So it occurs to me to write the long history of it all, which begins in 2000.
Suzanne Prat-Audmar began A.I.R.E (Aide a l'Initiative dans le Respect de l'Environnement) in 2000 because the Mayor of Quillan was trying to disposses her of her fathers house and land to flood and make a swimming lake for the region. (The land in question is on the left as you go towards Quillan, just after the Leaping Salmon roundabout.) Suzanne thought that this was not the full story; there was a history and the Mayor should be prevented from taking her home... the Mayor was against her family because of her mothers relationship with the last Mayor, or similar, plus the Dutch holiday village up the hill behind her had been after it for ages - this is France, its complicated. Anyway, as we know, Mayors can do anything and this one insisted that the commune needed the land and set about getting her out.
A.I.R.E. was an attempt to identify the land as a natural resource, which would give it a degree of legal protection.
In 2003 Suzanne decided to encourage love of the land by organising a handful of artists to open their studios and allow walkers in. A little map was printed with the suggested walks on it, leading to 11 studios in Esperaza, Granes, Puivert, Roquetaillade, Rouvenac, St J de Paracol and St Just et le Bezu.
At a preliminary meeting in the Chateau des Ducs de Joyeuse there was a disagreement between the organisers and the chatelaine of St Ferriol who led a walk-out - can't remember why - with one artist (Robin Greene) leaving, never to exhibit with the group again, alas.
That aside, the whole event was a huge sucess. Much publicity, many punters. The initial party ('florilege') was held at the Granes studio of Urs Zimmerman, a Swiss sculptor. He used a huge barn set in a beautiful field and since the event was in early August the weather was fine and the party sensational.
Urs drew lines on the streets and paths to guide the walkers, it was indeed an envoironmental affair.
I made my first speech in French and got a taste for it :)
Met other artists, bonded with Victoria Milroy over a stolen bottle of blanquette behind the tent and established other relationships that are still powerful in my life. It led me to contact the others afterwards and create a group to share the costs of a life model; which group continues to this day, now called Art The and very well run by Olle-B and Aileen.
For a while we also had the Breakfast of Artists in the Creperie, before it was a creperie. That was fun for a while, a good chance to talk about art issues and practical questions but it became superfluous as the drawing group became the natural forum for info sharing. And who has the time for breakfast??
In 2004 the first of the little catalogues were printed. Suzanne got lots of local sponsorship and the thing had a wide distribution - suddenly it was all rather a good career move. That year there were 25 exhibiting artists in 18 villages, some of them in buildings that were not their studios. It occured in late May.
By 2005 it was in early May with 40 artists in 20 villages. The party was at Magrie. It was getting a bit serious; gallery owners were using the catalogue to identify and invite artists to exhibit. In 2006 the first fairies and pixies appeared and in the interests of public health it was decided that in future the applicants should be subjected to approval by a jury.
This decision was greeted with much debate. What were the criteria? Who was equiped to judge? Were there other techniques to weed out the elf-and-fairy brigade? In 2008 I sulked and didn't submit. Plus I'd been in it for ever and the others were making nice noises, like give the young a chance... in 2009 I'd missed it too much and submitted, opened my little gallery and was glad to back in the fold. Despite the amazing amount of work involved in cleaning and hanging and sorting.
Around this time Carla Baltazar died. She was one of Suzannes early side-kicks and a great organiser, fun without being pushy. Perfect for working with artists. Still think of her and miss her.
In 2010 Suzanne left to live in Toulouse. The Mayor of Quillan had got her home and land; she had got paid recompense, a small amount which was increased when she took her battle to the European court. Tragic, especially as the swimming lake was judged unsuitable for the land and is as I write still a field. The mayor demolished her fathers house anyway.
She took the name Chemins des Artists with her and has developed the ideas and experience elsewhere. She crops up as a visitor from time-to-time- always welcome :)
A.I.R.E. changed the name to Artistes a Suivre in 2011 and Victoria Milroy and Cathy Pech took over the fantastic volume of work involved - fund raising, adverting, selecting, dealing with communes, calming artists. One of the down-sides of exhibiting is that you don't get out to see the other work or venues so the times I didn't exhibit (or the time I was rejected ) were great for mooching about and checking out the others. It got a bit hard here in Esperaza when our last Mayor refused to pay the (very small) contribution to A.I.R.E. which would allow the commune to participate. I had to show in Couza at the town Hall, which was terrific but having to transport a lorryload of work is a real drag and I didn't enter again.
What happened in the last few years is completly organic and a tremendous development of the original idea. Anyone who wants to puts up a sign saying OFF with an arrow to their expo. So studios, front rooms, little spaces have suddenly popped up with much art - either from artists who didn't get it together in time to submit (late autumn is when the process starts) or don't like juries or whatever, anyone can participate now.
Our Mayor, the new one, is keen on the arts and is now allowing the commune to be a part of the event. So Leo and Toby are hosting one or two artists and there are more eleswhere. And for the OFF; Kat is opening her gallery and Marie Calmet opens her gallery in the Place and will be giving demonstrations of the etching process. (They will be perfect. We had the same tutor in London, how weird is that) There are others currently trying to find venues - just look for the signs saying OFF !
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