‘the cream of the region’s art’, East Anglian Daily Times

Established in 2000, Artworks is a dynamic group of thirty contemporary East Anglian based professional artists working in a range of styles and media, some with national and international reputations. Artworks was established to exhibit and sell its members’ work at an annual showcase exhibition held every September at Blackthorpe Barn, just off the A14 at Rougham, near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. The shows have proved to be vibrant, exciting and wide reaching. Comprising painters, sculptors, printmakers, a photographer and an installation artist, all well established in their field, Artworks is purposefully committed to promoting excellence and artistic diversity in the work of its members and delivering this unique asset to the wider community. If and when there are vacancies, new members are elected at an annual selection meeting early in the New Year.

Activities with local schools in the form of school visits to our exhibition and artist-led workshops in schools (for further details click HERE or on our Schools page) are also vital to Artworks’ commitment to community involvement. Now an annual event and providing funding for our work with schools is the JANETTE PLACE MINI ARTWORKS PRIZE DRAW, with a proportion of the proceeds going to charity. Thirty prizes of 6”x 6” original works of art are created by all the artworks’ artists and displayed throughout the duration of the exhibition. The draw, which has been exceptionally well received by our visitors, takes place on the last Saturday of the exhibition. For the results of the 2008 draw click HERE.

In 2008, some 600 people attended artworks’ preview party and a further 2000 people, including children from local schools, visited the exhibition.

Artworks Exhibition 2009

An eagerly anticipated annual event in East Anglia’s art scene, Artworks’ 10th Anniversary exhibition in 2009 will be from Saturday 12 September to Sunday 4 October. This will be a great opportunity to see and buy original contemporary work in various media, different styles and a wide range of prices by some of East Anglia’s most inspired and creative artists. Subject matter will be wide ranging. Once again, on each day of the exhibition, there will also be an artworks’ artist who will be giving a demonstration in their chosen field of expertise. A full programme will be posted on the website once the details have been finalised.

Alongside the exhibition, we also have an Artworks’ shop selling artists framed/mounted work, sculpture and cards. Artworks’ Café provides light refreshments.

We are also repeating ‘Artists Making an Exhibition of Themselves’, an event when Artworks’ artists set up temporary ‘studios’ in front of their work at the Artworks exhibition. A great success with our visitors, this will take place on one of the Saturdays during the exhibition. Once again, the artists will be there to answer questions, share their art and show how it is done. For further elucidation click HERE.

Continuing with a recent very successful tradition, Artworks will also be featuring another special Concert Evening. Including wine and canapés during the interval with time to enjoy the exhibition, the concert event will take place on Saturday 23 September. For more details click HERE or on our Music page.

The Barn provides a spectacular setting for the Artworks exhibition. A magnificent timber-framed building, the barn was erected around 1550 on land that had belonged to the great Benedictine Abbey of Bury St.Edmunds. After the Abbey was dissolved in 1539 the new owner of its lands in Rougham erected Blackthorpe Barn as a threshing barn in which capacity it continued in use until 1985. Restored in 1991, the Barn is now in use as a popular venue for arts events (www.blackthorpebarn.com).