The Black Swan Arts celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. From its origin as a pub, it became derelict – and was then used for a variety of purposes before being recovered in the 1980s by David Short and a group of artists who wanted to set up an art centre. As well as creating a space for local artists to exhibit their work, it served as an employment source for Frome residents at a time of high unemployment.
The centre still exists as a cultural hub – housing artists in the lovely little studios looking out over the courtyard, with a delightful gallery displaying the work of local, national and international artists, workshops that are used for jewellery-making, ceramics and writing – and Divas Cafe and Seed shop on the ground floor.
To help celebrate Black Swan Arts’ 25th Anniversary, silversmith Ndidi Ekubia invited a group of artists to contribute art works made of, or incorporating silver. There are over 30 exhibitors and the work is wonderfully varied – silverware, jewellery, ceramics, textiles, 2D artwork, and steel.
As a huge fan of all things miniature, I was particularly drawn to Katherine Morling’s ‘Small Chairs’ but also Annie Fewless’ textiles (see image above).
The curator, Ndidi, is exhibiting beautiful silver pots with orange-gold coating the inside:
And there are so many other fantastically crafted silver-pieces. As ever, at the Black Swan, the work is hung and displayed in the most professionsal manner with light-sensitive silver pieces displayed to boast the smooth curves and varied finishes.
The exhibition finishes on Saturday 26th November. Make sure you catch this silver-feast before it goes…
