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
In 2024, we contributed 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 the South West and beyond.
One of the major educational features is a series of lunchtime concerts for young musicians. We donated towards the costs of Ryan Corbett’s performance, a classical accordionist currently studying for his Masters at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. These opportunities to perform play a key role in supporting a young musician along the difficult road of establishing and developing a career in classical music.
A further donation, including a contribution of £250 from the Arts Society Community Grant scheme went towards the festival’s outreach work to bring local primary school children to attend the lunchtime concerts free of charge. Over 300 attended in 2023 and our sponsorship meant over 600 attended in 2024. Attending these concerts is the first time for most to have this experience, and it also gives the pupils the chance to see young musicians starting out on their career. The sponsorship donation also went towards the development of a teaching pack for the teachers to prepare the children for the experience.
Click here find out more about the volunteering projects of the Arts Society.
2025
The Arts Society Budleigh Salterton collaborated again this year with the Budleigh Salterton Music Festival’s education outreach programme and sponsored the lunchtime concert of five young wind musicians – Lumas Winds – who gave an outstanding performance of music from 18th to 21st Century. The donation enabled pupils from local schools, including a GCSE Music group to meet the players for a question-and-answer session.
We are also working with the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival this year and sponsoring an afternoon of family fun for young children “Fairy Tales Musical Mash Up” with Gareth P Jones. Our donation includes a contribution of £250 from The Arts Society Community Grant Scheme and we hope that by having lots of fun, many children will be able to see the joy that storytelling and books can bring.
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.