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ArtWorks East Exhibition 2025
Key details
When:
Date:
Time:
13th - 28th Sep
10:00 - 16:00
Where:
Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
SatNav: IP30 9HZ
Pricing:
Free Entry
25th Anniversary Exhibition of Artworks
With its reputation for high standards of fresh and contemporary work, Artworks East seeks to interest and inspire in a wide range of media created by 30 of East Anglia’s leading artists and has been doing so for 25 years now.
A highlight of the East Anglian art scene, this is a great opportunity to see contemporary 2D and 3D work by 30 of East Anglia’s established and popular artists. All the exhibits are new to the Artworks each year and are for sale.
A great favourite of the exhibition is the Mini Artworks Prize Draw; thirty mini artworks created by the Artworks artists will be on display during the main exhibition and the proceeds benefit their Schools Programme and a chosen East Anglian charity, which this year is East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).
Meet the Artist
There are also daily opportunities during September to Meet The Artist at the exhibition, where one or more artists will be demonstrating how they create their work:
Saturday 13th: Lucy Perry – Artful florals
Sunday 14th:
Martin Coe – Against the landscape
Monday 15th: Terry Bryan – Eureka!
Tuesday 16th:
Christine McKechnie – Collage my way
Wednesday 17th:
Cathy D’Arcy – The owl and the pussycat
Thursday 18th:
Lousie Chapman – Talk to me, a woman who loves to paint
Friday 19th:
Elisabeth Rutt – In stitches and
Lillias August – Watercolour, freedom and control
Saturday 20th:
Valerie Armstrong – Marks and mixed media
Sunday 21st:
Hazel Bradshaw – Printing for fun and
Lyn Aylward – Painting an oil portrait
Monday 22nd:
Christine McKechnie – Collage my way
Tuesday 23rd: Kit Price Moss – Painting for Pleasure or Printmaking for Pain?
Wednesday 24th:
Eileen Revett – The wonderful world of woodcut printing
Thursday 25th:
Cathy D’Arcy – The owl and the pussycat
Friday 26th:
Valerie Armstrong – Marks and mixed media
Saturday 27th:
Judith Glover – Ten minute pastel portrait sessions
Sunday 28th:
Chris Gamble – Enjoying drawing
You can sign-up for tickets to be invited to the Private Viewing for this 25th Anniversary show on 12th September, by going to the Artworks East website.
The setting for the exhibition is the spectacular thatched, late medieval Blackthorpe Barn, part of the Rougham Estate.
Important information
There is plenty of free parking at Blackthorpe Barn.
Accessible parking is near the café/shop.
More parking is available slightly further down the avenue.
Please be aware that this is a rural location and paths can be muddy depending on the weather conditions.
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25th Anniversary in 2025
This September Artworks will be celebrating its 25th annual exhibition at Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham Estate near Bury St Edmunds.
The initial idea for Artworks was the inspiration of friends Katie Millard and Graham Portlock. They stood together in the beautiful 15th Century thatched barn, looked around and decided as one it was the perfect setting for an art exhibition. Then they set to, phoned artist friends and colleagues and the first exhibition was soon underway proving such a success that there was a resounding vote to exhibit the next year and so it has continued.
“We still have original members in the group and none of us ever dreamt, when we took part in the first exhibition at Blackthorpe Barn in 1999, that we would still be going strong 25 years later. It’s a very exciting time and shows that people in East Anglia have a real interest and appreciation for high quality art from professional artists.
As a group, we have always encouraged the addition of new guest artists and this approach has worked well over the years. It means in addition to the new work of familiar artists there are always surprises. For our 25th exhibition though, we have invited back 3 previous members whose inspiring work we’ve continued to admire; Lillias August, Louise Chapman and Lucy Lutyens.”
Gillian Crossley-Holland, Chair and one of the founder members of Artworks
Over the years Artworks has also established strong ties with local schools, providing free workshops and inviting school visits which are often as surprising to the artists as to the children.
As has been the practice for 25 years all the work exhibited is new to Artworks and ranges from colourful abstract art to exquisite botanical illustrations, dramatic landscape paintings to insightful portraiture, robust ceramics to delicate figurative work, elegant bronze sculptures to surreal constructions.
At the exhibition there will be opportunities to meet the artists and take part in the popular ‘Mini Artworks Prize draw’ which raises money for this year’s charity, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) and the Artworks Schools Programme.
Where to find us
Plenty of free parking on site
Please keep to the 5mph limit
Disabled access available
This is a rural location and paths can be muddy
Blackthorpe Barn is situated just south of Junction 45 of the A14, three miles east of Bury St Edmunds, in the village of Rougham.
Look out for the entrance gates to a long tree-lined avenue at the White House junction.
The Barn is down the avenue, on the right.
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If you’re planning a special trip to our award-winning Rougham Estate Shop soon, please note due to stock take we will be closed on the 31st March from 2–4pm.
We may need to continue until the next day (1st April), but only for the morning: 10am–12:30pm.
We will aim to be complete as soon as possible and will be back to normal as soon as we can.
There is still plenty to do on the Estate with walks and our popular Roots Cafe.
Thank you for your patience and we look forward to seeing you.
#roughamestate #roughamestateshop
From today, our menu gets a spring/summer refresh.
As the season changes, it’s the perfect time to introduce new dishes, including vegetarian options, sandwiches and sweet treats, featuring our very own signature Roots Waffle creation.
Roots Café is open daily from 9am to 4pm, and well-behaved dogs are always welcome.
We can’t wait to share our new creations with you!
#RoughamEstate #RootsCafe #DogFriendlyCafe #SeasonalMenu
Introducing a new workshop to Rougham Estate!
The Canvas Club promises to bring a therapeutic painting session led by artist Sarah Day, alongside a glass of fizz and a tapas style menu.
Held on Friday 24th April, 7pm til 9:30pm, Roots Café will be open, out of hours, exclusively for this event.
The painting theme will be Cherry Blossom which is very appropriate for this time of year!
This is suitable for beginners or experienced creatives, so is perfect for an evening out with friends or family in a relaxed, social atmosphere while you paint, sip and graze.
For more information, you can find a link in our bio to all our events. Spaces are limited.
Create. Connect. Graze.
#BuryStEdmunds #SuffolkEvents #PaintAndSip #ThingsToDoBuryStEdmunds
As if by magic, our shop is regularly transformed by our talented team.
Just like that!
Between their eye for detail and our wonderful new arrivals, it’s a shopping experience you won’t want to miss.
If you haven’t visited before, we are open daily from 10am to 4pm. We challenge you to leave without finding something you love!
#roughamestate #lifestyleshop #blackthorpebarn #shoppinginburystedmunds
We are delighted to welcome back @watsons_plants over the coming months.
The green fingered experts can be found in our courtyard garden on:
Friday 3rd April – Monday 6th April
Saturday 18th April – Sunday 19th April
Saturday 2nd May – Monday 4th May
…and every other weekend going forward
Popping in to see them is the perfect excuse to getting your garden looking fabulous - with some of the best advice.
And while you’re here, why not pop into the @roughamestateshop to pick up the added extras your garden needs to make it an extension of your home?
#gardenlove #gardeningideas #roughamestate #shoppingforyourgarden
Week 6 update from Blackthorpe Barn… the rethatch is taking shape!
@dodsonbrosthatchers are now a week further on, working high above the Barn, as they hand-layer each bundle of straw with precision. The roof is building up to its final depth (typically 30–40 cm), which gives the excellent natural insulation that thatch is famous for.
In this video you can clearly see how the old, previous layers of thatch are being used as a base to fix the new layers of straw to. These new coats of thatch are held in place by pegs driven through the new and into the old layers beneath. When the roof is complete these fixings will not be visible, being hidden and protected by the top layers.
It’s lovely to see the team working in sunshine this week and here’s hoping for more good weather as we move toward completion.
As always, thank you @noelleescreative for capturing the wonderful changes from all angles in the most beautiful way!
#roughamestate #thatching #dodsonbrosthatchers #craftsmanship #burystedmunds
Have you worked with glass before, to create your own fused-glass decorations? You know, the ones that catch your eye as the sun makes the colours glow, flowers that make you smile even on gloomy days or a cheeky cactus that never needs watering.
We’ve got 3 different half-day workshops on offer at Rougham Estate, this month, in April and May, all taught by the lovely Danielle from @stained_glass_studio . Danielle is a skilled stained glass maker who will guide you step-by-step as to how to cut glass and decorate it to make your own plants.
In the March workshops, on 25th, you’ll learn how to make everlasting glass flowers to put in a vase on your windowsill; you will leave the April workshops with larger outdoor flowers, perfect for putting in the garden. In May you can learn how to make a fun cactus on a wooden stand. Each piece will be created by you, in your style with your colours and will be fired off-site to be collected a few days after the workshop.
Spaces are limited to make sure that everyone gets personal attention, so book early to ensure your place. Come with a friend and make a day of it here, with a bite to eat in Roots Café and a browse through our Lifestyle and Garden Shop, or come by yourself and make new friends as you learn new skills.
All the details and booking from our website.
We can’t wait to welcome you here!
#craftworkshops #burystedmunds #stainedglass
For this week’s special brunch dish, once again, not to be missed is curried potatoes, with spinach, madras pulled beef brisket and pickles red onions.
Only available this week at Roots Cafe, open daily!
#placestoeatinburystedmunds #roughamestate #cafesinburystedmunds #Suffolkfood
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