 | | Sophie Rush |
Coinciding with the Birmingham Pride Festival, aRTpRIDE celebrates the creative achievements of Birmingham's LGBT female artists. Their works explore the themes of sexuality, personal experience and desire. In an effort to make art more accessible to the gay community, aRTpRIDE uses alternative venues to act as galleries, such as commercial spaces, bars and coffee houses. This year's exhibitions will be on display in:
 | | By Sue Cambell |
- The Fox Bar, Lower Essex Street from 25th May - 26th June
- Prowler, 29 -30 Stephenson Street from 25th May - 26th June
- The Custard Factory, 4th - 11th June
aRTpRIDE also acts as a community art group that provides a supportive environment for LGBT women who wish to create and promote their work and to educate themselves and the wider community on relevant issues. To get in touch with them, e-mail: artpride@hotmail.co.uk In the meantime, some of the artists whose work will be on display at aRTpRIDE include: Vivienne Harrison
 | | By Vivienne Harrison |
"For this year's aRTpRIDE, I wanted to exhibit images of real gay women, women who are a vibrant part of our community and who have fascinating and inspiring stories to tell. "These are the women we should be celebrating and who should be acting as role models for future generations of gay women." Sophie Rush "My body of work entitled, Whatever Happened to you? explores the phenomenon of the missing person. Using models and settings I recreate and reconstruct scenarios, atmospheres from both missing person’s reports and fictional stories." Gina G
 | | By Gina G |
"My inspiration stems from the belief that the simple things in life should always be recorded. The simplicity of beauty, of a person, of a body. The notion of everyone being remembered is important to myself and my work. The recognition and memory of a person's essence long after they have left this place." Sue Cambell
 | | By Alex Rawlins |
"I have been carving in stone over the past few years. I like to explore the different qualities, textures of the various stones I find in the quarries in Britain. I enjoy the slow, meditating process of carving." Alex Rawlins "I am not going to provide you with a long philosophy explaining the meaning of my art. Rather I would like you to interpret my art with your own mind in whatsoever way you see fit. "Enjoy! Or not, as the case may be." | 
