The Art Writers Group (AWG) is a new association formed by Peter Stiles, Josephine Lanyon and Grace Davies.
During 2017 Peter Stiles and Josephine Lanyon ran the Art Writers Programme (AWP) in three locations in the South West Region. This programme was funded by Arts Council of England, Plymouth Arts Centre, Made in Plymouth, Tate St Ives, Newlyn Art Gallery, Arnolfini, Spike Island, U.W.E., Hestercombe and Visual Arts South West. The key ambitions of this series of residencies, lectures/events and peer to peer learning were to:
1) provide opportunities for organisations/individuals to gain new skills in writing about art.
2) introduce a range of audiences to different approaches to thinking about art.
3) produce lively, informative and engaging texts on the contemporary arts for digital and printed outputs.
Bespoke art writing programmes were devised to suit the needs of three areas: Plymouth, West Cornwall and Bristol and four writers appointed for each location; Patrick Langley (West Cornwall), Mary Paterson (Bristol), Tom Jeffries (Plymouth) and Lizzie Lloyd (Plymouth).
The separate strands of the programme were linked via three events targeted at the whole region: an introductory seminar at Hestercombe in Somerset bringing together arts partners to explore the development of art writing in the region, then a day of practical training for the region’s organisations to think about authorial voice and audience (held in Plymouth) and finally a study day in Bristol to look into editorial practice and policy.
The programme was partnered by Plymouth Culture, Made in Plymouth, Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth City Council, Arnolfini, Spike Island, U.W.E., St Ives Tate, Newlyn Art Gallery, CAST, Hestercombe and Visual Art South West.
Art Writing workshops led by Colin Perry at the Arnolfini, Bristol, 2017.
Art Writers Group 