Written by Hannah Bowdler

This May, with the help of local artist, Dave Elsom, Junction Arts launched its first annual fundraising event “The Chesterfield Postcard Show”.
When reflecting on the achievements of this years show, Dave shared where he got the idea for the show from and why he wanted to use it to support Junction Arts.

I’d taken part in a couple of postcard shows as an artist, one for an art gallery and one for a wildlife centre. They both used the postcard sales to keep their respective businesses going. I saw it as a great way of getting people involved in a simple way, where both professional artists and people who do it for fun can join in with an exhibition and help their community. I got the idea of doing a Chesterfield one, as I had never seen anything like it in the area and as a volunteer with Junction Arts, I thought it could be a good idea. I met up with Hannah and she was brilliant – her enthusiasm and organisation really helped it happen!

What are you most proud of about the show?

I loved meeting the different artists who took part in the show, it felt like a great community event. I’m most proud of the fact that there was such a wide range of people from all different backgrounds taking part.

What do you want to do with it moving forward?

We are going to be so much bigger next year! With the experience of this year, we learned lots about what worked well and what we can improve on. I’m keen to get more people involved, and to get the town buzzing about an event which helps to fund creative ideas in Chesterfield. We’ve already started planning for next year and I’m soon starting to work on an official logo! Watch this space. 

We would like to send a huge thank you to the amazing artists, students at Chesterfield College and members of the Little Art Club for their donated postcards. We’d also like to thank all those who visited the show and bought a card or offered a donation to Junction Arts.
Thanks to you we raised £430!

There is still chance to own your own piece of original artwork from the first years exhibition, please head to our Etsy page to see what is available: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JunctionArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

What’s Next?

The Postcard Show 2023: Wish You Were Here
Live Exhibition 6th – 19th May 2023
Submissions accepted now.

To get involved as an artist, local group or sponsor, please contact us on Hannah@junctionarts.org