Altrincham to host a very special and moving Art Exhibition by local fine artist, Ruth Fildes – ‘People are Key’
Altrincham to host a very special and greatly moving Art Exhibition by local fine artist, Ruth Fildes, which celebrates the crucial work within our community by Arts Charity, Inch Arts. ‘People are Key’.
To mark the culmination of over a year’s artwork by Greater Manchester/Altrincham Artist, Ruth Fildes, The Gallery at Inch Arts will put on a breath-taking and powerful Art Exhibition which will celebrate the vitally important work that this vibrant and inspirational charity do within our local and wider community.
Ruth begun a ground-breaking and voluntary artist residency at Inch Arts on the first of January 2022 which was to last an entire year.
The aim was to highlight and celebrate the huge impact that this Arts charity has on the local and wider community through the classes, workshops, exhibitions, clubs, facilities and welcoming communal space that it offers, and very much prides itself on its’ inclusive atmosphere, which inspires, supports and nurtures all interested in the arts, including those with mental health or well-being issues.
After spending just a short time at Inch Arts at the very beginning of her residency, she entitled her show ‘People are the Key’, this was due to the acute realisation of the importance of people within an organisation such as this; the collaborative working together of people, and the giving of their time, care, patience, understanding, skills and experience, is absolutely crucial. Without the people, this organisation simply would not exist and be able to help people to express themselves through the arts and help those within our community who perhaps may be more vulnerable. Ruth found huge box of old and discarded keys was found at Inch Arts, which is now housed within the old library, which felt like a poignant link to the previous usage of the wonderful space, which has now transformed into another important community facility for all to enjoy and benefit from.
Ruth explained her inspiration:
‘On spending just a little time within this special organisation, it was absolutely crystal clear that the brilliant people who volunteer within it, and the huge range of our community members who access it and benefit from all that it offers, were what I wanted to record and to celebrate within my artwork.
And so, I immediately set about trying to capture through spontaneous drawings, paintings, prints and photographs, all of these inspirational people and the moments that we, and they, shared together whilst at Inch Arts each week for the whole year.
I also quickly realised that the time I personally spent there, within the building, was not going to be actually creating the art, but in fact, it was to be listening to people and their stories, understanding their experiences, appreciating why they found the arts so rewarding and so vital in their daily and weekly lives. All of these encounters, these conversations, these hugely moving, and for me, life-changing connections all fed intuitively, innately and sensitively into all of the subsequent portrait drawings, paintings and prints, which I created aften late into the night, back in my home studio.’
Inch Arts CEO, Jo Cushing, said of the impact of Ruth’s Residency:
“Our brilliant and first Artist in Residence, Ruth Fildes, has had such a massive positive impact on Inch Arts over the last 12 months and leaves a breath-taking lasting legacy, not only in the establishing of our artist in residency programme, but in the huge portfolio of incredible artworks which she has created of so many of our wonderful Inch Arts community. Every week last year she created an inspiring new display of work in our front windows on Stamford New Road.
In addition to her residency work, Ruth has stepped up to manage our gallery space and has organised multiple, extremely successful exhibitions featuring an array of talented artists from the north-west and across the UK. She also played a key role in organising the brilliant Corgi trail for the Queen’s jubilee. All of these exhibitions have highlighted her strong artistic vision, her willingness to go above and beyond for others, and her superb organisational and interpersonal skills. Her many accomplishments and creative achievements over the year, have had a huge impact on Inch Arts as a whole and has further established our unique gallery within the local community.
Her own body of work stands as a testament to who she is as an artist, and of the person she is, in giving of her time and talents voluntarily, and we are immensely proud to be hosting her exhibition in March which will absolutely celebrate her incredible artistic prowess, and the wonderful relationships she has forged with those she has met through Inch Arts.
We’ve been so lucky to have had such an inspirational, talented, motivated, and passionate artist in residence for the last year and she will be sorely missed in this role, but we wish her every success for her very bright artistic career!”
The opening celebratory evening of her residency exhibition, ‘People are the Key’, will take place on Saturday 4th March 2023 in which all of the hundreds of outstanding portrait paintings, drawings and prints will be specially curated and exhibited in a hugely imaginative and interactive installation. It will be the first time that all works will be on show together, including the Playing Card Project – 52 portraits drawn on large playing cards – one drawn every week, and also an impressive collection on 100 oil painted portraits created on mirrors. The show will run through until Saturday 25th March and is certainly one not to be missed!
Exhibition dates: 4th-25th March 2023
Preview Evening: Saturday 4th March 7-9pm
Inch Arts, 20 Stamford New Rd, Altrincham WA14 1EJ
Hidden Altrincham Festival CIO t/a Inch Arts Charity No: 1175769
