View of
Yeovil

Share your view through contemporary art and heritage

View of Yeovil is the first public programme, collecting stories from the town community. The programme included an exhibition at Yeovil Art Space, heritage display at the Library and an online exhibition.

Inspired by the South Somerset Heritage Collection which has over 6000 photographs reflecting the heritage of Yeovil, we sent out an open call inviting members of the Yeovil community to help create a contemporary archive of photographs made in and about Yeovil.

Over 400 entries have been received via email, Facebook and Instagram #ViewOfYeovil. You can see more than 70 of them in print and a wider selection can be viewed in a looping slideshow. 10 of them have been included in a limited edition postcard collection for this exhibition.

You can also see the slide show in the gallery section below.

Produced by artist Carolyn Leafley, an exhibition collecting stories from the town community and telling the history of photography through heritage collections in Yeovil.

Took place between 31 May to 8 July, the exhibition displaying more than 100 photographs from professional artists, the local community and students from Yeovil College.

The exhibition includes 70 images from View of Yeovil Open Call and Yeovil College Students, alongside large format prints from the work contributed by artists Sian Cann, Tessa Chapman, Adam Clark, Len Copland, Carolyn Lefley, Jenny Mellings, Pauline Rook, Stephen Raff and Stephen Riley and a specially commissioned aerial photograph of Yeovil Football Club at night by Ian Lishman.

There was also a selection of reproduced images contributed by members of the community and selected from the South Somerset Heritage Collection. They included large format images from Ray Clarke, family photos from Stephen Ives, stereoscopic images, ‘Carte de Visites’, hand-tinted stone lithographs titled 'View of Yeovil - from Babylon Hill' by Henry Burn in 1839; a collection of cyanotype prints created by community members through a creative workshop at Yeovil Art Space, and a collection of concertina postcard books inspired by heritage novelty postcards and modern ‘Carte des Visites’ created by a group of 13-17 years old from local secondary schools and colleges through the Story of Yeovil Young Ambassadors Programme.

The exhibition was accompanied by a programme of events, including a Talk about Photographic History by Carolyn Leafley, a History walk at St. Johns Church by Bob Osborne and a Photography Walk at Nine Springs by Carolyn Leafley. Details of the event can be found at https://yeovilartspace.uk/viewofyeovil/

This display has been curated by a group of community volunteers, supported by the team from South Somerset Heritage Collection, University of West of England and Yeovil Art Space.

Inspired by one volunteer recalling a road sign in the town reading 'A30 - Gateway to the West', the Group chose items that highlight the 'View of Yeovil' the town has shared with the wider world when promoting itself as a destination for those visiting the West Country. The display brought memories, prompted discussion and offered the audience to explore a fresh 'View of Yeovil'.

Illustrated and designed by Mimi Gafney, 1000 copies of a special poster to include write-up and interpretation were distributed throughout the project.