The spacious gallery in Green Rooms
Local artists and photographers are being invited to take part in north London's first Citizens Art Festival, which will be held in Wood Green from 7th to 10th April. The festival will feature both an exhibition in the impressive third-floor gallery at the Green Rooms hotel and three days of art workshops and activities at Wood Green's unique "meanwhile space", Blue House Yard. Both venues are in Station Road, only a few minutes walk from Wood Green station.
The festival will build on the success of a series of art markets held during 2021 in Blue House Yard. The idea for the Citizens Art Market came from artist and photographer Ed Quigley, whose studio is located at the Yard.
Ed explains why for him Blue House Yard is an ideal venue:
The scene at one of last year's Citizens Art Markets
"I was not taken to art galleries as a child, but I was taken to lots and lots of jumble sales and markets. It occurred to me that enjoying art in a street market environment might make 'art' more appealing to those that don't, for whatever reason, feel comfortable in traditional art settings."
Citizens Art Market will be partnering with Green Rooms, London's first social enterprise hotel. Also collaborating will be Oita, a Japanese restaurant and bar located on the ground floor of the hotel, and another Blue House Yard business, the Blue House Framer. Haringey Council is supporting the event.
Visitors to the exhibition will be well catered for. The gallery will have its own bar serving drinks and high quality bar snacks, and anyone wishing to grab a seat or something more substantial to eat will be welcomed downstairs in Oita, where more artworks will be on display.
The organisers will will be reviewing applications as and when they are received and offering stands to artists on a rolling basis, so don't delay in submitting an application: