In the warm sunshine of a Saturday afternoon, visitors to Norwich were given the chance to browse, ponder and discover works by the art collective Articulate.

Forget the etiquette and controlled environment of a gallery, Articulate member Elizabeth Armstrong said it was time to bring art out into the open.

"Putting our work literally out into the 'market place' is quite a challenge as generally we exhibit in galleries," she said.

"To hang a show on the railings of St Peter Mancroft and in the churchyard brings us right into the unsuspecting public's eye.

Transparent sculpture with wire by Articulate

"Millennium Plain is an exhilarating venue, bounded by one of the oldest and most beautiful churches in Norwich and the sparkling reflections and glass of The Forum."

The idea of Articulate came from a group of students who were about to become graduates from the Norwich School of Art and Design.

"We'd always worked as a team in studios and we knew that once we'd graduated we'd be on our own," explained Armstrong.

"So we decided to form Articulate - an artists' syndicate - in order to collaborate on professional development, projects and exhibitions.

"We meet every couple of weeks to talk bout projects and Art On The Railings is one of those," she added.

Artist Lorraine Cook admits that displaying works on the church railings brings a new dimension to the idea of an exhibition.

"It's the first time we've done it like this and we've had lots of feedback," she said.

"When you do it in a gallery most people have an artistic background, so it's been a good experience just to have people dropping by for a chat.

Painting by Annie Hall (detail)

"Exhibiting the work in this way makes the art much more accessible as it doesn't have the stigma associated with a gallery.

"People can come up to you, or they can enjoy the work from a distance - they can treat it exactly as they want.

"It's just nice to get an honest approach from people, they've also bought works today and expressed interest in commissions," she said.

As the sunlight sparkled off the glass of The Forum and clouds scudded across an early summer sky, artist Mary-Colleen Rabb found it quite exhilarating to be showing her work in the open-air.

"A gallery is a very controlled environment," she said.

"It's exciting seeing your work like this as you get to see how you it reflects light, how it appears in the sunshine, how the cloud affects the light on it and so on.

"The unpredictability of being outdoors does, in itself, contribute to the experience. It's really exhilarating being outside, not being 'in the white cube' of a gallery and seeing everything that can possibly happen," she concluded.

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