Ironbridge Art exhibition to be supported by The Shrewsbury Club

An exhibition supporting and celebrating women in the arts is to open in Ironbridge in August.

The exhibition will take place at the Footprint Art Gallery between August 21 and September 1, with The Shrewsbury Club one of the sponsors.

Stephanie Eufemia, the founder and curator of The Female Collective, said: “The exhibition will be supporting female artists in Shropshire and the Midlands.

“It’s all under the umbrella of The Female Collective, which is aiming to bring more visibility to women in the arts and creating a community, a support system.

“We will also have a Private View for the exhibition on August 22 when guests will be able to meet the artists, while there will be live music and champagne.

“We have got some great artists, as well as some ceramicists and also a jeweller.”

Camilla Gittins, Sam Pooley and Rachael Walker will be among the artists attending the Private View to discuss their inspirations.

Given her long association with The Shrewsbury Club, Stephanie is delighted the health and fitness club has signed up to be one of the exhibition’s sponsors.

“I played tennis there since it opened,” she added. “I would play almost every day. I played for the county and I was also ranked in the UK.

“I played there from when I was about 10 until I was 18 when I went to university, but I later rejoined the club and would go to the gym and play tennis.

“It’s why it’s so lovely to have their support for the exhibition. It just feels like a full circle moment for me, which is really nice.”

Dave Courteen, the managing director of The Shrewsbury Club, said the club is proud to be sponsoring the exhibition.

Stephanie will also be the judge for The Art of Tennis competition the club is running for local school children in the countdown to hosting the W100 Shrewsbury tournament in October.

The prestigious event – the biggest women’s tennis tournament to be played in the UK this year, outside of the grass court season – returns to Shrewsbury between October 13-20.

Dave said: “We are passionate at The Shrewsbury Club about promoting women’s tennis and passionate about promoting creativity expressed through sport and art.

“We wish Stephanie every success with The Female Collective exhibition.

“It also ties in nicely with the school project we are running, The Art of Tennis, with over 15 schools already involved for their students to create tennis-themed art work.

“Children can use paper, crayons, paint, essentially whatever they want, to fill in a stencil design in the shape of the W100 logo.

“The school attended by the winning artist will receive a £500 prize, with free tickets for the tournament for the other children whose work is shortlisted.

“We will have our own exhibition at the club during the tournament, displaying the art work produced by children, and it’s fantastic that Stephanie is going to be involved in choosing the winners.”