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From rugged rural coastlines to clustered urban environments, VASW connects artistic communities throughout South West England as a way of raising visibility, advocating diversity and developing resilience across the visual arts sector.

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Our Ambition

Visual Arts South West is a sector support organisation. Our Mission is to advocate, challenge and enable the visual arts to thrive in South West England.

Our core aims are to:

Raise the visibility of the South West's visual arts sector, both in the region and nationally
Advocate for diverse perspectives our area
Focus on addressing the significant issues facing the sector in the region
Develop a more resilient visual arts sector

We're based at Spike Island as part of their National Portfolio Organisation funded by the Arts Council England. We are an independent organisation part of the national Contemporary Visual Arts Network and in a position to apply for funding to develop our own work specific to the South West.

Sector Support

We seek to connect those working in the visual arts to reduce barriers between individual practitioners, organisations and funding.

Find out more

Our In-house Team

Network Manager

Paula Orrell

Whilst leading the network, Paula is an independent curator and consultant and known for her curatorial approach in engaging new audiences with the visual arts and ability in supporting the development of emerging artists at the same time as working with established international artists. Art ecology and community are central to her work, as well as a socially engaged approach.

Network Administrator

Nella Aarne

Alongside managing administrative processes for Visual Arts South West, Nella is a curator co-directing Obsidian Coast in Bradford-on-Avon and convening the Of Animacy Reading Group.

Obsidian Coast

Social Media Manager

Rosa Martyn

As well as Visual Arts South West, Rosa works at Spike Island, Bristol in communications. As well as contemporary arts, Rosa is interested in traditional handicraft practices, with a focus on textile work.