Art on the Hill 2019 celebrates Newport's creativity

Cafes, shops, and even private homes have been opened up to the public for exhibitions and performances.

Over at The Escape Rooms in Griffin Street, photographer Alun Jennings' work is public display for the first time.

Mr Jenning's exhibition placed some of Newport's most recognisable landmarks next to some more everyday scenes – the doorways and buildings he passed on his way home from the city centre.

"It's been very encouraging for me," he said of Art on the Hill. "The community is fantastic to allow people to show their work."

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Alongside Mr Jennings' photographs were several pen-and-ink drawings by Dean Lewis, whose exhibition focused on industrial decline in the age of austerity.

"I've always been interested in post-industrial landscapes – I come from a steel family myself," Mr Lewis said.

In the normally-closed Westgate Hotel building, which has been opened up to local artists this year to commemorate 180 years of the Newport Rising, the Operasonic group revisited that time of political turmoil with a haunting piece of performance art.

And in St Mark's Church, a series of exhibitions featured the work of several local photographers.

Among them was John Briggs, who organised that particular exhibition.

Mr Briggs was showing the public a collection of his photographs from Newport's vibrant blues scene in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He spent countless nights at venues like the Engineers Arms, Hornblower, King's Hotel (music venue), and the old Le Pub in Caxton Place – all well-respected places for blues musicians from the region and from overseas.

"The King's Arms was very much on the circuit for well-known blues singers from the USA, Mr Briggs – who himself hails from Minnesota – said. "Occasionally Van Morrison would play there – it was always unpublicised, except for a small sign on the door the day before the show."

Mr Briggs has just finished collaborating on Walking Cardiff, a book detailing a series of lesser-known trails through the capital.

Joining him at St Mark's Church was artist Chris Langley, who has painted the winners of the South Wales Argus' prettiest pet competitions since 2017; and Abergavenny-based photographer Tony Carter, who was exhibiting a series of photographs capturing life in Newport city centre.

"I'm recording Newport as it is, with a particular emphasis on the people," Mr Carter said. "I enjoy looking at life.

"I've taken thousands in the city – it's a never-ending source of inspiration."

Art on the Hill continues on Sunday with a packed programme of events and exhibitions. For more information, click here.

All photographs by www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk -- full gallery available at the top of the page.