A project in East Harptree has announced that it was successful in applying for funding in order to continue its work.

The Arts Hub were able to get funding from both the parish council and the Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants. This will mean that they can continue over the next two years and develop its vision of bringing arts to local people, which looks to draw on the talent and creativity that is in and around the Chew Valley.

The Arts Hub is also excited to introduce its two new artists in residence, Amy Hutchings and Emma Powell. The Arts Hub project supports two artists in the form of a free studio space for a year, and at the same time facilitates engagement between them and the local community.

To kick off the two artists’ time at the Arts Hub, they hosted a brunch in East Harptree Theatre on April 27, which included an open studio, cakes, bacon butties, tea, coffee and family friendly art and craft activities. The event managed to have a large turnout of more than 80 people of all ages.

Visitors got stuck into activities coordinated by the new artists, such as leaf printing with Amy and creating googly-eyed animals in the Coombe with Emma.

Over the course of the year, The Arts Hub has schedule that features a number of art outreach projects, such as social prescribing workshops partnering with Harptree Surgery, art workshops with local primary schools, and a new project of workshops for new mothers.

The Arts Hub will also be part of the Big Arts Weekend at East Harptree Theatre, returning again after what was seen as a successful 2024 weekend of art and workshops. This event will take place between November 7 and November 9.