Dorset Art Weeks returns this month with a fantastic line-up of open studios, exhibitions and events taking place throughout the county.

Produced by Dorset Visual Arts, the popular biennial Dorset Art Weeks runs from May 26 until June 10.

Last year marked 25 years since the original Dorset Art Weeks event back in 1992.

For 2018, a striking new yellow and black logo headlines the famous free DAW guide and the studio banners welcoming you to 312 free venues across Dorset.

The new DAW brochure is available from libraries, tourist information and arts centres, as well as shops, B&Bs and other outlets across the South West region.

The DAW website also highlights key tours by art form, geography or named artist.

Supported by Hall & Woodhouse, and their Badger Beer label, and by Wyke Dorset Cottages, the event’s success has much to do with the fact it is the only truly countywide Dorset festival.

You don’t need to go far to visit a furniture maker, potter, painter, sculptor, printmaker, textile artist or photographer. Almost any tour will take in aspects of Dorset’s fantastic rural and coastal landscapes.

The emphasis of the event is to enable the public to meet local artists and see their work in a studio or workshop setting, surrounded by the tools, the materials, the stimuli and the results.

Art Weeks is by people living and working among us. How well do we know what is on our doorstep? This is the antidote to the perception of art only being accessible in elite institutions.

The producers are as keen to encourage local people to visit local artists, designers and craft makers to see what is produced on their doorstep, as they are to attract visitors from elsewhere. Art

Weeks attracts many regular visitors from as far as Scotland and other EU countries who plan extended stays in Dorset to explore the event.

Jem Main, director of Dorset Visual Arts said: “Dorset Art Weeks reminds us just how much creativity is integral to every community in Dorset. This year over 800 participants in over 300 venues welcome you to be curious and visit the studios, workshops, converted domestic interiors where art and the handmade is conceived and formed.

“As well as calling in on those artists working locally, this is a great time of year to explore and revisit Dorset’s varied landscapes.”

Venues are free to visit, the only non-free venue is a one-day special fundraising event at the home and gardens of renowned furniture designer, John Makepeace, Farr’s, Beaminster on Sunday, June, 10, from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Dorset artist Moira Purver will be showcasing her stunning sculptures during her free open studio running from May 25 until June 10 at Steppes Hill House, Coombe Hill, Langton Matravers

BH19 3EU. Open 10am to 5pm daily, you will be able to visit the garden setting and also view other impressive works by Roger Lockey, Marita Morgan and Sinead O’Neill.

The Dorset Art Weeks guide 2018 can be ordered from Dorset Visual Arts via admin@dorsetvisualarts.org, £3.30 postage.

You can find Dorset Art Weeks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

@dorsetartweeks.