Oswestry art display draws on local heritage
From King Arthur and Queen Guinevere-inspired jewellery, to abstract paintings and sunset photographs, artists have taken the heritage of an historic border town for their inspiration.
The latest exhibition at the Oswestry Visitor and Exhibition Centre looks at the heritage of the area, focusing on its iron-age hillfort.
Last year, several artists took the ancient monument as a theme for a display as part of the Hands Off Old Oswestry Hillfort weekend, to protest about the possibility of housing being built near it. Many of those pieces and some new ones form the new exhibition, which runs in the centre until February 25, itself an historic building in the grounds of St Oswald's parish church. It has been set up to coincide with this year's Hug a Hillfort heritage weekend to be held in Oswestry in February.
One of the exhibitors, abstract artist Diana Baur, said that the new exhibition was to show more of the positive side of Oswestry's heritage rather than the threats to it. She said: "We wanted to show what Oswestry has to offer. It is a heritage gateway and has a wonderful history."
One of the displays is from artist John Swogger, who has produced a fascinating collection of comic strips on Oswestry's heritage.
Diana said the artists had made links with the Hands off Old Oswestry Hillfort, a group which also wanted to become more positive rather than act as a protest organisation.
Another exhibitor is Graham Mitchell who has both photographs and a collection of jewellery on display.
