www.lagrandegallerie.france.com Since 2008, La Grande Gallerie in Civray, France (Poitou-Charentes region) has been a focus for artistic activities. Located in the Old Town, it provides a permanent exhibition space plus workshop areas for its host of ongoing creative courses. There’s also a great café and an Internet hub.
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www.edinburgharts.co.uk This portal is a joint project between two non-profit bodies and provides loads of information about venues to hire, news about what various arts groups are doing, plus a place to publicise your event. Not just for the visual arts, either!
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www.rainforestartists.com This website with its dazzling images brings together a community of artists who paint flora, fauna and landscapes of worldwide rainforests. Through display of their work, they raise crucial public awareness of the plight of fast-vanishing, precious habitats. Many also contribute revenue from sales to this cause. Please visit the site, link to the artists, buy something if you can, or give a small donation to help the group’s efforts.
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www.artistsfornature.com Twenty years ago, Dutch art collector and wildlife enthusiast Ysbrand Brouwers got together with like-minded artists both in the Netherlands and abroad and created a richly illustrated book about the unspoiled island of Schiermonnikoog. Exhibitions followed, public awareness grew and major conservation bodies lent a hand. Today the island is a protected National Park, and more than 130 artists worldwide have used the power of their artwork to support 12 successful nature conservancy projects. Learn more – and maybe get involved via the website.
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www.rableydrawingcentre.com Converted Victorian farm buildings provide the studios and exhibitions spaces for this marvellous venture, set amid the big skies and gentle hills of Mildenhall, near Marlborough, Wiltshire. Rabley was founded by Meryl Ainslie, M.A. as a centre of excellence for drawing – both as a discipline in its own right and as the basis for all fine and applied arts. The 700-acre site offers a comprehensive choice of short courses, workshops and artist residencies. Talks, seminars and courses are all self-funded from exhibition sales.
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www.associationanimalartists.co.uk All members – whether art college educated or self-taught – are encouraged to create, exchange ideas and show their depictions of any animal. Workshops, sketching en plein air, photography plus two annual exhibitions in Samlesbury Hall, Lancs. Find out more from Anne Corless.
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www.miwas.co.uk Marwell International Wildlife Art Society is the largest such body in Europe with members worldwide, including some very famous names. Begun to support the conservation work of 100-acre Marwell Zoological Park in Hampshire MIWAS continues to make contributions to the protection of endangered species through their annual summer exhibition and other activities.
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Notts Society The Nottingham Society of Artists is one of the oldest creative associations in the U.K. Their website offers useful information and news, and members benefit from the Society’s own gallery at St. Luke’s House in the city centre. Visit: www.nottinghamartists.org.uk
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International Artists’ Residencies Fancy ice carving in Sweden? Or micro-architecture on the theme of “Forests” in Paris? Or perhaps a residency using clay, glass, textiles or metal in Tennessee? TransArtists is an independent foundation based in the Netherlands that informs registered artists of opportunities like these, gives application guidelines and much more. See: www.transartists.nl
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Visual Arts Ireland This all-Ireland body for professional visual artists provides facilities, services and resources, initiates artistic projects and publications, as well as acting as an advocate for individual artists – e.g. assessing contracts. www.visualartists.ie
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Warwickshire Artists Creative folk in the Warwickshire area should check out this cleverly-designed site that allows artists to access resources and display / sell their work online. www.warwickshireartists.co.uk
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BANA Bath Area Network for Artists is a growing artist-led network est. 1998. BANA works to: raise the profile of the arts; establish links with other art groups and resources; build relationships with funders / investors; and encourage best practice by members. www.bana-arts.co.uk
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