VAN History
In November 1999 a group of artists felt that the visual arts was under represented in the Shropshire region and called a public meeting in Shrewsbury. Artists and non-artists attended the meeting and the Visual Art Network was established.
The inclusive mix of artists and non-artists has given VAN access to numerous skills, networking contacts and has become a strong lobbying platform for the arts.
Since its inception VAN has been a major driving force for cultural development and is directly and indirectly responsible for the inception of many different arts related projects in the region and has significantly kick started the growth of the arts in Shrewsbury. Examples of Van’s creative heritage are:
Shrewsbury open studios, Shrewsbury Arts Season, Galleries Live. VAN continues to explore ways to support visual art activity across Shropshire and is actively making links with other networking groups in the region.