learning and Outreach Officer at Saffron Walden Museum and the exhibition coordinator said:
“It important that we continue to improve the accessibility of our exhibitions here at the Museum and show that we are a museum for the whole community. I hope that this exhibition and varied summer programme demonstrates this broad inclusivity; through the audio descriptions, the free “Wild about Walden” art trail in addition to the open call for the exhibition, which was open to everyone in the county to enter.”
Also launching on the 22nd of July is the “Wild about Walden” art trail. “Wild about Walden” will see large lion sculptures and silhouettes hidden all around Saffron Walden. Trail maps will be available from the Museum from the 22nd of July and are free to all. For those successfully completing the trail, there will be the chance to be entered into a prize draw to win a season ticket to the Museum along with an exclusive behind the scenes tour. There will be 14 lions to find in total, each with a letter allocated to it. Lion hunters will need to find all 14 lions and record their letters correctly on the trail map which then needs to be handed back to the Museum to be entered into the prize draw. Everyone who joins in will also get a sticker!
The Museum will also be holding a fun packed programme of creative activities for families over the holidays beginning on the 25th of July with a clay tile activity and finishing up on the 24th of August with an amazing day of heritage crafts. There are 6 activity days in total during this time and drop in spaces will be available on a first come first serve basis however it is advised to prebook tickets to avoid disappointment via the museum’s art tickets page.
The Uttlesford Open 2023 exhibition opens to the public on Saturday 22nd July 2023 and runs throughout the summer and beyond until Sunday 29th October 2023.
Most of the Artworks will be on sale and purchased works can be collected after the exhibition closes at the end of October so that you can bring your very own part of the Sense of Place exhibition back home.
The “Wild about Walden” art trail will run from Saturday 22nd of July to Tuesday 5th of September and all completed entries will go into a prize draw shortly after to win a fabulous season ticket for the year and an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the museum.
