An art event will celebrate its 40th anniversary next month.

Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s oldest and biggest open studios event, the first event of this kind to be held in the UK back in 1983 when a small group of artists in Oxford opened their houses.

Their 40th anniversary edition in May 2022 (7 – 29 ) promises to be “brighter and bolder than ever before”.

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Artists, potters, photographers, sculptors, jewellers, textile artists, furniture-makers and more will throw open their doors in towns and villages across the county to welcome visitors - for free - into nearly 500 pop-spaces, including artist studios, art schools, community spaces, gardens and galleries.

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire Artweeks said: “Throughout the festival, visitors will be able to see, touch and talk about hundreds of thousands of pieces of art and craft from the tiniest earrings to towering sculpture created from metal, wood, clay, glass and more unusual materials.”

“Oxfordshire Artweeks is a great way to explore both art and the county – take, for example, an artist trail along the High Street in the quaint town of Watlington or through the village where Downton Abbey was filmed, and whether an art aficionado or an everyday enthusiast, visitors will be enchanted and inspired and can choose a unique treasure to carry home with them,” they added.

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