Beverley Art Gallery celebrates one of its most successful opening weekends to date for its popular Open Art Exhibition which shines a light on artworks by local artists from Yorkshire and the Humber.
Now in its 25th year, the exhibition launched on Saturday, 26 September, highlighting work by both amateur and professional artists, accompanied by live music from Phil Simpson.
It was one of the busiest Open Art launches to date, with the Gallery completely full and recording over 2,500 visits across the launch day and first week of the exhibition.
The launch was attended by participating artists, curators, the Chairman of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Councillor Linda Johnson, and her consort, Beverley Town Councillor Graham Johnson, as well as acting Chair of the Friends of Beverley Art Gallery, Jim Godfrey.
The Friends have been a tremendous help with the exhibition this year, providing generous support throughout the various stages of the exhibition and helping to make the launch such a success.
The Chairman gave a speech, during which four prizes were awarded, chosen by this year’s guest selectors, Andrew Quinn and Gill Crawshaw.
This year’s prizes included:
- First Prize: Richard Mitchell, Matlock Bath Illuminations
- Second Prize: Carmel Oliver, Off and on
- Highly Commended: Gerry Grant, Moon vase – Shades of the Earth
- Young Artist Prize: Kiki Kounavi, Narla
Visitors to the Open Art Exhibition will be able to vote on the People’s Choice Award with the winner being announced in December.
Councillor Nick Coultish, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: ‘’Beverley Art Gallery’s Open Art Exhibition shines a light on the huge variety of artistic talent in the area and we are beyond pleased that the exhibition launch has been so successful. The gallery has seen a record number of visits during their first week and we would like to thank everyone for coming along and showing their support.’’
Beverley Art Gallery Curator, Hannah Willetts, added: “It was fantastic to see so many of our artists, along with their friends and families, coming together to celebrate this year’s Open Art. There was a real buzz in the Gallery, and the fantastic turnout made it a particularly special way to mark 25 years of Open Art at Beverley Art Gallery.”
The artworks will be displayed at Beverley Art Gallery until Thursday, 17 December and visitor entry is free.
Select artworks are also available for purchase and can be collected from Champney Treasure House before Christmas.
For more information, see: Open Art Exhibition
