Exhibitions
Join us at Westbury Arts Centre in celebrating artwork, art and artists and immerse yourself with themes and ideas explored in the following exhibitions.
All exhibitions are open to everyone and free to attend.
For information on our Events, please visit the following page click here
For information on our Workshops, please visit the following page click here
For information on how to get to Westbury, please go to the following page click here.
Artful Connections 3: Beyond The Surface
Free entry
Saturday 28 - Sunday 29 September 2024
Opening times:
Saturday: 10am - 5pm
Sunday: 11am - 4pm
Westbury Arts Centre,
Foxcovert Road, Shenley Wood
Milton Keynes MK5 6AA
An exhibition of paintings and ceramics from members of Artful Connections, a group of local artists and crafts people who met originally through Artists Network Bedfordshire and have formed a fellowship over more than fifteen years, nurturing eachother’s creativity through informal meetups, sharing of practice, drawing/painting/making sessions, and visits to exhibitions.
The Artful Connections are also variously associated with The ArtistCollective@Westbury, the Visual Images Group in Bucks., the Eagle Gallery Co Operative in Bedford, and The Wynd Gallery in Letchworth. All of us belong to a-n The Artists’ Information Company.
Each of the members of the Artful Connections Group take inspiration from their surroundings, be it natural forms, people, landscape or weather, and transforms these impressions, individually, through unique methods.
In this exhibition the members of the Artful Connections are making connections between the differing ways they each engage with “surface”, whether that be physical – as in the case of ceramics, mixed media or paint – or whether it’s considering the meaning and associations of colour, mark-making and texture.
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An exhibition by the Artful Connections 3: Beyond the Surface at Westbury Arts Centre
Past Exhibitions
September 2024
"Charlie Blake is an artist with a wealth of experience of making and creating things. From a very young age he drew inspiration from the creativity and art of his father.
Charlie says: “As a child my favourite artist was my dad who drew me knobbly cartoon characters, in a unique Dickensian style never to be copied and all now lost. About the time I left school at 15, dad started using Oil Paints and being intrigued, when he was out, I would use them. In addition, I also became interested in making sculptures and other creative things, such as: playing Drums and Sax in Jazz and Rock bands (musical link can be accessed here). Dads’ art became more intriguing after he sustained a serious head injury, and I have included some of his pieces in this exhibition.”
“I have always enjoyed making the sculptures/installations, as I get a sense of their precocious intrusion of our space rather than art just hanging safely on a wall. But the drawings and paintings seem unavoidable too and I enjoy the connection improvised between hand and eye.... I am drawn towards what may seem challenging at first and may seem impossible, yet eventually is achievable.”
“In this exhibition I will show my 'best' works of art from 1970s to the present day. I have spent a lot of time in the South Cumbrian Lake District, likewise in Western Cornwall. I was very moved by Sven Berlins Biography of Alf Wallis 'Primitive' – a work that has inspired my drawings responding to Alf’s life. My work explores and responds to Climate, Biodiversity, faith, and decline.”
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Exhibition: Charlie Blake: A Retrospective "Everything is Broken" at Westbury Arts Centre
September 2024
About the Artist:
Farina creates art under the name ‘Beyond Images Studio’ which is all about her passion for art, architecture and photography.
She is a resident artist at Westbury Arts Centre. Born in Pakistan, she graduated as an architect and moved to UK, where she obtained her Masters in Art History and have been creating art since.
Inspired by architectural spaces and features, she aims to document and preserve the grandeur and memory of historical sites and fascinating architectural landmarks through her art.
She works with mixed media and freehand sketches, and juxtapose them with original photographs to create composite images.
This exhibition will showcase her creative interpretations of architecture and built environment of Milton Keynes and Beyond.
Read our News article about Farina's exhibition here: Exhibition inspired by Milton Keynes’ built environment at Westbury Arts Centre 7 to 15 September 2024
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Exhibition: Lines of Imagination by Farina Noorani at Westbury Arts Centre
September
"Three Palettes, Three Perspectives" is a collaboration between three local artists, David Cadogan, Mallory Henson and Robin Souter, each conveying a distinct interpretation of the world.
This exhibition explores colour, form and light through landscapes, seascapes, portraits and still-life paintings. Each artist's work presents a personal perspective, reflecting their journeys and artistic approaches.
Visitors are welcome to view the exhibition in Westbury's Drawing Room and Legge Room galleries. There will be opportunities to meet the artists, and paintings, prints, and cards will be available for purchase.
This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see the world through the eyes of three remarkable artists.
Read our News article about this exhibition here: Exhibition at Westbury Arts Centre: "Three Palettes, Three Perspectives" 14-15 September 2024
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Three Palettes, Three Perspectives at Westbury Arts Centre
What Makes a Space Nigerian? Home Edition
Free entry
Monday 26 August - Sunday 1 September 2024
12noon - 7pm
‘What makes a space Nigerian? - home edition’ exhibition interrogates the key components of the Nigerian cultures and histories that define the spaces we inhabit.
Focusing on the British Nigerian diasporic home, we aim to transform a gallery space into a speculative Nigerian home that references traditional and contemporary practices and architectural features in its spatial design. To create an authentic experience we are populating the space with artefacts/furniture pieces that we receive from the Nigerian public.
This exhibition aims to empower and inform a dialogue around designing culturally suitable spaces for the diaspora within the UK and by extension those within Nigeria.
Find out more by reading our news article click here
August
Bound/ unbound
An exhibition of recent work by
The Westbury Fabric and Fibre Guild
Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 August 2024
11am - 4pm
The Westbury Fabric and Fibre Guild meets weekly at Westbury Arts Centre.
The members have skills in many different textile disciplines including weaving, hand and machine embroidery, felt making, patchwork and quilting, garment construction, knitting, crochet, and mixed media textile decoration. The Guild have held exhibitions at Westbury every August since 2017 (even managing to host a scaled down, socially distanced show in 2020!).
August 2024
Visit Westbury Arts Centre to view an exhibition of drawings and paintings by Mary Barnes & sculptures in clay and bronze by Vera Aburad.
To find out more about Mary click here
To find out more about Vera click here
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July 2024
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Strings of Mind: A Journey Through Art
Friday 12th July - Sunday 14th July 2024
The Barn Gallery
10am - 6pm
“Strings of Mind’ was a string art exhibition, by Sveta Sangani, showcasing the intricacies of the human mind woven into the vibrant patterns of strings and colours. Visitors had a chance to embark upon this journey of self-expression and self-exploration where ART MEETS MIND.
Sveta, is a teacher by profession with a PGCE in Early Years. She specializes in making unusually creative string art pieces. Unlike the ones seen in the 80s, she makes more complex pieces from personalized to portraits using mathematical algorithms. See Sveta's Instagram Profile see @untanglemystringart
June 2024
Visit Westbury Arts Centre for the Bucks Art Weeks event
from Saturday 8th June to Sunday 16th June.
Ten Westbury's Resident Artists will be opening their studios, keen to meet you all and discuss all things art! You will have a chance to view their artwork, find out all the information about the process of creating art, learn about workshops their run and also purchase their artwork.
In addition, also from Saturday 8th to Sunday 16th June, you are invited to view the Visiting Artists' Exhibition in the Barn Gallery, our largest exhibition space. You will have a unique opportunity to meet the artists, see, discuss and also purchase the artwork. Read more about this event in our NEWS section of the website here.
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Open Studios at Westbury Arts Centre
ART Exhibition at the Barn Gallery
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Guest Artists Exhibiting at Westbury Arts Centre's Barn Gallery:
Elena V Miller
Matt Waruszynski
Michelle Davies
Helen Taylor
The Creatives
GELF Glass
Jane Charles (Smallbean Stitchings)
Jenna Kelly (Eden Printing)
May 2024
This inspiring exhibition was a collaboration by musician & composer Jonathan and Jacob Whittle, and artists Hanagh and Joe Little. Paintings and music based on the book “Gravity of Dragons”.
Historical, fantasy, spiritual, wonderment and awe. The main character, ‘The Shoemaker’ always appears at pivotal moments in our history.Find out more about Joe by visiting his website (www.joelittleartist.com) and Instagram Page. Both, Joe and Hanagh are Resident Artist at Westbury Arts Centre, and you can find our more about them here:
March 2024
Connecting Threads
Saturday 30th - Sunday 31st
March
Westbury Arts Centre
11am - 5pm
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The members of the Westbury Fabric and Fibre Guild have been meeting with members of the Middle Eastern Cultural Group in late 2023 and early 2024, to share and acquire new skills in design and stitch. Working with community artist Jane Charles, they have collaborated to produce a series of hand stitched work on printed and painted linen and cotton, some of which has been pieced into a garment by fashion designer Rena Al-Jawad.
Two local writers, Caroline Davies and Ghouson Rahhal have participated in the workshops and have created new poetry and prose to reflect and comment on the alchemy which occurs when women come together to stitch.
In this exhibition you could see the printed and stitched work at Westbury Arts Centre on Saturday 30 March and Sunday 31 March between 11am and 5pm, and hear Caroline and Ghouson reading their writing on Thursday 4 April at Milton Keynes Central Library from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
Entry to both events was free or charge.
For more information about both events, please contact Yvonne Elliot on yvonne.elliott@me.com
Join the Connecting Threads Event on Facebook click here
Milton Keynes College and Westbury Arts Centre would like to invite you to the Private View of the work of the students from three of their Art courses: Foundation Diploma in Art and Design L3/4, Higher National Certificate in Art, Higher National Certificate in Photography.
In addition the Milton Keyne's College Resident Artists will be displaying their work. The Private View will take place on Saturday 9th December 5pm - 7pm at Westbury Arts Centre.
Artist Statement:
Venu is a photography enthusiast based in Milton Keynes with interest in wildlife, people and creative light photography.
Join us to celebrate and witness two realms blend to form an awe-inspiring tapestry of visual storytelling of the natural world and creative artwork.
Wildlife photography invites us into the secret lives of Earth's creatures, offering glimpses of their untamed beauty, their struggles, and their exquisite moments.
Creative art photography, on the other hand, is a canvas where photographers paint with light, crafting moments of ethereal beauty and unbridled imagination.
May 2024
"Paper. Story, You Don't Know" is an opportunity for you to experience the entire process of papermaking, starting from harvesting plant fibre to transforming it into a beautiful art material.
Throughout the journey, you will also discover the "paper spirit" - the natural forces that bring paper to life - intertwined with the physical process. We will engage in meaningful conversations through various mediums such as photography, fabric drawing, audio design, light, and interactive activities.
The exhibition consists of four zones - Air, Earth, Fire and Water. These zones will take you on a journey through the story of paper - how it was created, what materials were used to make it, and its various uses. At the end of the tour, you will get a chance to create your sheet of paper.
The exhibition features paper as both a functional and artistic medium, showcasing prints, graphics, sculptures, castings, and bookmaking. "Paper. Story, You Don't Know" is an educational space and artists' group exhibition curated by Natalia Lapidus, a Milton Keynes-based artisan paper artist and curator.
It features original photo works by Oksana Merzlikina, a multi-awarded photographer from London. Additionally, you will find pictures on hay paper by Tatiana Orlenok, a resident artist of the Westbury Arts Centre and exhibitor around the UK. You can also enjoy audio and video design by Yuliana Lykova, a talented young artist working in a multidisciplinary approach.
Exhibition will be opened 10am-6pm, May 10-12, 2024.
Curator-led tours for both adults and kids will be available every two hours.
Join the Event on Facebook and let your friends know you are coming to see this inspiring exhibition click here
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Artist Statement:
Suraj is a Milton Keynes based photographer who was born and grew up in India. He took up photography as a serious hobby over a decade ago and have travelled across India and a number of places around the world capturing the essence of the place through photography.
Through this exhibition he plans to showcase the diversity of his home country by presenting a medley of colourful photographs covering landscape, architecture, portraits, culture, city life, street and more.
Suraj will be there on both days and he looks forward to your visit to the exhibition. Do feel free to ask him any questions about the photos and he will be happy to answer them.
Becky and Robin;
Charcoal meets Oils Exhibition
Sat 9th - Sun 10th
September 2023
The Barn Gallery
11am - 4pm
This exhibition is a collaboration between celebrated local charcoal artist Becky Gouverneur and Robin Souter, a resident artist at Westbury Arts Centre, dedicated to atmospheric and dynamic oil painting.
This exhibition is part of the Heritage Open Days events. For more details, please click here
ARTful CONNECTIONS 2
EXHIBITION
Sat 16th - Sun 17th
September 2023
The Barn Gallery
Artful Connections is a group of nine local professional artists and crafts people who have formed a fellowship over more than fifteen years, nurturing each other’s creativity through informal meetups, sharing of practice, drawing/painting/making sessions, and visits to exhibitions.
We are also variously associated with The ArtistCollective@Westbury, the Visual Images Group in Bucks., the Eagle Gallery Co Operative in Bedford, The Wynd Gallery in Letchworth, and the Artists Network Bedfordshire. All of us belong to a-n The Artists’ Information Company.
An important part of our coming together centres on finding places to exhibit our work, hopefully to sell - but more importantly, to show others what we make and value, with the aim of sharing our thoughts, ideas and expressions of the world around us.
Each of us takes inspiration from our surroundings, whether that is natural forms, people, landscape or weather and transform these impressions through unique methods. Our aim is to make connections concerning issues common to everyone, such as environment, wellbeing and identity.
This exhibition is part of the Heritage Open Days events. For more details, please click here
Westbury Art Club Exhibition
Sat 16th - Sun 17th
September 2023
Drawing Room
11am - 4pm
Westbury Arts Centre has a regular
Art Club on both Monday and Wednesday
afternoons, providing a quiet,
sociable space for people to work on their
own projects, be it painting, drawing, 3D,
textiles, etc.
The participants treasure this time, away from distractions, in the lovely setting of Westbury, and encourage each other in their artistic journeys. This is the first time both Art Clubs have come together to exhibit their work, many of whom have not shown their work before to the public- so it is particularly suited to this year’s theme of Creativity Unwrapped.
This exhibition is part of the Heritage Open Days events. For more details, please click here
Paul Van den Hende – a retrospective exhibition
Sunday 24th
September 2023
The Barn Gallery
12.30pm - 4.30pm
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This retrospective exhibition of paintings and photography celebrates Paul Van den Hende in his 80th year.
Paul came to art late, gaining a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts in 1996 and an MA in Social and Political thought in 1999 after a career in engineering, local government, and the financial sector, finally as the IT and Operations Director of an international insurance group.
He is principally a painter but also a photographer and is a past member of the Silbury Group of Artists in Milton Keynes. His work shows a strong sense of place as well as varied and successful experimentation in a wide range of styles and media. Of particular interest to Milton Keynes is the series of paintings based on the map of the city. They can be understood as a series of two-dimensional abstract paintings of parts of a diagrammatic map projection of a three-dimensional landscape. Emotionally they can be seen to be a personal response to a chosen set of colours, marks, and shapes.
His photographs demonstrate his keen curiosity about people and places and how they relate to each other.
He has taught art history at university level at Oxford and Cambridge, and painting, drawing and photography in adult education.
Paul has work in company collections and in French, Swiss and American private collections.
He is of Belgian and Swiss/English parentage with an early childhood spent in Belgium.
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