Scarborough Art Gets Underway To Showcase Visual Creatives Across Town

A month-long celebration of visual arts begins on Saturday across multiple venues as part of the year-round Scarborough Fair programme.

A major celebration of visual arts is set to begin on the Yorkshire Coast, with exhibitions, workshops, and open studios opening their doors to the public.

Scarborough Art will get underway this weeekend, running from the fourth of July through to the second of August, showcasing the work of visual artists across multiple venues throughout the town.

The month-long festival is the third instalment of events forming part of The Scarborough Fair, which is a year-round programme of distinctive arts, heritage, and sporting events featuring local, national, and international artists.

A spokesperson for The Scarborough Fair said:

"It’s almost time... Tomorrow sees the start of Scarborough Art, running 4 July – 2 August to showcase the work of visual artists across multiple venues. Scarborough Art is the third instalment of events as part of The Scarborough Fair, our year-long events programme bringing you the best of art, theatre, music, sport and more."

As part of the opening weekend, the Scarborough Art Fair will take place this Saturday at stalls located in Aberdeen Walk in the town centre, running between 11am and 4pm.

Organisers added:

"Find your favourite pieces and have a go at craft sessions throughout the day. You’re also invited to watch technique demonstrations, and chat to the creatives about their work."

The Scarborough Art Fair is supported by David Skaith, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, and is funded by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The wider Scarborough Fair project is made possible with investment from the UK Government's Pride in Place funding and the Mayoral High Streets Fund, operating as a project of North Yorkshire Council.

Throughout the month, residents and visitors will be able to explore a diverse array of creative events and exhibitions.

Among the highlights is the Aesthetica Art Prize 20 exhibition at Woodend Gallery and Studios and the Scarborough Art Gallery, which marks two decades of pioneering contemporary art and brings fifty international artists to the region.

For those looking to get hands-on, the Yorkshire Coast En Plein Air Festival will run over two weekends from the eighteenth to the twenty-sixth of July. The festival celebrates the amazing views of the Yorkshire Coast and the art of sketching and painting outdoors, with participation open to all abilities at locations including Scarborough Castle and West Pier Studios.

A uniquely delicious experience awaits at the Edible Art Gallery hosted by Imaginative Icing, where all the art on display, including the picture frames, will be available to purchase and consume.

Meanwhile, the Scarborough Market Vaults will host Tentacles of Terror, an immersive mixed media exhibition exploring a post-apocalyptic Scarborough in a fun folk art style, where creatures from the deep are overrunning the town.

Television fans might recognise a familiar face at Studio 26 on the eleventh and twelfth of July, as Matt Nickels, the resident glass expert on the BBC programme The Repair Shop, hosts a stained glass open studio.

At the Glass Box Gallery, textile artist Hayley Mills-Styles will present Fancy Goods, an exhibition inspired by playful seafront souvenir shops that transforms familiar holiday items into carefully crafted textile objects.

Other activities include Haiku on the Beach at North Bay, where participants can write three-line poems large in the sand, and a retrospective exhibition at Blandscliff Gallery celebrating the late Yorkshire potter John Egerton.

History enthusiasts can also visit the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre for an exhibition celebrating four hundred years since the discovery of Scarborough Spa water, which led to the town becoming Britain's first seaside resort.

There are more details about the festival at https://scarboroughfair.uk/art/