Celebrate the first Oxhey Arts Festival at Oxhey Methodist Church (From Watford Observer)

Celebrate the first Oxhey Arts Festival at Oxhey Methodist Church

5:12pm Thursday 25th February 2010 in

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After staging several successful exhibitions in the newly refurbished foyer of Bushey and Oxhey Methodist Church, organisers Dorothy Knightley and Veronica Baxter decided to go for something more ambitious by hosting the first Oxhey mini Arts Festival from Thursday, March 4 to Wednesday, March 17.

The week-long festival will highlight the creative talents of local people and involve them in artistic events from music through to talks about Oxhey’s heritage and traditions including local landmarks and wildlife. The aim of the festival is to capture the spirit of Oxhey and the organisers hope the event will be an annual occasion that will grow year on year.

Dorothy Knightley says: “We want to reach out to the community and get them involved. We believe the festival will be of wide interest to the local community given the quality and diversity of local Oxhey talent on show.

“There will be a display of handwoven carpets and cushion covers all around the church, plus a series of talks, a video of life in Oxhey Village ten years ago and performances by groups such as Rock Chorus, who have recently started meeting in the church.”

We want to reach out to the community and get them involved. We believe the festival will be of wide interest to the local community given the quality and diversity of local Oxhey talent on show

Dorothy Knightley

See a clip from Paul Henley's video depicting life in Oxhey from ten years ago including the 25th birthday of the Oxhey Village Environment Group Fayre here and view the whole video at www.scarylion.co.uk

A key aspect of the festival will be an art exhibition by Oxhey Art Group including a talk by their tutor, Barry Steel on Wednesday, March 10 at 7.45pm. Artists exhibiting include Jan Langton who creates bright, bold and colourful works that are quite often textured with polyfilla, paper or garden fleece. Jan loves painting on rough, unpredictable surfaces using lots of acrylic paint, often pure colour and mixing it on the canvas with interesting and random results.

Also on show are beautifully detailed landscapes and cityscapes by Roger Sparrowhawk and jewellery by Sian Fenwick.

There will also be an opportunity to quiz local politicians and listen to poetry readings while taking afternoon tea. At other events, you can find out more about Oxhey’s history, learn more about the wildlife of the region and enjoy arts and crafts on Mothering Sunday.

The exhibition of traditional rugs demonstrates the skills of young Afghan women who are learning a trade in order to make an independent living for their families. They are supported by local charity Ashram International, which is based at the church and runs projects that help improve the living conditions, well-being and education of disadvantaged women and children. Ashram is hosting a special Afghan Experience evening on Tuesday, March 16 at 6.30pm, where visitors can walk on Afghan rugs, see Afghan crafts, try regional food and watch a short play.

Bushey and Oxhey Methodist Church is at the junction of King Edward Road and London Road. Festival programmes are available at the church, which is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm and Sunday, 12.30pm to 4pm. If you would like to arrange an exhibition or event in the purpose-built foyer, please contact the organisers.

Details: www.busheyandoxhey-methodist.org.uk or email Dorothy.knightley@hotmail.co.uk and Vbaxter@ntlworld.com