Annual Christmas Open exhibition now on display at the Burton

The Annual Christmas Open exhibition opened its doors over the weekend at the Burton at Bideford, Art Gallery & Museum.

Organised as a fundraising event by the Friends of the Burton, the Annual Open offers an opportunity for local artists, both amateur and professional, to exhibit alongside each other. Featuring an eclectic mix of print, paintings, textiles, ceramics and more.

The work of the Burton at Bideford is supported by the dedication, hard work and enthusiasm of the Friends of the Burton Art Gallery. The Friends are a separate charity that support and enhance the Burton’s work. The Friends of the Burton get involved in fundraising, sponsorship of events and acquisitions, and promotion of The Burton throughout the region.

The Friends have also played a pivotal role in the Burton’s other exhibition currently on show, The Christine Halstead Ceramic Collection. Bequeathed to the Friends of the Burton Art Gallery & Museum in 2014 the Christine Halstead collection amassed over 400 items of Studioware passionately collected over forty years which now sits within the Burton’s Permanent Collection.

The current Christine Halstead exhibition is an opportunity to view a large selection of the collection including pieces from 1973 when she started collecting works by Lucie Rie, David Leach and Bernard Forrester to works by Mick Casson, John Maltby, Colin Pearson and Marianne de Trey, to mention a few.

The collection was once housed in a purpose-built gallery on the second floor of Christine Halstead’s home. Predominantly vessels and a smaller collection of animal sculptures of exceptional quality.

The collection is not only a historical catalogue of breath-taking quality but also represents a generous overview of contemporary practice. A lot of the pots within the collection were not chosen by Halstead because of names, it was all about the pot. Eclectic in her tastes, the durability and functionality of domestic ware was important to her.

The open is on display until December 23 and the Christine Halstead Ceramic Collection until January 8, 2023.