The 2026 Open Art Competition & Selling Exhibition

Our annual open art competition is open to any artist, in any medium including (but not restricted to) painting, drawing, pastels, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics & glass. We have a separate competition for photography which was last year. Any artist from across the UK can enter, but we do have a separate prize for best entry from a local artist. We had 670 entries from across the UK last year and sold over one third of the 150 finalist entries during the 10 day exhibition.

There is no theme to adhere to. Anyone over the age of 16 can enter. All entries qualify for the main prize (any medium). Entries must be original artwork (e.g. no limited edition Giclee prints). Unlimited entries are permitted, however only one entry per artist could progress to the finals and exhibition (to increase the number of artists represented in the exhibition).