SPOTLIGHT
FUNDRAISER
HIGHEST BIDDERS Bath Abbey will hold its first ever auction on 23 November, to support a fundraising appeal for their Footprint project. More than 30 lots will be on offer from a whole host of contemporary artists who have donated their artworks, including Richard Burel, Lydia Corbett, Nick Cudworth and Peter Brown, while Richard Twose has offered to paint a specially commissioned private portrait for the highest bidder. The works will go on view in the Abbey
from 21 – 23 November, prior to the auction and range from £80 to £11,000, with the most expensive lot on offer being Nick Cudworth’s Collonades I, a large oil on canvas of Bath Abbey’s famous West facade. The Footprint project. which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is one the country’s most significant church project to transform the Abbey, including repair the historic building’s collapsing floor. For more: www.bathabbey.org
Clockwise: Bath Abbey by Richard Burel; Colonnade I by Nick Cudworth; Peter Brown’s Summer Morning over Widcombe from Beechen Cliff
Chair of Bath Festivals John Cullum has announced a new multi-arts event for next year
THE ARTS
ART BEAT A brand new exciting multi-arts festival has been launched for next year, called The Bath Festival. “Leading thinkers, writers and musicians will perform with the most gifted new talent emerging on the global stage,” explains John Cullum, chair of Bath Festivals. “Over 11 days in May, we will be creating a more visible arts festival building on Bath’s heritage of successful music and literature festivals. The event will have an accessible and vibrant programme that embraces the wider performing arts, with broad appeal for our city, both engaging the wider community and our valued visitors.” Activities for the new flagship city celebration will include a Festival Village, with pop-up performances and free music. For more: www.bathfestivals.org.uk 12 I BATH LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk