NEWS: Holmfirth Art Market Reaches Its Tenth Milestone

Established art, craft and design event, The Art Market is celebrating its 10th market in Holmfirth this year, with its best selection of artists yet, which will be showcased over two consecutive weekends on 3rd / 4th November and 10th / 11th November.

What started five years ago as an experimental one day event to bring art to the people of Holmfirth has become a successful cultural destination point for the area. The Art Market is run by artists, Brendan Hesmondhalgh, Victoria Robinson and Emily Stubbs who co-ordinate the event together.

“We were part of a small group of artists in the Holmfirth area,” explains Art Market co-organiser Victoria. “At that time  when we began the idea, most of the local art galleries had closed down and we felt there was nowhere for people to buy contemporary art, craft and design. So we decided to organise an art market for Holmfirth drawing upon the larger community of artists and makers that we knew in the area.”

“We have seen The Art Market grow massively since the first one we did and this year, for the first time, we will be opening on the Saturday evening from 8-10pm when visitors can preview the artists’ work.”

Barn Owls by Kaper

This preview evening will give visitors an opportunity to view the work in a quieter, more grown-up atmosphere and to discuss the work freely with the artist in question. On the evening they can either choose to buy there and then or return the next day for a second look and make a purchase, as Victoria explains.

“People often tell us that they enjoy the busy, family-oriented feel of the daytime event but when they have their children with them, they don’t always get chance to make a considered purchase and they miss the opportunity to buy. This preview evening means that we are making maximum use of the short time The Art Market takes place within this venue, so that everyone can make the most of the work on offer.”

'How To Make Your First Million' by Vinegar and Brown Paper

This year’s event will see the return of some established artists but also some new faces, making their Art Market debut in Holmfirth. These include Clare Lane, a textile artist who features industrial imagery in her work, Kaper animal sculptures made from paper and We Live Here whose print work focuses on buildings and has a pared down, minimalist and quite abstract quality to it. Also new to the market are Anna-Mercedes Wear, a ceramicist who creates kooky figures and animals and Katie Stainer who makes jewellery using paper and silver.

“Each year, we never know what kind of applications we will receive,” says Victoria. “We always ensure that the standard of work is maintained while also trying to ensure there is a variety, although some artistic disciplines such as jewellery and textiles are always over-subscribed. That’s why we like to rotate artists, in the interests of fairness as well as to keep things fresh. However, I do believe that this year we have the best blend of both quality and variety that we have ever had.”

Katie Stainer Contemporary Paper Crafts

The Art Market showcases established, professional artists but also provides a platform for talented, up-and-coming artists, who often have never exhibited or sold their work to the public before. Each year, these specially selected artists receive mentoring from the show’s organisers on how to present, price and sell their work professionally. This year’s mentored artists by The Art Market team are painter Ann Julia Hirst and Amanda Moon, who creates headwear, both of whom will be showing on 3rd / 4th November followed by textile artist Nicola Elliott and Rogers & Rogers with their unique fairies, which will be on show on 10th/11th November.

The inclusion of newcomers gives visitors the opportunity to discover an artist who is at the outset of their career and it also provides an important first step for raw talent.

“Over the last five years, the Art Markets has grown in size and popularity and consequently we’ve learned a lot along the way,” says Victoria. “But the basic principles, on which we founded this event, remain the same. It’s still our mission to provide a place where both locals and visitors to Holmfirth, can discover and buy an amazing range of contemporary art, craft and design. ”

'Alice my Saturday girl talking Dave on his morning walk for his newspaper' by Lucy Anne Harding

Awards are given out at each show of ‘Best Presented Stand’ and ‘Outstanding Artist’ , and they receive advice and guidance from The Art Market’s PR & Marketing coordinator Fiona Pattison from Happy 4 pr, with a free business mentoring session.  Winner Lucy Anne Harding says "As part of my prize from winning Outstanding Artist at the Arts Market in June was business mentoring with Happy 4 PR. I was so excited to have won this, as I think sometimes you can get too involved with your work and its a really good to have someone else opinion."

The Next Art Market is on at Holmfirth Indoor Market on Saturday 3rd November 8pm - 10pm (preview 1) & Sunday 4th November 10am - 4pm (main show 1), Saturday 10th November 8pm - 10pm (preview 2) & Sunday 11th November 10am - 4pm (main show 2). Go to http://www.artmarkets.co.uk Over 100 selected artists will be selling & taking commissions for their own work over the two weekends. Preview the designers before the event here http://theartsmarket.blogspot.co.uk