Welcome to Art Unequalled
WE WILL BE BACK ON 9th and 10th NOVEMBER 2024
We had a fantastic weekend bringing Art Uneqiualled in Ely in November 2023.
Thank you to all that attended, we hope that you thoroughly enjoyed the event and found some womderful and unique purchases to take away!
Art Unequalled is further establishing itself as a highlight in the local calender for visitors to find high quality handmade work presented direct from the maker.
This year's show again received excellent feedback from the visiting public who were impressed by the high standard of work on offer from every stand within the show.
Visit Ely who run the Tourist Information centre in the City wrote a wonderful blog about their visit this year. Matthew has been kind enough to let me share it with you.
I hope it gives you a real third person insight into Art Unequalled and what we are about!
Art Unequalled – an Event Unrivalled
The Visit Ely team are always excited, it’s part of the job. It’s a combination of being at the heart of this incredible City, a dash of being housed in the fantastic Oliver Cromwell’s House, a big helping of working with incredible people from home and away and the cherry on top? Well that would be seeing the incredible events taking place in and around Ely. It’s a constant stream of interesting, entertaining and enjoyable happenings!
On Friday 5th November 2021, some of the Visit Ely team were able to enjoy one of these events. Art Unequalled, hosted at The Maltings (Another jewel of Ely, this incredible venue!), by Sally and bringing unique and creative individuals and their art, directly to an adoring public.
Upon arrival, you can already feel the buzz of the waiting attendees – Visit Ely had arrived slightly early for the preview night as the team had been out doing social media content shots, and if we had any doubt about being in the right place, that was swiftly put aside when we found ourselves at the end of a line of eager folks waiting for the doors to open.
The excitement is infectious; if you’ve never attended an event such as Art Unequalled you may feel a sense of “Otherness” and wonder if this is the kind of event for you…. We promise you, if you let the excitement flow over you, you’ll soon feel comfortable and content. That is where the wonderment begins; the moment you walk through the doors.
Not only are you greeted warmly by the Art Unequalled team but you are handed a well-produced and incredibly informative programme covering not only the artists that are there on the evening, showing their incredible works, but also their actual location in the venue – you may be familiar with The Maltings, and you may be thinking “It’s not that big thar you could get lost….” But dear reader that isn’t the point we are making. Please, bear with us, because this is going to take some explaining….
You are suddenly drawn into a world of individual stalls, each unique, each a riot for the senses. From woodwork, which draws the eyes with the rich umbers and soft oranges, and all the colours in that natural pallet, to stained glass glinting in the lights, each coloured shard perfectly placed to produce a piece of art, individual and exquisite. Once you’ve gorged on these wonders, you find yourself wandering through this feast of the senses. Perhaps your eyes are drawn by the watercolours, or you find yourself enchanted by the sculptures but only to then find yourself falling in love with the hand-crafted jewellery of one stall, until the pottery and pyrography grab you and drag you off – now perhaps you might understand just why we needed the map! Once you’ve found your feet, you’ll then realise there is more to see as upstairs at The Maltings also houses further wonders. Every single part of the venue is transformed, and to add to the ambience there is live acoustic music being played. Everywhere you turn, artists and adoring attendees are in animated discussion, with people purchasing and perusing the creations of this fabulous group of people.
If that isn’t enough, the exhibitors had also donated items to be sold to raise funds for two selected charities, Arthur Rank Hospice and MIND, which really is a wonderful addition to an already incredible event.
Visit Ely spent over an hour at the event, only leaving due to other personal commitments drawing us away. Had they not been there, we would have most likely been the last people being shoved out of the door at the end of the preview evening.
Art Unequalled is truly an Event Unrivalled in the Ely calendar; we cannot wait for the next one!
Matthew Routledge - Visit Ely
Some further comments from visitors included these....
"It was a lovely occassion, tehre was so much to see and the quality of work available was fantastic.
'The best craft show I have been to in a very long time" - Amanda
"We love coming to this event! Can't wait for teh next one!! We think it's the best event in Town"- Caroline
"Absolutely fantastic displays - utterly impressed with what we saw!"
"The best art and craft fair I have ever been to, and I have visited many over the years!"- Jenny
"Every stand is of the highest quality- simply fantastic"
