The annual English Riviera Summer Open Exhibition returns for another year as the country approaches "business as usual" and Torbay ramps up for what is expected to be an exceptionally busy tourist season.

After a year of interruption, we've already kicked off 2021 with some wonderful exhibitions at the Artizan Collective Gallery that have captivated audiences, but the Summer Open is probably our most anticipated calendar offer.

With a hopeful end to lockdown announced, Artizan Collective CIC is excited to host a virtual exhibition for what we hope will be the last full month that our doors are closed. For the whole of March, we’ll be hosting an entirely online, exhibition of affordable works; The Virtual Artist Support Pledge Exhibition. This exhibition will build on the work we started in December 2020 as part of our Winter Open Exhibition as well as the global #ArtistSupportPledge movement, bringing together a whopping selection of nearly 1000 works under £200, in an evolving virtual showcase. All the while, we will also be taking new submissions to the collection in what will be our biggest ever exhibition of work.

To relaunch our Lucius Street venue we’re excited to announce the Artizan Small Works Exhibition.

This showcase of art will be entirely made up of works with dimensions less than 40x40cm with an upper price limit of £300, as we welcome back artists and audiences to our venues.

Artizan Collective is pleased to revisit its headline 2020 exhibition, “The Design Room”, which premiered and was abruptly ended just as the UK went into the first national lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being short lived, the exhibition was well received, and the Collective looks forward to expanding its development in 2021.

The exhibition welcomes printmakers of all practices to submit on a selective basis including those working with print as part of a textiles and interiors practice, and 3D works incorporating print and paper such as bookbinding and handmade papers.

2020 was marked by global hardship and suffering, a year where the term “uncertainty” became near meaningless but the phrase “life changing” became all too familiar. It has already been recognised as a monumental moment in history of comparative significance to the two world wars, the ripples of which will still be being felt for many years to come.

But there is a positive legacy of 2020 to be unearthed in the year ahead; one that recognises the strength of communities against overwhelming adversity; one that applauds the extraordinary efforts and individual sacrifices made; and one that celebrates the peace and resilience we were able to find in this new and harsh reality.

2021 promises a chance for recovery and the search for hope, as we step out on a journey, to find a way home.

Entry into the Artizan Bursary Show Prize 2021 gives participants the opportunity to win a three week, fully paid solo show in the Artizan Gallery main exhibition space. The Award is offered via Artizan Collective CIC who are responsible for overseeing the opportunity and allocating the award to an individual artist.

Given continued uncertainty we’re taking the big step to support visual arts in South Devon by making submissions to this years’ English Riviera Winter Open exhibition absolutely free. All submitting artists will be able to offer up to five works for selection at no charge regardless of success.

Coming Soon

It’s 2020 and we can look back 100 years to the Roaring Twenties and the dawn of a golden age of Modernism celebrated in architecture, fashion, art, literature and music. The era rejoiced in youthfulness being played out under the shadow of the catastrophe of the first war world. Many works by poets, writers, musicians and artists symbolised the trauma this generation suffered and also its optimism for the future.

Artizan Gallery has been able to offer virtual exhibitions at their venue since 2019, an innovative way to showcase your artwork affordably in a professional exhibition space. But now, this platform has new relevance and we are excited to continue to offer access to this service to help artists get their artwork out to remote audiences.

As part of our renewed programming for 2020 we are curating a series of accessible, themed shows to create opportunities for visual artists in the wake of recent uncertainty. Themes include, Glorious Gardens, The Urban Landscape, Creative Coastal, The Digital Space, Photographic Stories, Going Nowhere, The Wild World, Figures, Abstract Works.

Artizan Collective CIC is seeking workshop proposals that can be run at the Artizan Collective Gallery (Fleet Walk, Torquay) and Artizan Gallery (Lucius Street, Torquay) in line with social distancing and COVID-19 Secure regulations.

We always welcome input into our curation process and regularly invite external producers to the space to compliment our programme. If an exhibition booking isn’t for you, our themed exhibitions aren’t quite relevant to your work, or you just have an idea you’d like to see covered then you can make an exhibition proposal.

For the remainder of 2020, Artizan is looking to celebrate the contribution of visual art and culture to our lives following this period of closure through a diversity of programming. We invite exhibition applications from individual artists or groups and can assist with any enquiries regarding sharing of the space or use of multiple gallery rooms.

Artizan Collective CIC welcomes submissions to their annual Summer Open Exhibition which for 2020 will coincide with this year’s Devon Open Studios event.