Didcot Arts

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Didcot Town Council - Arts & Grants Committee

The Arts & Grants committee is responsible for a budget of over £30,000 which is used to support organisations working for the benefit of the people of Didcot, and also for the Town Council's own arts and entertainment projects.

There is not space here to list all the organisations which the Town Council has grant aided but we are all very aware of all the hard work that is done by many individuals which helps contribute towards the spirit of the town.

An application form and Grant Aid Policy are available in pdf format and may also be obtained from the One Stop Shop, by telephoning 01235 812637 or by email to oss@didcot.gov.uk.

Didcot Arts Forum - DAF

Didcot is fortunate in the support that the Town Council gives to the arts, both financially and in the encouragement it gives to art groups to engage with the public.

One important aspect is the creation of Didcot Arts Forum (DAF), now in existence for over 19 years. DAF promotes the arts in Didcot and acts as a simple conduit for the arts funding provided by the Town Council through its Arts and Grants Committee.

If your group offers entertainment to others by means of performing, writing, learning or creating in any form then we would like to hear from you. In addition if you have any suggestions for future events that you would like to see held in Didcot or would like to contact us about becoming involved with or affiliated to the Didcot Arts Forum please contact Leslie Hood at Didcot.daf@btopenworld.com

Grant Aid awarded through the DIDCOT ARTS FORUM (D.A.F.):

Annual Art Exhibition 2009

Didcot Town Council once again hosted the Annual Didcot Open Art Exhibition at the Civic Hall over the August bank holiday weekend, this being the fourteenth year. The exhibition continues to gets bigger and better and 2009 was no exception with a record number of exhibits and visitors. There was also a major increase in the number of sales.

Organised in conjunction with Didcot Arts, anybody is permitted to exhibit with the only proviso being that it must be for sale. There was a wide range of art on display from watercolours to sculpture.

The main talking point of the Annual Didcot Open Art Exhibition 2009 was whether many of the visitors featured in one of the paintings!

Linda Benton’s Didcot Montage, which received the People’s Choice Award as the most popular exhibit, featured all of Didcot’s major landmarks and also many of Didcot’s major characters with over 20 buildings and scenes and over 100 people depicted!

Winning the people’s choice was a great honour for Linda and a print of the Didcot Montage will be hung in the community collection at the Civic Hall shortly. Commenting on the People’s Choice the Mayor, Margaret Turner said “it is a very clever piece of work which really portrays the vibrancy of Didcot”.

The Didcot Montage was so popular that it has been turned into a greetings card priced £2 and is available from the One Stop Shop.

Winner of the Mayor’s Choice was an oil picture by Doreen Smith named ‘Solitude’. Depicting a single sailing boat aground a bank as the sea goes out under a moody sky, it is a beautiful picture. Again this will be placed on permanent display in the Civic Hall Community Collection. The Mayor explained her reason for choosing it “it is so peaceful and tranquil and so well painted that I think it will never date. My only criteria when choosing the Mayor’s Choice was that it would have to be something I wanted in my own home and this picture certainly fits the bill’.

The Annual Didcot Open Art Exhibition is hosted and financially supported by Didcot Town Council.

Annual Art Exhibition 2008

For the 13th successive year, the Town Council sponsored and hosted the town's Art Exhibition with over 235 works on show at the Civic Hall. This annual event is a real highlight and enjoyed by all who exhibit and visit.

The Mayor's Choice award for 2008 went to Chieko Ravenscroft for 3 portraits of various stars with the People’s Choice going to Joyce Wyatt, for her "Still Life" work.

Thanks is extended to Sue Atkins and all the other volunteers for all their hard work in making the event such a success.

To see a slide show of other work displayed at the exhibition click on the DARTS logo.

(All images copyright Didcot Town Council, all artwork rights belong to the attributed artisits)

Didcot Arts Society (D'Arts)

Didcot Arts Society exists to provide a focus for the people of Didcot and the surrounding area in which they can enjoy and extend their interest in the visual arts.

There are monthly meetings, open to the public, to share the experience of national and local artists through demonstrations, talks and hands-on workshops.  The meetings are held on the last Tuesday in the month beginning at 8pm and currently take place in the small hall of Didcot Civic Hall.

Members can display their work for sale at our local venues around Didcot and at our exhibitions.  The annual subscription as of 2009 is £15 and there is a door fee on the night of £1.50 for members and £4 for visitors.