Sunday, August 30, 2009

Hi Ya'll Our Sister called Bideford, England







Read the wonderful letter below that I received this morning ...from Bideford, England. It is such a wonderful opportunity and We really need to come together .

Hi Lorri,



It seems like we’re wanting the same things, but with 3,000 miles of ocean in between.



I’ve been excitedly reading through your OBLAN blog and can see that you’ll be an ideal creative contact in the Outer Banks area.



Here in Bideford, South West England, we’ve (my husband Dave and I) been keen to make more (artistically) of our ties, historic and contemporary, with Manteo and area. Bideford and Manteo are twinned, or will be so officially very soon. The lost colony is thought to have left England from the port of Bideford. We’ve been contacting some of the arts people in Manteo regarding some kind of arts twinning programme e.g. exhibiting Manteo area artists work in Bideford and vice versa and trying to set up artists residencies through the sister cities and have had positive responses from Laura Martier of Dare County Arts Council, Kathryn Stewart from Silver Bonsai Gallery and Sharon Enoch from the Full Moon Gallery.



I started a blog myself about this http://bidefordmanteo.blogspot.com/ . We’re also rallying the creative people here in much the same way as you are through your blog; we’ve just set up ‘Bideford Bay Creatives’ which is only a couple of months old. The BBC have a strong network of 11 committee members and are now starting a membership drive for our launch in October of the ‘Culture Show’ which will see local artists, performers, craftspeople etc showing their wares in non-gallery spaces in Bideford’s downtown. Our website should be up and running in October also but for now it’s all go go go, to make it happen.



We can call you some time for a chat as we have a deal on our home phone where we can call the States for free.

Meanwhile do take some time to take a look at our blog and maybe add a story with a link to your blog. We haven’t as yet had any posts from any Americans so yours could be the first!



Look forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes, Sadie

Sadie Green, Freelance Arts Projects Manager

Green House

Torridge St

Bideford


I am telling you all now we should be screaming from the roof tops...WE are a group of amazing artists come see us ..come learn from us ...come help us put ourselves on the map like Penland, John C. Campbell, Torpedo Factory and all the other great art communities that have been built out of artistic and economic need and desire.

I am not a fancy person but I am a hard working person as anyone who knows me from when I owned my own beadstore and created the first jewelry/bead making classrooms on the Outer Banks. Before that no one thought of it...I love the Outer Banks and all the wonderful talented people we have here. From the simple Folk Art sculptures made with driftwood and shells from out beautiful beaches to the incredible classic artists that paint life on their canvases...or put that love of life into their ceramics.

I hope by the time you have read the above you understand I get it ...I love ART I love teaching people to create, enjoy and love art. So now its up to you to help...it can happen alone...You have to come together and make the dreams come true.

The picture above is from the Manteo Farmers Market that ran from May 15 to August 15th. It was a great summer and we had so many wonderful vendors as well as people from all over come visit. If you are a artist and did not participate this summer you really should next year.

Lorri

North Carolina
SAQA Co-Rep
Studio Art Quilt Associates
VA/NC/SC region
SAQA http://saqavancsc.wordpress.com

http://fairygodmotherarts.blogspot.com
http://outerbanksartquilts.blogspot.com


Not all of us can be Cinderella , But some of us can be Fairy Godmothers

1 comment:

  1. Shirley here from Calgary Alberta, Canada

    Hi there - I wish I was close enough to get involved in your plans. I just became a friend on your blog and I see that you have joined my One of a kind fiber arts blog. Is'nt
    the internet marvelous/ Shirley

    ReplyDelete

please feel free to leave a message we would love to hear wwhat you think