Branch Arts @ Wilcote

In answer to the latest lockdown, Branch Arts hosted a weekend of creativity and conversation at Wilcote Art Studios in May 2021. We were honoured to be able to show Alf Löhr’s newest body of works, Good Poetry is Hard to Find in the newly refurbished gallery space. As a guest artist showing alongside the work of the 14 resident artists, our programme of talks and events brought about a fresh energy of creative conversation.

In 2015, Richard Fox and Jen Newman set up Wilcote Art studios with the support of the Cecil family and over the years they have facilitated the coming together of artists working in all mediums and genres. Over time, new spaces have been built around a central, community courtyard surrounded by the mystical beauty of Topples Wood of Wilcote. This thriving artist community has become a remarkable sanctuary for artists.

For those of who were able to join us, we were delighted to host a small festival of talks that brought about dialogue and connection. The children’s art workshop; Bridewell Gardens talk and artist talk by Alf Löhr had a special sense of ‘coming together and coming out’ and were a much needed antidote to the prolonged pandemic.

Good Poetry is Hard to Find was born during lockdown 2020 at a time of great reflection for many. Painted in Löhr’s recognised abstract style using acrylic ink on canvas, each work provokes in the viewer an emotion that carries and reflects our individual experiences and perspectives. A percentage of all sales was donated to the artist’s chosen charity, Amnesty International.