Out and About… Creative Royston – Royston Art Festival

Royston Arts Festival takes place between 18th – 27th September, which, owing to the circumstances, is the first ‘online’ festival since the Royston Arts Festival started way back in 1982.

The festival theme “A Question of Balance” was chosen partly as a play on the year 2020 and to highlight the importance  of wellbeing which can be achieved by correctly balancing the different priorities in our lives.

The full details of the Festival can be found on our centre pages, which gives you an overview of this year’s event. You can expect to enjoy the usual mix of art, photography, family activities, music, performance, film, literature and talks.

On our cover this issue you will find the latest artwork from Stacey Leigh-Ross (ByLeigh) who has put together another colourful collage based on the entries by Royston school children into our Schools Cover Art Competition. This would have featured on the front cover of the 2020 festival programme.

A Question of Balance © 2020 by SL Ross and children from Royston

By Leigh is the creative studio of Stacey Leigh Ross, a UK-based Trinidadian artist and educator who uses art to create social change. Her work is distinctive for its bold colours and semi-abstract style. Stacey works at two levels – building confidence in individuals and nurturing creativity, compassion and inclusion in communities.

In Royston, where the studio is based, By Leigh is most known for its creative community projects for children and young people like the Royston Art Society’s Young Artists Awards and Creative Royston’s Schools Art Competition. Both projects were collaborations with local community organisations to encourage creativity in local children and young people. Last year, a collaboration with historian Graham Palmer led to a By Leigh Life Story Art piece about Royston’s first recorded Black man – Roger Britten. This piece led to coverage from local radio and newspapers. The painting is currently in the Royston & District Museum.

Discover more about By Leigh at linktr.ee/byleighart
Royston Arts Festival, 18th – 27th September 2020
www.creativeroyston.org