WOAA got underway with its first exhibitions in the spring of 1973.
Music, drama and dance, film and photography, literature and art were all represented by different panels with its centre in the Gallery of the Town Hall. The panels would meet in various villages and organise exhibitions, lectures, films and live performances involving both amateur and professional talent.

Work by Michael Brockway, a skilled watercolourist were on show along with
Claerwen Holland, using a fusion of drawing with water colour
Ann Hinds, landscapes
John Birkhead, landscapes and chairman of WOAA
Margaret Ralston, (John's wife) exotically decorative panels of Eastern subjects
G.K. Horner, architectural studies
Anthony Bayes, richly coloured work

Mathew Green's Morris side, the Bampton Morris Men are seen here dancing in Sidmouth at their annual festival in 1999. Mathew is on the extreme left.

These three pictures, taken by Bob West are of Ann and Francis Shergold and brother Roy Shergold taken inside the Elephant & Castle Inn on Bridge Street in 1999 on the occasion of Francis's 80th birthday.

This is the family tree of Richard Edginton.

Names in the family tree.

Barrett Basson Bellinger

Bone Buckingham Bunce

Burchell Butler Cole

Edginton Elward Fowler

Griffiths Hewish Hibberd

Jones Jordan Knott

La Croix Loveridge McGregor

Merchant Merrick Mills

Newman Perchard Preston

Tanner Tinson Townsend

Whitlock Woodley Wraight

Local artist Mrs Sheila Brookson exhibited some of her oil paintings in the Gallery in 1980

Lendon Scantlebury and Dawn Benson exhibited in the Gallery in February 2004. Lendon showed work with brilliant colour inspired by Barbados while Dawn used textured pastels to capture the mood of the place.

"Picture books are multi-track ways of talking, using words, graphics, page design, cartoons and art as a way of telling many things simultaneously" said Michael Rosen. In this exhibition West Ox Arts brought another dimension to Korky Paul's zany posters and his riotous books. She used gouache, ink pens and crayons in her pictures. The illustrations for many books were a delight.

With a blend of puppetry, storytelling, animated sculptures, imaginative sets and wonderful music composed specially by Andrew Dodge for this production, Cornelius and Jones Original Productions produced a wonderful evening of storytelling by Neil Canham. Fine sets added to the joy of the evening of this stage version of Oscar Wilde's tale about the kind-hearted prince and his swallow friend,

A group of printmakers came together to put on a really lovely display of their work in September 2006. Artists included

Jane Peart - who has an affinity with animals
Heather Power - etched sculptural winter trees and stitched books
Morna Rhys - watercolours and drawings
Gill Salway - thick card to impress or emboss her plates
Toni Clarke - water with sugar etchings
Esther Hepworth - 100 years of family photographs from a precious family shoebox

A distinctive collection of contemporary pottery was on show in April 2006 under the appropriate titel 'Pots' and included work from ten artists under the watchful eye of Sue Rangeley. Some of the artists included

Mark Dally
Graham Hudson
Jane Hanson
Kevin de Choisy
Gilles Le Corre
John Jelfs