Following its hugely successful inaugural year, C-Art, Cumbria's biggest visual arts event will see 134 galleries, artists and designers taking part this year to promote the very best visual arts, design and craft to be found across the county.

Following its hugely successful inaugural year, C-Art, Cumbria’s biggest visual arts event will see 134 galleries, artists and designers taking part this year to promote the very best visual arts, design and craft to be found across the county.

Building on the 2011 event, which saw 8,000 studio visits generating �57,000 of sales, C-Art 2012 brings together more of the best Cumbrian visual and applied arts in another two-week event. The dedicated website www.c-art.org.uk features studios and galleries opening their doors during the two-week period from 1-16 September, alongside a programme of special events and workshops. It also features a definitive year-round directory of 172 art, craft and design practitioners across the county who are not able to take part in the trail.

Adrian Lochhead, Director of Eden Arts said ‘C-Art went amazingly well last year; the number of artists taking part across the county and the public’s response was absolutely fantastic. The nomination for the Cumbria Tourism award for event of the year was a great recognition for C-Art and its participants. We are really looking forward to the event this year.’

A full colour catalogue is being produced to accompany the website, which will be available from cultural venues and tourist attractions across the region over the summer, and is available for pre-order from the C-Art website at www.c-art.org.uk

This year's C-Art is supported by Cumbria Life magazine as media partner. Editor Richard Eccles said: "Cumbria Life is a great supporter of the arts in Cumbria, and we regularly feature visual artists in our Cumbria Culture pages, so we are delighted to support this exciting open studios event in its second year and hope we can help it continue to go from strength to strength."

The event is being additionally sponsored by H&H Reeds Printers of Penrith.

Alongside the open studios trail and events programme in September, Tullie House Musuem and Art Gallery will be hosting a specially selected exhibition of visual art, craft and design work by C-Art members from 15 December – 24 February 2012.

‘C-Art is a great platform for artists in the region to open their doors and welcome in the public to see how they work. For me to be able to return to this county for C-Art with its great landscapes and communities is very important. It is a place which has made an impact on the work I now make and will make in the future.’ Comments participating artist Sarah Tew.

A Cumbrian born artist based in London, 25 year old Sarah has exhibited widely since graduating from Byam Shaw School of Art in 2009, and is represented by La Scatola Gallery in London. Sarah will be returning to her roots for this years’ C-Art event, which runs from 1- 16 September.

‘I immerse myself in abstract and figurative painting; I may find myself in one moment with paint up my nose, then in the next meticulously drawing a nose. I often document actions which strip bare the artists processes and ideas through photography, painting and performance.’ Explains Sarah.

For more information on Sarah and the other 133 participants, including venues, dates and times, visit the website at www.c-art.org.uk to plan your visit.

Catalogues for this year’s event will be available from targeted cultural and tourist venues across Cumbria, and available for pre-order via the C-Art website at www.c-art.org.uk. Keep up to date with all the latest news and information via twitter @eden_arts #CART12