TWENTY-ONE years of staging what is now the biggest art show in the North of its kind will be celebrated next month when the High Sheriff of South Yorkshire, Dr Robert John Giles Bloomer, officially opens the Great Sheffield Art Show .
Started and staffed solely by volunteers on a shoestring budget, the show now regularly exhibits around 1,500 pieces of art work from around 600 artists, attracting around 6,000 visitors over its three and a half days.
The thing which sets it apa
rt from all other art exhibitions is that it opens its doors to the `hobby' or amateur artist, offering them a shared platform with the established professionals and the chance to network and sell their work. Professional artist trade stands form part of the event this year, many offering workshops and demonstrations.
"The greatest effect of the Great Sheffield Art Show is that many artists have risen from an amateur status to the professional ranks directly as a result of the show over the years," said GSAS co-organiser, Mike Fearne.
It was Isobel Blincow who got it going back in 1987. Keen to find a platform for herself and her artist friends, but constantly turned down by potential backers, she eventually came up with a business plan and persuaded her bank manger to put up £5,000 to launch the event.
Isobel is now retired, and she has past the baton to a band of volunteers headed by Mike Fearne, along with Ruth and Phil Lockwood, Dorothy Barker, Pauling Hutchinson, Brian and Connor Newton, Simon Clements, Janice Speddings, Scott England, Richard Towers, Jim Johnson, Steve Coates and Phil and Wendy Snook.
The Great Sheffield Art Show takes place at Sheffield University's Octagon Centre from July 11-13.
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