Southbank Bristol Arts

The preparations are going well for this year's Trail with 48 venues and over 150 participants (groups and individuals) registered to take part. Over a third of venues and of participants are new this year giving the Trail an important sense of freshness. There are old favourites such as Sue Gruffydd and her bag ladies, Midge Naylor with her wonderful abstract paintings, Jo Boyd with her quirky ceramics and Caroline Watson with her magical award-winning paintings bringing a welcome familiarity to visitors. There are also new artists and makers such as Helen Brayshaw whose photography is often seen in Southville in a number of outlets which sell her cardtastic cards, Katy Chard with her wonderfully designed prints and Hannah Currant with her original silver jewellery (see image).

The Grant Bradley Gallery, whilst showcasing the talents of many artists and makers for an entire month, will this year be placing emphasis on local publishers and publications with several talks and readings over the Trail weekend. To coincide with the promotion of local writer Steve Wright's 'Banksy's Bristol', who will be giving a talk at the Gallery, there will be live graffiti art demonstrations at the Tobacco Factory.

The Southville Centre will host a number of workshops with the return of the Potstop potters alongside new contributions from the DRAW group and the APE Project. DRAW are the group behind the award-winning Big Draw at Bristol South Pool last year and they will be asking visitors to contribute to a community drawing event. APE will be leading animation workshops. Also, alongside the workshops and many artists and makers, there will be an opportunity to view films including animations, short films and art films at the Southville Centre.

With so much more to see and take part in, this year's Trail promises to be a real treat. Let's keep our fingers crossed for some uncharacteristic warm, dry weather!!!!