Oxfordshire Artweeks 2023, a major annual art event, is taking place in May in different regions across the county. There will be a huge range of creative works to explore, from traditional painting, sculpture and ceramics to textiles, photography and digital arts. Even more could be found such as woodwork, glass art, mosaics and jewellery. Very likely you will be able to find your cup of tea in the Oxfordshire Artweeks 2023.
While some makers and designers will open their studios for exhibitions, the others may team up to host group shows. They are all FREE to enter. Also, these are great opportunities to meet the artists in Oxfordshire Artweeks 2023 – ask them questions about their works and watch their demonstrations.
Local area trails for Oxfordshire Artweeks 2023
This year’s festival runs from 6th-29th May in as many as over 400 venues, including some interesting places to visit such as glorious gardens, ancient churches and medieval tithe barns.
Oxfordshire Artweeks 2023 will take place in three different regions in three different periods.
North and West Oxfordshire
From 13rd-21st May (Saturday to Sunday)
Including Banbury, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Burford, Bampton, Witney, Eynsham, Kidlington, Woodstock and Bicester
Oxford City
From 20th-29th May (Saturday to Monday)
Across Headington, Iffley, Cowley, Botley, Oxford city centre, Jericho, Summertown and Wolvercote
Some group of artists, coordinated by local volunteers, have created trail maps to help visitors navigate from venue to venue. This allows us to explore artworks as well as the places around.
Highlights of Oxfordshire Artweeks 2023
In addition to appreciation of the beauty of art, we can go further to reflect on the people and the society through the artworks.
Winner of the 2023 Artweeks Mary Moser Award
Artist Sue Smith is the winner of the 2023 Artweeks Mary Moser Award. Previously a front-line worker supporting vulnerable adults, the homeless and refugees, she found drawing an escape as she transferred deep-rooted issues around the loss of security onto paper.
Her detailed cityscapes are drawn primarily in pen and ink, as metaphors for insecurity, destruction and vulnerability. Meanwhile, she thinks her cityscapes, or “3D maps” may offer hope. “If there’s a map, then there’s a way out. We can all help someone to find it.” See if you can help.
Sue’s work will be shown in St John the Evangelist Cloister Gallery at 109A Iffley Road, Oxford from Saturday 20th May to Sunday 28th May, except Monday 22nd May and Tuesday 23rd May.
FarmART
Honeydale Farm, Station Road, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxon, OX7 6BJ
14th-21st May, 2023
What to be shown are the artistic responses of five artists to their one year’s residence in the farm. There are drawings of people who visit, volunteer and work in the farm as well as paintings of fields and woodland at the regenerative farming centre, which is committed to farm and food education that explores and demonstrates alternative ways to build sustainable farming and food systems that nourish people and regenerate the Earth.
Ten Trees to Treasure
Hosted by Oxford Wood Recycling
4 Suffolk Way, Abingdon, OX14 5JX
6th-13th May, 2023 (except 7th Sunday)
Oxford Wood Recycling was established in 2005 to address the issues of wood waste management while also providing job opportunities for the disadvantages. The social enterprise will host an exhibition of ten trees, which are conventionally regarded as native to British woodlands, and to explore their contribution to the natural, industrial and social history, while also reflecting on how the environmental and climate changes have put them in danger.
Artists and shows online
As a taster session, an online Spring Show is now available as a preview of the exhibition and “another way to choose which venues to visit during the festival” as the organiser says.
There are also different themed virtual art trails such as “flowers and gardens”, “buildings and cityscapes”, “around the world”, “people and portraits”, “Oxfordshire landscape”, “the animal kingdom” and so on – all allow you to pick up the types of artworks that you’re interested in.
This year’s festival details, including the list of artists and their locations as well as festival and trail maps, all can be found at www.artweeks.org. Meanwhile, a printed festival guide is now distributed in libraries, tourist information offices, cafés and local information points across the county.
Apart from art, you can get more ideas about other activities in Oxford in our previous article: Making the Most of Your Time as a Student in Oxford.
