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Artists from the Fens get together for national Open Windows event amid coronavirus pandemic
Artists from the Fens have teamed up to try and lift creative and community spirit as part of the national Open Windows event. Picture: SUPPLIED - Credit: Archant
A group of artists are offering an alternative way of keeping up both creative and community spirit by showing artwork through their windows.
Riverside Arts in Littleport are taking part in the national Open Windows movement, in partnership with Cambridge Open Studios, which is made up of over 500 artists, craftspeople and designer-makers working across Cambridgeshire.
This year’s open studios event, where usually artists allow the public to view their work, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, they will instead showcase their ideas from the comforts of their own homes.
Jane Frost, who specialises in environmental and textile art, is one of those taking part in the event.
“We have been part of the promotions with Cambridge Open Studios, which rather than cancelling completely have adapted to the COVID-19 restrictions,” she said.
“It has been so good to be involved in sharing the planning ideas and staging of Open Windows with the Riverside Arts group, and I have really missed the interaction between artist friends and colleagues.”
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Other Riverside Arts members, weaver Ditty Dokter, textile artist Anna Osborne, painter Caroline Forward and furniture maker Rick Forward, will also portray their designs alongside Jane every weekend throughout July.
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Whether that is on their front gardens or through windows, artists look to make an impression on their local community at a time where joy is most needed.
Since seeing the benefits of her labyrinth on Woodfen Road in Littleport, Jane hopes residents can be pleased as much from their latest project as they were during the height of the lockdown.
“I am encouraging people to make use of the Littleport Labyrinth when they visit Open Windows, which has been a really well-used resource,” she said.
“We are aiming to keep people’s creative and community spirits up, even though some restrictions are being lifted, life is still unpredictable and art can help to provide a positive outlook.
“This is a way that we can invest into our community at this extraordinary time as a group of artists.
“It also helps to keep Cambridge Open Studios on people’s radar, promotes creativity and our art businesses, as well as giving us something positive to work towards.”
For more information on the Open Windows event, visit https://www.camopenstudios.co.uk/open-windows.