contemporary art and crafts
Monkton Gallery
The RAFT Artists' Group
Who Are We?

Click to visit the Gallery

In 2002 five Dorset artists got together with the aim of opening a small art and craft gallery near Dorchester.

Winterborne Monkton's old village school became the focus for their dream.

The Gallery is only a stone's throw from Dorchester and Weymouth.

Monkton Gallery is really easy to find.

We are just off the A354 which is the trunk road from Dorchester to Weymouth.

The road to Winterborne Monkton is on your right as you head to Weymouth, just at the foot of the hill.

The Gallery is 200yds along the road on your left.

Click here for a Multimap of the Gallery.

 

 

Monkton Gallery reopened for 2006 with a taster exhibition for Dorset Art Weeks, featuring samples of work from other participating venues.

This website is currently being updated, some pages still refer to 2005 events and artists.
We apologise for the inconvience.

The gallery's first major promotion for 2006 appeared as a listing in the Diary dates in the April Homes and Gardens magazine :-

Could've Fooled Me!
was an exhibition staged over the weekend of 1st and 2nd April 2006.
Local artists displayed work inspired by the Post-Contemporary Conceptual Art Movement.
Including glimpses of recent Turner Prize entries interpreted in a neo-rural context.
Also featuring sideways-looking tributes to twenty-first century visionary equivalents.
Re-launching the careers of recently emerging proto-energists, rigorously amalgamated with the negatively-empowered empathists.
Follow this link to see an archived catalogue.

ARTYFACTS was a project run in collaboration with the Dorset County Museum. It featured on the BBCi website and in the region's press. You can click on the logo to find out more.

Click to take a look at the Artyfacts Project

RAFT artists and craftworkers

There are no formal rules binding our association, it's more of an organic network of professional Dorset artists and craftworkers. Whenever there's a good idea to be shared we pass it on, and often work together on different projects.

Below is a list of those who have become part of RAFT through the years. Click on their names to send them email, or if they have a website you can click on the W logo.

John Bullock Land Artist & Musician
Jane Burden Painter and Mixed Media, Art Tutor
Michael J Chappell Painter
Elaine Collett Painter and Printmaker
Gill Coombes Potter
Bill Crumbleholme Potter
Virginia Evans Painter
Vicky Finding Painter
Paul Hyland Poet and Author  
Pippa Hill Ceramic Sculptor
Caroline Ireland Painter and Mixed Media  
Peter Lightfoot Painter
Lorna Low Painter
Pat March Studio Potter
Cece Mills Painter and Glass Sculptor
Elle Neale Painter
Sally Pinhey Painter and Illustrator
Annalisa Renee Sculptor, Land Artist  
Sheila Sanford Watercolour Miniaturist
Eileen Sarup Textile Artist
Jon Sloper Painter and Designer
Stoneform - Zoë Cull and Alex Evans Stone Carvers, Lettercutters
Peter Thomas Wood Turner and Stick Maker
Tim Whitmore Collage and Drawing
Annabel Wilson Painter and Printmaker

The Monkton Gallery is run as a co-operative by a group of Dorset-based artists and craftworkers who have joined together to bring our work into the public domain and contribute together to the development and promotion of visual and contemporary arts.

Click to view Bill Crumbleholme's work
Bill Crumbleholme
Potter

Click to view Sally Pinhey's work
Sally Pinhey
Botanical Artist

Sheila Sanford at Monkton Gallery (c) 2004
Sheila Sanford
Miniaturist

Click to view Elle Neale's work
Elle Neale
Painter

Featured Guest for 2006

The following artists have been recent guests. The links take you to their own websites.

Robin Mills
Photographer
link

Upwey Potters
link

Eileen Sarup
Fine Art Textiles

Cece Mills
Painter

Jenny Shanahan
Painter
link

Andrea Frankham-Hughes
Jeweller & Tiara Maker
link

Artsinn
5 different artforms
link

Marilyn Allis
Painter

Hilary Warren Simmons

Helen Francis

 

 

Plans for 2006

The Gallery opened at Easter 2006, every SATURDAY, SUNDAY and BANK HOLIDAY.

 

 

 

Maiden Castle

Monkton Gallery is at the foot of the largest Iron Age hillfort in the UK, Maiden Castle.

Maiden Castle is looked after by English Heritage.

You can take a guided tour of the castle by clicking here...

 

Calling Local Artists

 

 

 

Fans!!
Join Our Mailing List

RAFT is an informal organisation run by local visual artists to promote creative endeavours.
If you would like to join in with RAFT activities, including having a listing on this website, please contact RAFT by e-mail.

If you'd like to keep in touch with our latest plans then email us and we'll drop you a line whenever there's something new taking place.

Your details will not be passed on to anyone else.

Contact RAFT by e-mail.