700+ visitors come to see 17@insight exhibition
The exhibition at Insight School of Art last weekend was a huge success and the 17 artists involved will remember it for years to come. With over 700 people visiting, the buzz was incredible all weekend long. Thank you to everyone who came to see the exhibition and for supporting the seventeen painters as they launched themselves as professional, practising artists.
The feedback the artists received has been amazing. It has given each of them the strength to make more work and the belief to succeed next year and beyond. Visitors and artists really enjoyed talking to eachother to discuss the work in detail. It was also a chance for the artists to consolidate their painting over the past year and will help with planning their future work. In January all of the artists are moving on to MaSS, our Mentoring and Studio Space scheme for practising artists, where their first task will be to set their goals for the year….. The Royal Academy Summer Show? The BP Portrait Award? If you would like to be kept informed with a particular artists future work and success please email them via the 17@insight website or if you would like to follow all the artists please email me and I’ll pass your details on to them.
Many visitors commented on the professionalism of the exhibition and how it felt ‘West End’. This was our goal and we are delighted to have reached it. It was such a delight to be able to show off the talent that has come through Insight School of Art and to highlight local artists who are committed to working at the highest level. Also, with over 50 paintings sold, the artists can truly call themselves professional now.
Thank you to everyone who completed a ‘favourite painting’ form. It was a bit of fun to see what was popular. The top three most popular paintings were all by Richard Greaves, followed by Cary Whitworth’s Lost Boys fourth. The top four artists were Richard Greaves, Helen Lee, Berry Birdsall and Janet Gardner.
Richard Greaves's winning painting..
On Sunday we were honoured to have a visit from Councillor Lisa Rutter, the Mayor of Barnet (seen here on the Barnet Times website). She very kindly spent an hour and a half meeting every artist and showed great interest in their work, before giving a very heartfelt speech expressing how successful she felt the course and exhibition was. She has since sent this lovely letter to us too.
The seventeen artists have worked so hard to put on this fantastic exhibition and we thank them so much for this. Thank you also to all the volunteers who were essential in the smooth running of the weekend and to everyone who loaned equipment. We couldn’t have dreamed of a more fitting way to end such an amazing year for the school.
Most of the paintings will remain on display until the end of tomorrow (Thursday) so if you missed the show, please come and have a look.
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