Beaford Arts

Beaford Arts was established by the Dartington Hall Trust in 1966 to promote and support the arts in rural north Devon - an area of 799 square miles [Torridge District Council strategic plan 2005-10; North Devon District Council corporate plan 2007-10] bounded by Dartmoor, Exmoor, and the Atlantic west coast.

Beaford Arts has been involved in a number of arts projects including James Ravilious's work to create the Beaford Archive. This collection of 80,000 black and white photographs taken over seventeen years "forms a unique exploration of the society, culture, geography and economy of a 'corner of England'". [Peter Hamilton, lecturer, Open University, 1998] The Beaford Archive also includes 10,000 older images of north Devon, mainly taken between 1880 and 1920, collected by Ravilious from his subjects during his work. It is currently stored in secure conditions in the North Devon Records Office.

Beaford Arts' present functions are:
* supporting the existing work in the Beaford Archive
* developing and supporting new rural art work
* promoting performances in rural areas (the average population density in northern Devon is 189 people per square mile [Torridge District Council strategic plan 2005-10; North Devon District Council corporate plan 2007-10] )
* running a residential arts centre in Beaford for children and young people from across Devon.

External links

* [http://www.beaford-archive.org.uk The Beaford Archive]
* [http://www.jamesravilious.com/ jamesravilious.com]

References