Liverpool was so successful as last year’s European Capital of Culture that the government wants to have cities of culture around the country. But, as Andrew Tait reports, a small and ancient Wessex community is celebrating its own status
Carried along on a wave of enthusiasm from local artists, businesses and shopkeepers, the market town of Marlborough, Wiltshire (charter 1204), is rapidly turning itself into a regional centre for the arts.

Marlborough, with a cultural catchment area from Devizes to the west and Newbury, across the border in Berkshire, to the east, has a periphery of villages where scores of artists and craftsmen have established their studios and thriving businesses over recent years.

As music from the annual Marlborough jazz festival throbbed through the streets, parks and pubs last weekend, visitors and residents were invited to follow the Marlborough arts trail, a month long project which features the work of 59 local artists in 30 office and shop windows, with a free art trail handout with a map showing who can be seen where.

Also during every weekend in July some 40 artists – painters, ceramicists, photographers, printmakers and sculptors – are opening their studios in and around Marlborough to the public to discuss, demonstrate and sell their work. Some are offering courses and workshops.

Last Sunday, coinciding with Marlborough’s annual jazz weekend, an inaugural art market was held in a car park in The Parade (also August 16 and September 13, 10am-4pm), near the site of a projected cinema and arts centre on the banks of the River Kennet.

Chainsaw sculptures, hand-made artisan jewellery, paintings, photography and ceramics were on sale, to the accompaniment of performances by children from a community primary school, clowns and local musicians.

The first Marlborough arts month was held in 2008, organised by the We Love Marlborough initiative, which was born the year before over a gathering in a local pub. “Some of us who care about Marlborough as our special town and about the arts decided to tap into the wealth of local talent and the goodwill of local traders and businesses,” says Louisa Davison, a PR professional who, together with husband Peter, president of the Chamber of Commerce, regards the work for We Love Marlborough as a labour of love itself.

But she stresses that the July Marlborough arts trail and studio visits are far from the only activities she and her colleagues, many of them artists and including a stiltwalker, organise throughout the year, from concerts, street entertainment surrounding the switching on of the Christmas lights and exhibitions – all not-for-profit.

Also involved in many of the projects, and with a programme of its own, is the Kennet Valley Arts Trust (KVAT), driving force behind the proposed riverside complex.

This is the Riverbank arts centre, long the ambition of the KVAT to provide theatre, visual arts and cinemas facilities which the trust is in discussions over with the new Wiltshire unitary authority.

This weekend also saw the opening in the offices of local businessman Tony Apps of a display of work by Jack (The Singing Butler) Vettriano and local artists Davina Fisher, Chantal Bourgonje and Ray Ward.

Already established as permanent showcase for local creativity is the “redundant” church of St. Peter and St. Paul at the end of the High Street, where Cardinal Wolsey was ordained in 1498.

The church, now an arts and craft centre with craft shops and stalls and a café, is a welcome haven for Marlborough visitors, many of them en route to nearby Avebury and Stonehenge. For residents it regularly presents lectures, concerts and exhibitions and, yes, church services.

The town’s traders are fully behind We Love Marlborough, and this latest initiative. The art trail is sponsored by Equilibrium Wealth Management Ltd and Waitrose - who are both exhibiting art work – and, unsurprisingly, by the local Chamber of Commerce.

“In these tough economic times traders are open to new ideas that will attract people to the town, entice them to look in shop windows and spend money with our local traders,” says Peter Davison. “We think the art trail is a brilliant idea and are delighted to be co-sponsoring the event.”

Further information: www.welovemarlborough.co.uk