50th annual exhibition of Wiltshire Artists at St Peter’s this weekend

St Peter’s will be hosting the 50th annual exhibition of the Wiltshire Artists group. Started by Marlborough resident and artist Stella Harrison many years ago the group is for local artists with an ethos to give creatives the chance to exhibit their work without a selection committee. Stella still helps out and offers her creative eye when arranging the hanging of the show. Everyone is encouraged to get involved with the exhibition from displaying the work to stewarding and promotion. It’s very much a team effort.

After four decades of organising the exhibition Stella took a step back and handed the duties over to local painter David Auld.

Karolina and Patrick Bull took on the responsibility for the running of the group four years ago in 2019. Patrick and Karolina live in Marlborough and both studied art before working in the art industry. Patrick works at a fine art foundry working on bronze sculpture including large public pieces for leading artists. He has spent the last 4 years creating a collection of his own bronze bird sculptures.

The group has evolved over the years to include a broader range of mediums including ceramic, sculpture, photography as well as painting and drawing from over ywenty artists. This makes for an exciting show with lots of contrasting styles and subjects. From the brilliant photography of Highworth based Neil George, the beautiful silk paintings by Yvonne Auld or the serene pastel work of Sue Thomas there is something for everyone to enjoy.

St Peter’s Church, with its beautiful setting and stained glass windows is the perfect space in which to hold the exhibition. And it’s been the location for each of the fifty years of the exhibitions.

St Peter’s is a beautiful historic building, an icon of Marlborough marking one end of the High Street, and a wonderful viewing point from the top of the tower shows Marlborough in a new and different perspective.

The exhibition is open in St Peter’s across teh weekend, and there are cakes and hot drinks available from the Cardinal Cafe and on the Sunday the local Macmillan committee will be selling cakes and hot drinks to raise money for the charity.