Residency opportunity

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PROFORMA is proud to present COMPASS; a year-long collaborative residency project connecting four visual artists across Norfolk and Greater Manchester. COMPASS will support four visual artists, two from each region, with residencies and exhibitions at Cromer Artspace and Rogue Artists’ Studios from November 2025 to November 2026. The project includes regular mentorship sessions, workshops, and talks, along with introductions to curators, artists and organisations in each region. 

Over the year, COMPASS will support the creation of new, critically engaged work by combining coastal, urban and rural perspectives. The project marks a new model for inter-regional artist-led collaboration for PROFORMA, promoting climate-conscious practices and inclusive, community-focused engagement. COMPASS supports a vision of creative practice that is slow, critical and relational, allowing the selected artists time to reflect, experiment and engage deeply with new contexts and communities. 

Norfolk Artists Open Call: 

We are seeking two visual artists based in Norfolk through an open call from 15th August to 22nd September. The open call is for artists working in any medium and career stage with an interest in collaboration and experimentation. We will host an in person and online session to introduce PROFORMA, COMPASS and answer any further questions artists may have. 

Timeline: 

1st August to 22nd September: Open Call for two Norfolk based visual artists 

1st September: PROFORMA meet up and introduction to COMPASS (Cliftonville, Cromer, 6pm) 

15th September: Virtual PROFORMA meet up and introduction to COMPASS (email to book a place) 

29th September: Selection of four COMPASS artists (two from Norfolk and two from Greater Manchester) 

Artists must be available for the following dates: 

Residency part one: 1st – 16th November: Cromer Artspace Residency 

Residency part two: 28th February – 15th March: Rogue Artists’ Studios 

Cromer Open Call

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You are invited to submit artwork for the 2025 Cromer Open

Now in its 5th year the Cromer Open attracts hundreds of visitors from far and wide who know that it will showcase exciting contemporary work from across East Anglia and beyond. Exhibition 15th to 31st October 2025.

Each artist may submit up to three pieces of work.

This should be new work, not previously exhibited. Original work in any media will be considered.

2D and 3D work should not be more than 200cm in any direction.

The work will be considered anonymously by a panel of practising artists and independent curators: Chris Bailkoski, Polly Binns, Craig Barber, Ruth Philo, Jill Sheridan, Brenda Unwin,

Work will be welcomed from artists anywhere, but selected artists will be responsible for insuring, delivering and collecting work.

The closing date for submissions is Tuesday 2nd September 

There is a non-refundable submission fee of £5 per artwork.

We do not charge commission on sales during the exhibition.

Cromer Artspace is a charity and Artspace on the Prom costs us £12,000 a year to run. We need the submission fees to ensure that we can stay open.

However, we will be able to support submissions from a percentage of artists who cannot afford the submission fee.

We will be very pleased if you are able to pay forward to support an artist who cannot afford to pay the fee or to contribute to our new ‘Bursary Fund’ to support emerging artists.

MORE INFORMATION

Cromer Artspace Opportunity

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Print Cromer 25: The State of Play

Curator Heather Guthrie

The State of Play invites printmakers to probe where we are now via block, stone, plate or screen.  

How does your work register the state of play in your life today – as an individual, in your relationships, through preferred places or personal possessions? Perhaps the state of play, in the bigger picture, prompts your visual response to global affairs? Humour, playfulness, mischief or subversion may also feature. Can you resist the void? Do you bite unruly lines in the margins? Or, is your literal state of play mark-making with inky fingers? 

Closing date 9th May.

More information here

Cromer Artspace exhibition

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Sounding Place

Debbie Lyddon and Claire Oxley

Each piece in the exhibition originates from listening to the resonances of the Norfolk landscape. The works represents the sonic relationship Debbie and Claire individually have with the environment: a response to sensing the sounds and echoes of a physical space.

Debbie’s work explores landscape and place. Her inspiration comes from experiencing and paying attention to her surroundings. Cloth is at the centre of Debbie’s practice. She combines traditional stitch techniques with non-traditional materials such as bitumen, salt and wax to make 2-D and 3-D works that evoke the sights, sounds and touch of coastal environments. Debbie searches out equivalences between the aural and visual rhythms in the landscape: the regular or irregular gaps between objects and sounds, the meandering of contrapuntal voices, and silences or empty spaces. 

Claire’s paintings chart the pulses and shifting seasons of the region; music (both ordered and naturally occurring) plays a huge part in her thinking about colour, mark-making and composition. Some pieces resemble graphic scores – playable paintings. Claire is a synaesthete, meaning that (in her case) she senses colour and sound interchangeably. Hers are works that chart and describe the skies, seas, moons, fields, flowers and foliage of the area: canvases of energy and flux. These works are felt and heard as much as seen – stirring memories and experiences from this vast county.

Private View 26 September 2-24 2-4pm

Picture frame sale

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You may be aware that we’re closing Gallery Plus in Wells-next-the-Sea at the end of this month.

We’ve got a huge collection of quality ready-made frames that we’re selling off from just £1, along with a large selection of high quality frame mouldings for anyone who does their own framing.

We’re open Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm, so anyone can pop in for a browse.

Trevor & Joanna Woods
GALLERY PLUS
Gallery | Studio | Framing | Design
Warham Road
Wells-next-the-sea
Norfolk, NR23 1QA

Free drop-in workshops at Wighton 23

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During the Exhibition the Project is delighted to offer a range of

 FREE DROP-IN WORKSHOPS

Materials provided – refreshments available

All are welcome – donations would be appreciated

Monday 10 July 10.00 – 1.00

Ros Copping: Drawing Workshop 

Join Ros in a drawing workshop focusing on cyclical shapes and structures

Monday 17 July 10.00 – 1.00

Ros Copping: Drawing Workshop

Join Ros in a drawing workshop focusing on cyclical patterns of light and shade 

Saturday 22July 10.30 – 12.30

Grace Adam: Print Workshop

For children and their adults

Using a variety of objects and different papers, we will create layered prints

                              1.30 – 3.30

Join Grace for a Collage Workshop based on shapes and colours in the church and churchyard: starting with a walk to record interesting shapes which will then be translated into collage

Monday 24 July 10.00 – 1.00

Ros Copping: Drawing WorkshopJoin Ros in a drawing workshop focussing on cyclical colour that intensifies and fades