With less than a week to go until the second ever BS4 arts trail, we wanted to share some local tips to help make the most of your trail weekend. We’ve suggested shortcuts between venues that take you through some of our beautiful woodlands and meadows, and things to do each day, as some venues are only open on one of the days. We would love to know how much of it you manage to see! With each of these suggested routes, you can do them in reverse too. This route would be a good option for Sunday 16th June as it includes venues that are only open that day.
All home venues will be open from 10am to 4pm. Community venue timings differ – please see Visitor FAQs to check what is open when.
Starting at Bocabar (Venue 5 – open from 10am)
Start your day at Paintworks, with a coffee and a browse of the Summer Exhibition at Bocabar (venue 5), before popping down to Martin Parr photography gallery (Venue 4). Cut through Arnos Park to see Iva’s home print and pottery studio on Somerset Road (Venue 2), where Sophie Howard will also be showing her sculptures.
Just up the road, in Queensdown Gardens, you’ll find The Corbeau Press (Venue 10), Lindsey King and The Joyful Rebel (Venue 9). Around the corner on Runswick Road are Peter & Geraldine (Venue 8), who make a range of garden crafts, lanterns, planters and more; Adrian Vye with his beautiful oil paintings (Venue 6), and The Art of Housekeeping (Venue 7), a collective of creatives further down Runswick Road.
Pop back up the road to Broadwalk Shopping Centre for the Knowle to Knowle exhibition (Venue 3) where you can win prizes in the Broadwalk Bingo! Then you are just a few minutes walk from the Knowle pub, which does an amazing Sunday roast if you’re feeling hungry. You’ll need to book a table if you want to have a roast – see the Food & Drink page for their contact details.
From there, head down Talbot Road and turn right onto Bath Road, to arrive at St Luke’s Church Hall (Venue 24), where you can browse the work of 16 makers and maybe have a bit of cake if you’re still feeling peckish. Around the corner you can visit Vernon Jones (venue 22), Colin of Bristol Woodturning is his garden studio (Venue 23), and explore the line drawings of Seamus Den (venue 25).
With a final burst of energy, why not cross through Victory Park and finish the weekend at The Glass Loft (Venue 28) to have a go at creative glass cutting, or a printing workshop, or head further up the Bath Road to explore the Bristol Print Museum, Quints Prints and Kieran King (Venue 26), where there are even more print workshops! See the Workshops page for full workshop information and timings.
Alternatively, from St Luke’s Church Hall, you can head up Hollywood Road towards Sandy Park Road where you can find Emma Lucy McArthur’s home print studio on Harrow Road (Venue 12) and have a go on her printing press – open on Sunday only! You can also visit Vernon Hewitt’s home studio with his beautiful land and seascapes (Venue 20), Moss & Twig outside These Two Hands shop (venue 14) who will be running Gelli Plate printing workshops on the Sunday only at Kin Cafe (pre-booking needed) and Paperheart Productions home studio full of her pen and ink original artworks (Venue 11) where Kay Morgan will also be exhibiting her beautiful jewellery. You can finish with a well deserved drink and some live music at Kin Cafe. Or if there’s still time, why not head over to The Langton Pub (Venue 21 – about 15 minutes walk from Sandy Park Road) to browse the 12 makers who are exhibiting there and enjoy a drink there?
