About Heart of The Tribe
The Heart of The Tribe gallery showcases provocative contemporary art and supports local artists by facilitating their professional and creative development.
Founded in Glastonbury Somerset, we support and empower local arts and culture through hosting exhibitions, events, workshops and educational talks.
We are incredibly excited to be working with our group of core artists from the Somerset area, reflecting a wide selection of styles and talent. And very proud to present such a fantastic selection of local creativity.
Please visit our Core Artists page for further details and examples of their work. We also offer a free artist directory open to all.
‘Art Talks‘ – curated by Melanie Thompson
In 2022 we hosted a monthly eclectic programme of South West contemporary art practitioners sharing their process of making art. Each month a different practitioner would share their background and process of creating art through film / slides / music and words. The talks happened in Heart of the Tribes workshop/event space at the end of our beautiful garden.
Below is a video archive. Click on the name for links to the blogs which have more information relating to each talk.
Megan Players
March 13th 2022
Megan a painter, installation artist talked and showed a short film about her huge exhibition in the Zig Zag factory space. She says ‘’It was an opportunity
to reflect and share our personal and collective experiences of Covid”. Over 40 people volunteered to pose for her, the resulting 580 paintings were suspended in the space for the public to walk through and encounter.
Helen Ottoway
April 9th 2022
Helen is a composer, pianist, installation artist & curator. In this talk she shares her process working towards a new kind of requiem: A participatory work that will combine elements of the choral tradition with sound installation and outdoor art. She started working on this project while on an artists residency in South West Sri Lanka, an area devastated by the Asian Tsunami in 2004. The talk includes musical performance and sound installation.
Kim Von Coels
May 15th 2022
Light photographer and Artist and Curator.
In this talk Kim shares many images from her Light photography portfolio and showed us how she creates these images from her magic tool box of tricks. She says “ I am interested in exploring the possibilities of manipulating light, creating images that cannot exist in real life, that tell a story, or surreal and beautiful”.
Frank Harwood
June 4th 2022
Painter, sculptor, muralist
Frank has taught and lectured in the past so his talk is very relaxed and confident. The audience immediately started asking questions as he moves through about 50 slides of the development of his painting work to his murals. His uses images of his past being brought to life in very modern colours and compositions, he evoking a nostalgia that he is now making accessible to a new generation.
Loittie Delamain
July 17th 2022
Lottie is a textile designer turned garden designer, who has recently completed a garden at RHS Chelsea. Her talk looks at how these two worlds merge – Lottie’s practise as a garden designer draws heavily on her previous career a textile designer – pattern, form, repeat and colour are all key building blocks she uses to think about gardens and outdoor spaces.
Art Bank
September 11th 2022
Dimitris, Lucy & James all hail from very different creative backgrounds but have come together to create a unique community project in the venue / hub they have created called the Art Bank. The building was a bank until 2018, starting as a creative hub to becoming also a café and a bar at night supporting music and performance events. In the talk they shared slides of events and projects that they initiated that have brought the local community together through art including an event that happens in shop windows each year.
Jim Pilston
October 8th 2022
Jim studied theatre design and illustration and worked as an illustrator for many years. His fascination with folklore and legend led him to work on three-dimensional pieces using papier-mâché and mixed media, recycled materials –
anything from scrap wood to discarded plastic. In his talk he explained how he does it, ( very practical useful information) and showed a selection of slides of all his work.
Boris & Jack Thompson-Roylance of Deadbeat Films
November 5th 2022
These identical twin brothers hail from Somerset and have created a very successful film production company 12 years ago. They balance commercial work with their art projects and now their company has expanded to support young film makers plus the refugee movement and indigenous people. They talk about the fact that they see their roles as multifaceted artists working in film. Their talk is full of an eclectic mix of films and the twins infectious enthusiasm for what they are doing.
Diana Milstein
December 3rd 2022
Diana is a painter, film maker, performer People who are familiar with Diana’s work know her as the creator of the fictional little old lady, Miss Smith, her
alter ego, whose adventures have been the subject of her prints for nearly 30 years., Diana’s work also covers many other subjects, ranging from landscapes from her travels, portraits of her friends and abstract paintings. Her motto is ‘creativity for survival! ‘ In her talk she takes us through her process supported by images.
Jolene Feeley
Company Director
Jolene recently graduated with a degree in Psychology. Her passion lies with helping people and running a supportive, professional environment. She hopes to increase accessibility to the arts by providing an opportunity for creative conversation and participation for people from all walks of life.
Kim Von Coels
Company Secretary
Kim is an artist, photographer and passionate member of the Glastonbury Community. Graduating with a degree from Central St. Martins after studying Art, Graphic Design and Photography, Kim has always pursued a creative lifestyle. She is the founder of the Glastonbury Mural Trail and spends much of her time contributing to local creative projects.
Andy Ralston
Gallery Manager
Andy has a background in Animation and Videography, and as a freelancer has collaborated on a variety of creative projects, delivering visual content to a whole host of arts and heritage organisations. He has extensive gallery experience working as an Assistant Curator, Gallery Administrator and Duty Manager both in the UK and Canada. Andy is excited to immerse himself in the creative community here in the South West.
Melanie Thompson
Creative Co-ordinator
Melanie is a practising interdisciplinary artist and teacher both in the UK and abroad. Since she did an M.A. in Fine Art in Context she has focused on supporting collaborative projects and is now looking forward to opening up dialogues and creating events that challenge and inspire.
Sarah Griffiths
Front of house
Jazz singer and events organiser.
Mentoring
Melanie Thompson can offer one to one mentoring for all types of visual artists / writers / dancers / theatre and film makers and musicians.
Melanie has taught and mentored many artists all over Europe over the last 25 years. For over 10 years she was a visiting tutor for Nordisk Theatre School, Denmark and Sheersburg College, Flensburg Germany. In this country she has taught at Bristol University, in the art/ music / writing and dance departments at Dartington College of Arts for 20 years, and Falmouth University for 4 years.
She is available to meet face to face for initial 1 hour sessions live or on line. She can give advice on career development but most importantly give support and strategies to develop creative goals and processes.
Please go to her web site for more information melaniethompson.me.uk or contact her on melart55@gmail.com.
