Under 19's Art Exhibition @ TAAG from 3rd to 15th October

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The galleries are buzzing with youthful energy this week as TAAG’s first U19 exhibition opens tomorrow.  The walls are full of work by young artists (19 and under - clue’s in the title) and it reminds us all of the creative energy that kids have - and that we spend a lifetime trying to recapture.

The work has come in by various routes, including local schools, home education groups and individuals in the wider community.  And it’s been great to hear about them:  preparing their work; being so excited they are about seeing their work up on display; deciding if their work is NFS or fixing a price on their contributions; learning how to present it in a d-ringed frame; and telling their friends about it all, inviting them to come and see the exhibition.

So come and see it too - these young artists are part of the future of creative arts across the area.  You will leave feeling energised, excited and reassured!

Teignmouth's Town of Culture Postcard

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ALTHOUGH Teignmouth has not been selected for the shortlist for the inaugural UK Town of Culture 2028 competition, one of the town’s campaign organisers, Sam Lock, says she is “immensely proud” of what has been achieved - and we're delighted to share Teignmouth's official digital postcard, which has now been released.

Created as part of the competition, the postcard offers a snapshot of the rich culture, heritage, creativity and community spirit that make Teignmouth such a special place to live, work and visit. Although produced to a very tight deadline, it celebrates the many artists, organisations, volunteers, performers, businesses and community groups who contribute to our vibrant town.

The Town of Culture bid has been a truly collaborative effort, bringing together organisations and individuals from across Teignmouth with a shared ambition to celebrate everything our town has to offer and to create opportunities for future generations.

Greetings from Teignmouth – where coast, culture, heritage and community come together!

 

Douglas Anderson, TAAG’s Programmes Manager’s Review of the Year

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There have now been 83 exhibitions run at TAAG since our relaunch in July 2023 to December 2025:

  • July 2023 to March 2024 - 26 exhibitions / 518 participants

  • April 2024 to March 2025 - 27 exhibitions / 426 participants

  • April to Dec 2025 - 30 exhibitions / Approx 460 participants

During 2024 / 2025 we were able to offer several Solo shows and new collaborative exhibitions for local artists, long term supporters of TAAG and private groups. These ran alongside our own annual Open exhibitions & still provided ample space for community Art Societies to show the diverse work of members at all levels.

The Exhibition programme has continued to be extremely popular. The gallery calendar is fully allocated up to December 2027. We have actively endeavoured to expand the reach of the gallery through exhibition invitations to individual artists and organisations from further afield.

For TAAG to prosper it is essential that adequate opportunities are created within the annual calendar of events to support new local makers while providing a varied, fresh programme of stimulating, informative, diverse and sometimes challenging shows for our visitors. This in turn will attract new visitors and help to develop TAAG as significant Arts Venue for the SW. Planning and aspiration is essential. 

Gallery booking fees have been frozen between April 2024 & March 2026 and have provided a modest but stable income to cover running costs. Gallery sales since Spring 2024 have been noticeably down on 2023/24 figures. This is in line with national trends from gallery owners across the UK, mainly due to economic challenges and national financial uncertainty. I do not believe this is any away a reflection on the range and quality of the work being exhibited. Regular feedback from our visitors has offered positive affirmation for our artists and has clearly indicated an appreciation for the raising of standards of work and displays within the gallery.

Workshops

Since reopening the TAAG Arts Centre we have been able to offer a wide range of taster workshops in bookbinding, printmaking (relief, collagraph, drypoint, gelli print, monoprint), sketchbook development, watercolour & mixed media painting and textile arts. We have introduced a monthly programme of Textile and printmaking clubs with over 70 regular participants signed up.

The Sketchbook Journey Programme (originally an online fundraiser project) has expanded to include regular one day workshops and mini residencies in the gallery. We continue to deliver our weekly community support Arts programmes three days per week.

We have been operating from a small workshop space on the ground floor. This has unfortunately stifled the potential growth of our workshop programmes but we have started to expand into the gallery whenever appropriate. From March 2026 the workshop will be relocated to the front of the gallery to raise the profile and visibility of our classes while providing a little more space.

This is a temporary measure until we can complete the work on the large purpose-built workshop space on the first floor. There is considerable interest from the community for regular, affordable Arts & Crafts workshops and hire of the space for independent groups once the work is completed.

We also took on a new premises in May 2025 - The Makery @ TAAG. This has helped significantly in supporting our Community Arts initiatives. Sam Lock, the driving force behind The Makery, has done a short separate blog post about some of what has been done in the year. 

Funding for workshops

Through the fundraiser Sketchbook Journey Programme, various donations, and a lottery grant from MAKE Southwest, we have been able to offer free or low cost art, textiles and printmaking workshops since 2023.

This covers:

  • resource costs for the Print Club and Textiles@TAAG (two sessions of 10 people per month).

  • a small management Fee for the artist running the session.

  • workshop hire.

This funding runs out in December 2026.

Future education & workshop programmes

We have completed the initial registration to be able to deliver the national Arts Awards programme. The hope is also to begin offering a weekend Arts programme for school age participants as soon as the upper floor workshop is available. (Possibly introducing the national Saturday Club project). 

Communications

We have an expanding mailing list for our weekly TAAG Newsletter, providing up to date information on workshops, events, Arts Centre shows and Arts related activities within Devon. This is our main source of communication with our supportive community, sitting alongside our regularly updated website www.teignmoutharts.org

We utilise Facebook & instagram to share news and exhibition information. Where practical we have started to introduce short taster videos and digital catalogues for specific shows. All these tasks are currently managed by volunteers.

Looking Forward

Since reopening in 2023 the Exhibition and Workshop programmes have been coordinated & managed by one of the Trustees (the Programmes Manager).

We are currently seeking several volunteers to take on more administrative and management tasks. It is intended that the overall co-ordinating role will eventually become a paid position for a new member of staff once the centre is fully operational. This could be a really exciting development opportunity for someone interested in a career in gallery and arts administration. 

Douglas Anderson, Programmes Manager

Teignmouth Lantern Parade

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The Teignmouth festive market and lantern parade last Saturday was a great success - as reported in the
Mid Devon Advertiser (click on link for full report and video).

The Makery’s Sam Lock ran lantern workshops in the Rock and Fudge shop.

Sam Lock, MP Martin Wrigley, and singer/Alice Cross manager Peta Howell - by David Caunter

Lantern parade - by David Caunter

Lantern - Art at TAAG