Flying Fish Artists

Welcome to Flying Fish Artists

Who we are
We are a small, unique local charity, registered in 2014 (registration number 1157556) as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Flying Fish Artists, however, has existed in the Barnstaple, North Devon area for many years, previously as an informal cooperative.

What our aims are
Through the use of art as therapy our aim is to enhance and promote the mental health of people in the Devon area, and specifically support the resilience and recovery of those experiencing mental ill health. We also aim to challenge perceptions of mental ill health through the work that we do. We also welcome anyone who has been affected mentally or emotionally due to health issues, including those who have suffered from strokes.

What we do
We support our members in their recovery from mental ill health by
providing an art studio, which doubles as a meeting space, where our members meet regularly to paint and socialise every Tuesday from 11 am to 1pm We provide art equipment, art education and general support for for all our members, encouraging them to use creative talents which often even they were unaware they had.

Promotion of members artwork
We support and inspire our members to produce artwork which integrates the members with the local community through exhibitions, events, open days, participation in festivals and accepting commissions.

Workshops & Exhibitions
We offer our members art workshops and other art education opportunities to help them to develop their creativity further and to grow in confidence. For details of the public exhibitions and stalls we have already had, please see our Events page. We promote our members artwork at all our public exhibitions, and also promote their work to a number of organisations and institutions. As a result, we have successfully received commissions for our members’ work over the years.Please see our Events page for further details.

Membership enquiries 
We welcome membership enquiries from those who have experienced mental ill health. There is no requirement to have done artwork before as we believe everyone has creativity inside them. Some of our members were unaware of their own creativity until they joined us and their artwork is now being publicly viewed and admired, helping our members to grow in confidence.

To view the catalogue of our artists' work please click on the link below:
Flying Fish Artists Catalogue - Artwork for sale and commissions

Please contact us for further information or if you would like to arrange a visit to our studio.

Thank you to the following organisations which support our work:
Devon Community Foundation
The Self Heal Association
Barnstaple Rotary Club
Bideford Rotary Club
The Norman Family Trust
The David Gibbons Foundation
The Viscount Amory Trust
South West Water