The Arborealists: 40 Works

Untitled  by Arborealist Alan Rankle

This group show runs from March 22nd to April 19th.

The Arborealists group founded in 2013 comprises  50 professional artists, who celebrate trees with their 40th exhibition and the first time the group’s work can be viewed in Dorset.

The Arborealists’ inaugural exhibition in 2014 at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol attracted national media attention, with The Telegraph describing it as “spellbinding.”

This new show of 40 selected works has been curated by the group’s founder, artist and curator Tim Craven, and returning artist Paul Newman, Creative Director of Dorset Visual Arts based at Sherborne House.

The Arborealists span a wide geographic range, with members from across the UK and beyond.  Despite their diverse practices, the group is united by a shared fascination with trees, which is reflected in their dramatic, contemplative, expressive, abstracted, hyperreal, and surreal artworks.

Collaborations with environmental organizations, including national park authorities, the National Trust, National Landscapes and the Woodland Trust, have produced nine publications with further site-specific projects on the horizon.

The seed for this collaboration was sown during our parkwide 2023 Arbor exhibition, and as we move from the winter months it heralds the arrival and colour of spring, demonstrating the enduring relevance of trees in contemporary art and their power to captivate and inspire.