Drawing Projects UK is a centre for research, development, production and promotion of exhibitions, events and workshops in drawing and contemporary art.

Formed in 2009 by Professor Anita Taylor to develop and promote research initiatives in drawing, including the Jerwood Drawing Prize, the new centre opened at Bridge House in Trowbridge in 2015.

Built in 1929, Bridge House is a landmark building adjacent to Trowbridge railway station. It houses the Drawing Projects UK office, drawing centre project space and training room, meeting rooms and workspaces for artists, designers, makers and creative, cultural and educational enterprises. A café will open in 2016.

Programmes include exhibitions, drawing sessions, projects, workshops, talks and events and we provide mentoring and professional development services for artists and curators.

Studios and Workspaces

Drawing Projects UK has 12 self-contained studios and workspaces for individual artists, designers and makers, creative enterprises, and educational, community and cultural organisations. All spaces are located on the ground floor and have excellent natural light and generous height with central heating and range in size from 90-400sqft.

There are also meeting rooms for hire and break out spaces for more informal get-togethers. We hold regular networking events, cultural events, drawing sessions, projects, workshops and exhibitions, and our cafe will soon open.

Bridge House is a landmark building in Trowbridge, the county town of Wiltshire, and is adjacent to Trowbridge railway station with regular train services to the cities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Gloucester, London, Portsmouth, Southampton and nearby Bradford on Avon, Bruton, Frome and Westbury. There is a small car park for permit and disabled parking, and several public car parks nearby.

For more details on our charges and availability, or to arrange a viewing please contact info@drawingprojects.uk

From the very beginning of his career drawing has been an integral part of Michael Pennie’s artistic output, enabling ideas to be recorded, interrogated and developed. The Drawings of Different Sizes exhibition brings together the best of Pennie’s recent drawings made during his tenure as Artist in Residence at Corsham Court. The exhibition at Drawing Projects UK has provided an opportunity at this stage of his career to showcase a developing preoccupation with drawing.

"Drawing is the simplest way to externalise an idea - to get it out your head. I can find out a lot about a proposal for a two metre high sculpture if I make a two metre high drawing. Quite often the drawing is the work, the idea goes no further, making a drawing can save me weeks of labour, especially when I find my idea is more appropriate to a drawing than a sculpture." Michael Pennie

On 22 May, Michael Pennie will be giving away three drawings from this exhibition. For a chance to win, pick your favourites either by visiting the @DrawingsOfDifferentSizes Instagram page or by filling in the Win Your Favourite Drawing postcard in the gallery. 

Michael Pennie has exhibited widely: notably at Tate Britain, Hayward Gallery, Serpentine Galleries, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Henry Moore Institute, and with Flowers Gallery. In 1980 Pennie was commissioned to create Early Morning Pipe for the Forma Viva outdoor sculpture collection in Slovenia. He played a pivotal role as curator and artist in Sculpture in the City of Bath in 1986. Over six months in 2015, Michael Pennie’s multi-site tour, Adventures in Wiltshire: Sculpture For Furniture, exhibited recent sculpture, print and drawings in nine venues. Michael joined Bath Academy of Art in 1962 as a visiting lecturer and stayed on to enjoy a rewarding teaching career in parallel with his artistic practice. In 1996 he became Professor of Sculpture at the newly instated Bath University College. In 2001, Michael retired from teaching to become a full time artist but retains his university connections. He is presently Artist in Residence at the Corsham Court campus of Bath Spa University.  

The exhibition is curated by Fiona Cassidy, a freelance curator currently working in the South West of England. She programmes the visual arts at Pound Arts, Corsham and Town Hall Arts in Trowbridge and is researching for her MA in Curatorial Practice at Bath Spa University. Fiona worked closely with Michael Pennie to develop the Adventures in Wiltshire series of exhibitions in 2015. For Drawings of Different Sizes and Six Decades, Six Sculptures, on show at Victoria Art Gallery in Bath in May 2017, she has produced two video biographies which are available on YouTube - Michael Pennie Drawings and Michael Pennie Sculptures. 

The exhibition continues until 10 June 2017, and is open from 10am-4pm on Saturday and Sunday and weekdays by appointment. Michael Pennie and Fiona Cassidy will be in conversation at 4pm on Saturday 10 June 2017 at Drawing Projects UK, for which you can reserve a place here.

Six Decades, Six Sculptures opens to the public on Saturday 20 May as part of Bath Society of Artists’ Summer Exhibition at Victoria Art Gallery, Bath BA2 4AT and continues until 15 July 2017. Michael Pennie's Artist Talk will be at 2:30pm Sunday 28th May at Victoria Art Gallery in Bath.

 

 

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