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At a time when many businesses in the County are going through a hard time, h.Art Herefordshire Art Week is bucking the trend and proving itself a commercial, as well as a cultural, success.
The annual visual art event, run by Herefordshire Council’s Cultural Services, took place for the third year running from September 11 to 19 and attracted considerable numbers of visitors to the County from places like Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, the West Midlands and Oxfordshire, as well as from our immediate neighbouring counties.
Visitors were also reported from as far away as Hong Kong, Australia and America.
What’s more, initial figures from artists and exhibition organisers show that this year’s h.Art visitors spent significantly more on buying local art and crafts than they did in 2003.
Reported sales from open studios and exhibitions were more than double what they were last year.
“This is really good news for the creative industries in Herefordshire and demonstrates the widespread benefits of investing in the arts,” said Melanie Bateman, the Council’s Principal Arts Officer.
“Our strategy for h.Art is coming good: both in increasing the number of visitors coming from outside the County, and in attracting people who are seriously interested in buying good quality fine art and contemporary craft,” she added.
This is not just good news for h.Art, of course. Visitors spend money on other goods and services while they are in the County, but also artists and craftsmakers themselves are making an increasingly important contribution to the local economy.
“It’s well documented that the arts sector has made a real difference to the local economy in cities like Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester,” Melanie Bateman said.
“Together with places like Cornwall and Somerset, we are proving, through the success of h.Art and the Contemporary Craft Fair, that artists can make a really valuable contribution to rural local economies as well.”
She added that she knew of three young artists who had actually moved into the County in the last year, attracted by the growing visual arts network here.
more follows
Although the current support funding for h.Art – largely from the European Union and Advantage West Midlands – has now come to an end, Herefordshire Council will endeavour to support h.Art with the financial backing of the artists for the next five years so that it can continue to develop.
H.ART BUCKS ECONOMIC TREND
At a time when many businesses in the County are going through a hard time, h.Art Herefordshire Art Week is bucking the trend and proving itself a commercial, as well as a cultural, success.
The annual visual art event, run by Herefordshire Council’s Cultural Services, took place for the third year running from September 11 to 19 and attracted considerable numbers of visitors to the County from places like Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, the West Midlands and Oxfordshire, as well as from our immediate neighbouring counties.
Visitors were also reported from as far away as Hong Kong, Australia and America.
What’s more, initial figures from artists and exhibition organisers show that this year’s h.Art visitors spent significantly more on buying local art and crafts than they did in 2003.
Reported sales from open studios and exhibitions were more than double what they were last year.
“This is really good news for the creative industries in Herefordshire and demonstrates the widespread benefits of investing in the arts,” said Melanie Bateman, the Council’s Principal Arts Officer.
“Our strategy for h.Art is coming good: both in increasing the number of visitors coming from outside the County, and in attracting people who are seriously interested in buying good quality fine art and contemporary craft,” she added.
This is not just good news for h.Art, of course. Visitors spend money on other goods and services while they are in the County, but also artists and craftsmakers themselves are making an increasingly important contribution to the local economy.
“It’s well documented that the arts sector has made a real difference to the local economy in cities like Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester,” Melanie Bateman said.
“Together with places like Cornwall and Somerset, we are proving, through the success of h.Art and the Contemporary Craft Fair, that artists can make a really valuable contribution to rural local economies as well.”
She added that she knew of three young artists who had actually moved into the County in the last year, attracted by the growing visual arts network here.
more follows
Although the current support funding for h.Art – largely from the European Union and Advantage West Midlands – has now come to an end, Herefordshire Council will endeavour to support h.Art with the financial backing of the artists for the next five years so that it can continue to develop.
