PAINTING, writing and even book binding has a new home in Poundbury.

The Dorset Centre for Creative Arts opened its doors for the first time at the weekend.

The centre is located on the Parkway Farm Business Park and launched with a free event on Saturday.

People came down to enjoy cake and a coffee while looking around the facilities, enjoy taster activities, watch demonstrations and find out more about the master classes that will be on offer.

Master classes will be held at the centre to allow people to acquire specialist qualifications in the creative arts and to develop skills and gain knowledge in a relaxed environment.

The centre already houses Weymouth College’s masonry department and it will build on this with the new centre.

Just some of the arts on show included wood block printing, life drawing, creative writing, air brushing and water colour painting.

Dorsett Centre for Creative Arts Director Sarah Drew, hailed a fantastic opening day.

She said: “It’s been absolutely fantastic. The footfall has been fantastic. We’ve had really fantastic feedback from people, including some from just across the road who didn’t know what was going on here.”

She said that she hopes the facility will be used from people across Dorset and not just Dorchester and the surrounding areas.

Sarah hopes that the centre can prove a success with people already beginning to sign-up for courses.

She said: “People have been coming and signing up for courses. We want to encourage the community to come down and help us build this in to a really nice place that the community can get involved in.”

Nigel Evans, interim principal at Weymouth College welcomed the centre.

He said: “This centre represents a real resource for residents across Dorset to engage with, and be part of, a high quality creative arts centre.

The artists involved in delivering our master classes are all engaged in professional practice and we hope that everyone will benefit from all the events, courses and opportunities that the centre will give us.”

Masterclasses will be starting at the centre from November.

These will offer a chance to develop a wide-range of skills from book binding to making Viking knit jewellery.

The open day was supported by the Hix Academy at Weymouth College who provided food and drink.

for guests to enjoy.

For more information about joining a masterclass or about the centre go to dorsetcentreforthecreativearts.co.uk