Visual Arts in Rural Communities

17/12/2025

VARC Full Circle and Season's Greetings -

17/11/2025

Listen to a beautiful piece of music, 'Stell' by Marc Rigelsford and Lucy May Schofield, now on VARC's Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/r7KqvuAKxlJKnFyIRc

Seventy-five people took a ceremonial walk from Highgreen to a circular sheep stell on the surrounding moorland in Northumberland National Park to mark VARC’s 25th anniversary celebration, carrying with them a stone wrapped in felt to be placed at the site. This soundscape was played simultaneously through wireless headphones when everyone was gathered in the stell together to mark the ceremony.

Choose a stone
Carry it with you
Walk to the stell
Listen collectively
Leave your stone
Complete the circle

On these endless days
A sky draped in pure pigment
Of infinite blue

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Seventy-five people took a ceremonial walk from Highgreen to a circular sheep stell on the surrounding moorland in Northumberland National Park to mark VARC’s 25th anniversary celebration, carrying wi

03/11/2025

The first batch of VARC artist catalogues and publications are now safely in the hands of Northumberland Archives who are based at the wonderful Woodhorn Museum . The archive stores an amazing collection of records relating to the history of Northumberland.

25/10/2025

For their residency in summer 2025, Rachel Deakin and Nell Catchpole collaborated with Marc Rigelsford. They made work connected to the woodland at Highgreen, an area that had been severely impacted by recent storms.

The final artwork was a combination of sound, video, photography, and the voice of William Morrison-Bell, complemented by wonderful hand-made instruments and sculptural forms.

You can now watch their beautiful short film on VARC's Vimeo page:

For their Full Circle residency in summer 2025. Rachel Deakin and Nell Catchpole collaborated with Marc Rigelsford. They made work connected to the woodland at Highgreen,…

29/09/2025

This week, artists Laura Harrington and Feral Practice (Fiona MacDonald) are coming to VARC for a week as part of their co-artist residency with WaterLands (UK). In the studio, they’ll be developing and experimenting with ideas for their collective project Tenderbog.

Tenderbog explores peatlands on both an intimate and global scale—looking at how touch and the body intersect with damage, degradation, and healing.

Over the past two years, the artists have been recording conversations with pioneers in human medicine and peatland restoration, as well as on-site restoration teams (officers, digger drivers, and labourers). Their work asks how information and power flow across these different perspectives.

It’s wonderful to welcome Laura back to VARC with her continued interest in peatlands. Laura first visited in 2011 as part of a VARC project fund, when she was developing her 16mm film Layerscape (peat bogs), which was premiered in an upland bothy at Moor House Upper Teesdale NNR.
WaterLands is a EU HORIZON Green Deal funded wetland/peatland restoration project across Europe, hosted within the Department of Geography at University of Leeds and focussing on the Great North Bog, engaging with the stakeholders and organisations that are part of this.

Images: 1&2, Natural peatland pool, Moor House Upper Teesdale NNR, October 2024: 3: Fleet Moss, Yorkshire Dales, November 2024; 4)Conversations with contractors, Nidderdale, February 2024; 5: Laura Harrington, Layerscape (peat bogs), installation at Moor House Upper Teesdale NNR, March 2012, as part of AV Festival As Slow As Possible.

25/09/2025

The Full Circle catalogue can now be downloaded as a pdf from the website. It features all 31 artists' residencies over the past 18 months:

Jenny Purrett with Kasia Parker, Laura Fox, Rachel Welford and Jane Else
Zoe Childerley with Loz Atkinson
Chris Suttie
Dianne Bowell
Gordon Dalton
Emma Bennett
Robbie Coleman & Jo Hodges
Nicky Coutts
Bethan Harris with Maura Hawkes
LEO
Sam Douglas with Baccara Smart
Kate Liston with Tess Denman-Cleaver
Kate Bellis
Sally Matthews
Nell Catchpole & Rachel Deakin with Marc Rigelsford
Megan Randall
DYAD
Nigel Morgan
Jilly Morris with Steve White
Karen Rann & Susan Grant
Andrew Burton
Shane Finan
Małgorzata Dawidek with Esther Huss
Ingrid Pollard with Dominique Le Gendre
Emily Ketteringham
Catriona Gallagher with Alyssa Moxley
Helen Pailing with Lizzie Kathiravel
Lucy May Schofield with Fransje Samson and Magic Arm
Plus, Full Circle featured artists Mike Collier and William Morrison-Bell.

Hard copies of the catalogue are available for £8 including P&P. Please send a DM if you are interested in this or any of our publications.

VARC’s final Full Circle programme includes 32 former VARC artists in residence, many of whom will collaborate with other artists and musicians. Full Circle will conclude in September 2025, VARC’s 25th anniversary. This special collection of artist residencies are self-directed, each lasting an ...

12/09/2025

A snapshot of the Full Circle celebratory event last Saturday, 6th September 2025.

Thank you to all the people who came to say farewell to VARC, to all the artists who made the journey to celebrate with us and to all the Friends of VARC, who have supported us over the past 25 years. A special thanks to the Tarset Ceilidh-Band for the wonderful ceilidh that concluded the day.

Photos thanks to Louise Hepworth

04/09/2025

# the catalogue has arrived! Thank you to Supanaught for the design. Hard copies will be available on Saturday, and a digital version will be put online soon. ○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

03/09/2025

Varc - 2005 Cow in the barn at Highgreen. Cowmuck and wood on a steel frame for ‘Gathering’ documenting Hill farming with photographer Kate Bellis.

03/09/2025