ABOUT MEADOW ARTS

Who We Are and What We Do

We are an inspirational contemporary art charity delivering ambitious and accessible projects in unexpected rural places.

Since 2004, Meadow Arts has been challenging established notions of where and how excellent art can happen, and who can access it. We are committed to delivering the highest quality work to diverse audiences and to people who may not normally engage with contemporary art.

Through context-responsive exhibitions, new commissions, rich education and engagement programmes and interactive events, we bring an increasingly diverse and ambitious programme of high quality artistic encounters to a wide audience, focusing on the more rural areas, where cultural provision and access to high quality contemporary art are traditionally low.

We have no venue of our own and embrace a partnership-based working model to deliver projects strategically, with both private and public sector organisations, to achieve common aims and maximise resources. We often collaborate at a strategic level with non–art venues, such as heritage buildings, publicly accessible landscapes, regional museums and libraries. We have a good reputation for  working outdoors, in direct dialogue with the natural or cultural environment.

Our Values

• Meadow Arts are creative, inspirational, collaborative, responsive and
• We believe that excellent contemporary art has the power to encourage new ideas and expand
• We work with people in unexpected rural places, using contemporary visual art to push boundaries, inspire, challenge and

Background

From an office base in Ludlow, Shropshire, we operate across predominantly rural areas of the West Midlands, as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, supported by various partners, trusts and foundations. We tend to present one main exhibition annually, alongside smaller Meadow Projects, curatorial services and Meadow Arts Inspires education programme, that seek to engage a diverse range of participants.

Over 1,000,000 people have visited Meadow Arts’ main exhibitions. Even more have seen Meadow Projects, a programme of specifically commissioned artworks and events developed and sited in public spaces. Meadow Arts Events include artists’ interventions, performances, workshops and talks; curator’s tours and academic symposia. Through our learning programme, Meadow Arts Inspires, we have placed artists in a wide range of different education settings to work with pupils aged 5-25 of all abilities, from all backgrounds, to create beautiful artworks that respond to the themes raised in each individual context; teaching new skills to pupils and empowering teachers while exploring creativity and ideas.