News and Events

The Arts Society is a leading arts education charity with a global network of local Societies which bring people together through a shared curiosity for the arts.

Our events provide welcoming places to hear expert lecturers share their specialist knowledge about the arts. We preserve and contribute to our artistic heritage through volunteering and grants.

Our strength is our people, joined together by a passion for the arts which can nourish and empower us all. Our work creates a better, healthier and more connected society.
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Budleigh Salterton Arts Society
As a local branch of the national charity, we too have a remit to promote curiosity and discovery in the arts, for all ages. So in addition to our programme of regular talks by experts in their field, we have also supported access to art events.

Budleigh Salterton Arts Society - Arts Volunteering Projects 2023

In 2023, we donated to St Peter’s CofE Primary School, Budleigh Salterton to support an art related project including a visit to London. The money provided went towards ensuring that 11 of the pupils could go on the visit either at a free place or a subsidised rate. The trip meant that pupils were exposed to culture and art that they would not normally have seen.

Although a planned visit to the V&A museum to study the art was changed to enable a visit to 10 Downing Street, they looked at propaganda art in the Imperial War Museum and saw the artwork inside the Houses of Parliament. In all, they went on a Thames Clipper, visited Greenwich Observatory, the Science Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, Regents Park, a dance workshop and saw The Lion King.

The head teacher said that it was an amazing experience and one of the most memorable these children will ever have.

2024

We contributed for the first time to the Budleigh Salterton Music Festival’s educational outreach work. The Festival, held in June/ July each year is highly acclaimed and attracts many attendees from across the Southwest and further afield. One of the major educational features of the festival is a series of lunchtime concerts for young musicians. In 2024, we donated towards the costs of Ryan Corbett’s performance. He is a classical accordionist and was studying for his Masters at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The opportunity to perform at festivals forms a key role in supporting a young musician in advancing their career in classical music.

A further donation, including a contribution of £250 from the Arts Society Community Grant Scheme was given to the Festival’s outreach work to bring primary and secondary school pupils into attend the concerts free of charge. Over 600 children came to the concerts and had the opportunity to listen to classical music, which for many was the first time to have such an experience. This is a great example of local community cultural organisations working together.

2025

The Arts Society Budleigh Salterton was delighted to collaborate again last year with the Budleigh Salterton Music Festival’s education programme in its 20^th year. We sponsored a lunchtime concert of five young classical wind musicians – Lumas Winds – who gave an outstanding performance of music from 18^th to 20^th century. Our donation enabled pupils from local schools, including a GCSE Music group to meet the players for a question-and-answer session and attend rehearsals. Feedback from the children’s teachers was that it is eye-watering to see these youngsters becoming so absorbed in a new experience and meeting young people at the start of their musical careers.

In addition, we worked also with the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival and sponsored an afternoon of family fun for very young children “Fairy Tales Musical Mash Up” with Gareth P Jones. Our donation included a contribution of £250 from the Arts Society Community Grant Scheme. Over 100 children between the ages of 3 and 8 attended and had a lot of fun, making up a fairy story with colours, music and plenty of noise, and seeing the joy in picture books and storytelling. Our financial support enabled the cost of the tickets for this event to be kept very low enabling anyone who wanted to come to be able to so.

Click here find out more about the volunteering projects of the Arts Society.

Fairlynch Museum in Fore Street, Budleigh Salterton is one of the very few thatched museums in the UK. The building is a typical example of a 'marine cottage orné' and is Grade II listed. Built by a local shipowner Matthew Yeates around 1811, the house recently celebrated its bicentenary. Priscilla Hull was a co-founder, and the museum started with the collection of period costumes gathered by Budleigh residents the Misses Gawne, together with the many geological specimens amassed by local archaeologist George Carter.