Creative Mile To Showcase Local Artists
Over 50 to be featured mile long art trail in Brentford this September
Brentford's industrial and creative heritage to be celebrated on the trail
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An art event called Creative Mile is to be held in Brentford this September to showcase the work of local artists.
Co-chaired by Brentford-based artist Mr Mr Pearce and Robin Vaughan-Williams of Creative Network West, the event has been made possible through the support of Creative Enterprise Zone funding
It involves the creation of a Brentford Art Trail, a sign-posted one-mile pedestrian route that connects 8 art venues exhibiting over 50 artists including painters, ceramicists, printmakers, and sculptors.
The Creative Mile aims not only to offer visitors the opportunity to make an acquisition but also affords them a glimpse of Brentford’s industrial past as well as a snapshot of today’s creative riverside community.
The route begins at the Museum of Water and Steam, the former Kew Pumping Station, which previously provided 70% of London’s water supply. This building, well worth visiting in its own right, now houses artist studios in the former workshops.
Next up is the Musical Museum, where entry is free all weekend. Visitors can enjoy a specially curated photography exhibition, as well as perusing the museum’s eclectic collection of self-playing musical instruments.
Following the line of the river, the trail then winds its way to Watermans. This local landmark, launched in 1984 with a performance by Beatles collaborator and musical inspiration, Ravi Shankar, now runs an extensive program of participative arts events, and as part of the Creative Mile will be hosting Mark Farid’s exhibition, ‘Seeing I’ in its main gallery as well as a pop-up exhibition in the Waterman’s Park building next door.
The walk between these venues will feature outdoor work by local artists from the exhibition “Future Visions.” This collection of work, curated by members of the local community and facilitated by Creative People & Places Hounslow, originally appeared on advertising boards in the Treaty Centres and Hounslow and Chiswick high streets.
Heading back down to the waterside, the trail takes in Simon Packard’s imposing steel sculpture, ‘Liquidity,’ as it makes its way along the riverside promenade that leads to one of the UK’s oldest, and West London’s biggest, working boatyards.
Dating from the mid-1800s and currently managed by MSO Marine, the site was formerly a key trading trans-shipment junction linking to the Grand Union Canal and the Great Western Railway. Today it offers an atmospheric insight into Brentford’s vital role in London’s industrial past.
Following a brief detour back up to high street and down again the trail goes over a footbridge that crosses Thames Lock before arriving at Johnson’s Island, where there is a gallery, and a variety of studios which will throwing open their doors and welcoming visitors.
The last stop on this artistic ramble is Catherine Wheel Road, where artists’ studios, boutique businesses and food, drink and music await.
Mr Mr Pearce says, “Brentford has a great creative community, which many people are unaware of. This event will give artists working in the area a chance to showcase their work to a wider audience and has the potential to become an annual event that will grow year by year.”
Brentford photographer and head of marketing for Creative Mile, Gwen Shabka, adds, “Our proximity to 3 waterways (The Thames, The Brent and the Grand Union Canal) plus our privileged access to an industrial waterway infrastructure that is largely intact not only binds our
artistic community together, but also has a way of uniquely influencing our work”.
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August 6, 2021
