NEWLY formed Craven Arts will celebrate Christmas and homegrown talent at an exhibition in Skipton Town Hall.

The work of 18 artists from the area will feature at the free Christmas exhibition from Monday, November to December 11.

Set up by animation artist Virpi Kettu, who worked on Wallace and Gromit and the Radiohead video 'Burn the Witch', Craven Arts is run by artists.

Following an open call for submissions to the exhibition, they were inundated with applications, which were then whittled down to 18 by a panel, including Catherine Johnson from Craven District Council, and Carina Wardle from Mill Bridge Gallery in Skipton.

"Our central aim is to make art and the creative industry that exists in Craven more accessible to everyone living here," said Virpi.

" We are such a spread out community so events like these enable people to see

what artists living around them have been up to. I hope lots of people will come to support this free event – our first exhibition since launching in April."

Running alongside the exhibition will be two free talks, which will take place on December 3 and December 10. Craven College lecturer, Joan Murray, who trained at the Royal College of Art, will talk about how dance inspires her textile designs, while Bridget Tempest will talk about print and film making. Virpi, chairman of Craven Arts, will also talk about the music video she has recently made for the band, Hope and Social.

The exhibition has been supported by Craven District Council, Bowman Riley architects, North Yorkshire County Council and Mill Bridge Gallery. To find out more visit the website cravenarts.co.uk