OPEN EXHIBITIONS 2026 REMINDER #1: (Mall Galleries Jan - June 2026)

This is my 2026 List of summaries of ALL the current Calls for Entries for Open Exhibitions by the National Art Societies in the UK and Ireland published to date.

#1 TODAY: I'm publishing the first half of the list - about the national art societies based at the Mall Galleries who have exhibitions in the period January - June 2025.

#2 TOMORROW: I'll publish the second half of my list - of other FBA and national art societies and major art competitions.

# SUNDAY: I'll summarise the key things OPEN ARTISTS need to know regarding 

• why open artists can sell well if selected for open exhibitions
• what they need to know to do so

Calls for Entries by FBA Societies

TIP: Being exhibited in an important national exhibition is an excellent way of marketing yourself and your art.

I've seen a lot of amateur artists develop into professional artists and become officers - and even Presidents - of leading national art societies in the 20 years that I've been writing this blog.

 
Below are SUMMARIES of various Calls for Entries by Annual Exhibitions by the national art societies which are members of the Federation of British Artists.

• They are all holding exhibitions in the period January - June 2026
• Their exhibitions are all held at the Mall Galleries
• This is the page where you can find all the Open Calls for Entries

(Note: Tomorrow's post highlights the other FBA Art Societies and other national art societies. Not all who hold exhibitions at the Mall Galleries are members of the FBA.)

My summaries are NEVER ever a substitute for you taking your time to read ALL the Terms and Conditions of Entries very carefully. I've provided links to where you can read these below. REMEMBER!

• You can get selected and then not hung if you mess up.
• I recommend you remember to pay particular attention to framing / presentation for exhibition
• delivering artwork; and
• VAT before entering or pricing. (see note at end)

Royal Society of British Artists

Note - this one closes tomorrow at NOON!

• Website: https://www.therba.org/
• Call for Entries: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/open-calls/royal-society-british-artists
• Deadline for Entries: Friday 9 January 2026 (that's TOMORROW)
• Exhibition: 26 February - 7 March 2026
• Venue: Mall Galleries

You can read my blog post Open Call for Entries: Royal Society of British Artists - Annual Exhibition 2026

Call for Entries: Society of Women Artists 164th Annual Exhibition (2025)

This is about the call for entries for the Annual Open Exhibition 2025 of the Society of Women Artists (SWA).  

The SWA seeks works of the highest standard within its specific field. The SWA continues to promote female artists and prides itself on the very diverse nature of the work shown during our Annual Open Exhibition from both our non-members and our members.

Below you can find a summary of how to enter and relevant terms and conditions - although you do need to read the complete set of details.

All the images below are from the Annual Exhibition in 2024.

SWA Annual Exhibition: Call for Entries

The Society of Women Artists exhibits at the Mall Galleries on an annual basis (although not a member of the Federation of the British Artists).  This year the exhibition will be held there between 24th June to 28th June 2025 (5 days ONLY).

The DEADLINE for entries is 8th March 2025. If you enter, you can find out whether you have been successful if you visit the SWA website on or after the 29th March 2025.

In this post you can find:

• details of the exhibition
• who is eligible to enter
• what types of artwork are eligible
• how to enter 

but, first, why enter this exhibition?

Why enter the SWA Annual Exhibition?

East Gallery, SWA Annual Exhibition 2024

The Society of Women Artists have been on an important journey of improvement in recent years. It's one which can provide lessons for other art societies - in a variety of ways.

In general the artwork has improved over time and the number of younger artists now exhibiting with the Society has improved.

There's also a keen sense of the exhibition being a place where women artists can exhibit work on themes with meaning to women - which might get overlooked by panels where men make up the majority of the members.

OPEN EXHIBITION 2025 REMINDER #1: (Mall Galleries)

I'm publishing a list of summaries of ALL the current Calls for Entries for Open Exhibitions by the National Art Societies in the UK and Ireland which have been published to date.

#1 TODAY: I'm publishing the first half of the list - about the national art societies based at the Mall Galleries who have exhibitions in the period January - June 2025.

#2 TOMORROW: I'm going to show you how well non members do at selling artwork at some of the Mall Galleries exhibitions IF:

1. they get selected
2. they price their work correctly
3. You may be very surprised! I'll be speculating on the reasons why....

#3 TUESDAY: I'll publish the second half of my list - of other national art societies and major art competitions.

Calls for Entries by FBA Societies 

Being exhibited in an important national exhibition is an excellent way of marketing yourself and your art. I've seen a lot of amateur artists develop into professional artists and become officers of leading national art societies in the nearly 20 years that I've been writing this blog. 

However, I've been remiss about writing Calls for Entries posts of late - so this is by way of making up for this.

Below are SUMMARIES of various Calls for Entries by Annual Exhibitions by all the national art societies which are members of the Federation of British Artists. 

• Their exhibitions are all held at the Mall Galleries 
• They are all holding exhibitions in the period January - June 2025
• This is the page where you can find all the Open Calls for Entries 

(Note: not all who hold exhibitions at the Mall Galleries are members of the FBA)

My summaries are NEVER a substitute for you reading ALL the Terms and Conditions of Entries very carefully. I've provided links to where you can read these below.

• You can get selected and then not hung if you mess up. 
• Pay particular attention to 
• delivering artwork and its presentation for exhibition and 
• VAT before entering or pricing. (see note at end)

Royal Society of British Artists

Royal Society of British Artists
 Open Call for Entries - Annual Exhibition 2025

• Website: https://www.therba.org/
• Call for Entries: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/open-calls/royal-society-british-artists
• Deadline for Entries: Wednesday 8 January 2025
• Exhibition: 26 February - 8 March 2025
• Venue: Mall Galleries
• Who can enter: Any artist aged 18 or over may enter, from anywhere in the world.
• What can you enter:  
• Painting, sculpture, drawing and original prints.
• nothing larger than 2.4m (longest dimension)
• all work must be for sale
• NOT previously exhibited in London
• original creation of the artist
• Pricing: 
• minimum price of £300 
• Prints only – framed £180, unframed £120
• 45% commission + VAT charged on all sales
• Entry Fee: 
• non-refundable submission fee of £20 per work 
• £14 per work for any artists aged 35 or under

Reasons to enter:

• lots of prizes - many of which are awarded to open artists
• RBA has a strong commitment to favouring the development of young artists

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours | 213th Exhibition 2025

Does AI mean Open Exhibitions / Art Competitions need to rethink digital entries?

Last week I reshared a post on Facebook (see below) which highlighted how many images are now created using "artificial intelligence" aka AI. 

It occurred to me that ALL those organising open exhibitions and/or art competitions MUST now to factor the proliferation of AI into 

• the calls for entries
• the rules and regulations
• the submission process
• the vetting process
• the judging process
• plus briefings on legal decisions for all those in charge

It simply will NOT be acceptable for all entries to be judged on digital images - only to find that a selected entry is a digital print when it arrives for exhibition.

Below I remind organisers of open exhibitions by art societies and art competitions of things they need to think about

• starting with a very salutary lesson in what happens when you get it wrong - see The AWS Gold Medal Controversy (2008-2010)
• a reminder about normal challenges for organisers in relation to copyright
• some initial thoughts on the implications for art competitions and open exhibitions - by way of a checklist!

The AWS Gold Medal Controversy

Unfortunately, the Gold Medal winning painting in the 2008 exhibition, “Impermanence” by Sheryl Luxenburg has generated a huge volume of controversy. In question are the ownership of the image, the originality of the piece and even the authenticity of the medium. Many have questioned the American Watercolor Society's position on this problem and wondered in their communications to us whether our society is taking these questions seriously. Statement in 2008 by the AWS

Should anybody need reminding - here's the link to my post about the debacle at the American Watercolour Society about an "artwork" which won a Gold Medal . 

Was the gold medal winning painting at the centre of the American Watercolor Society controversy actually painted - or was it a giclee print?

See below for links to posts in September 2008 about the AWS Gold medal controversy - in reverse order of posting

Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters - Annual Exhibition 2023

The Annual Exhibition 2023 of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters continues at the Mall Galleries until 16th December - and this is my review of it.

This review is going to focus on:

• The overall "look" and content of the exhibition - what I noticed about what had changed
• Paintings which jumped out at me - in a good way!
• Observations on framing and pricing

East Gallery + Private View

I've paid two visits to the exhibition. The first to the Private View when it was great to see a lot of artists I've not seen in a very long time. The second was last Friday when I got the chance to actually take photographs of the artwork in the three galleries without huge numbers of people in front of them!

I've loaded my photographs into three albums on my Making A Mark Facebook Page:

• ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - West Gallery (57 items)
• ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - East Gallery (21 items)
• ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - North Gallery (16 items)

Unfortunately, Facebook appears to be suffering from malfunctions this week, as I'm unable to annotate all the images in the West Gallery album (as yet). 

I've tried to include all the various prizewinners - which you can read more about in this Mall Galleries post about Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2023 | Award Winners

This review is late in being published because I'm currently in the process of personal priorities related to dealing with matters related to my late Mother's Estate.

Look and Content

I've looked back at past ROI Exhibitions before making the comments below. As always it was well hung. 

Size of paintings

To me, it seems as if the exhibition lacks the number of large feature paintings - which draw attention and anchor a wall - as it normally has. 

I think the current economic context may have influenced artists to submit smaller work in the hope that it sells.

In doing so, they would be following the very well trodden path that I saw in very many exhibitions post between 2008 and 2010 during the banking crisis. 

Once you know that larger more expensive paintings are simply not selling, there's a considerable incentive to reduce your expenses in terms of shipping and framing and submit the size of works which might suit buyers pocketbooks better.

EXCEPT this then means the exhibition loses impact.

If I may be so bold as to suggest, I'd like to see all member artists sending in at least one large painting and then the rest can be any size they like. Large paintings are there to capture attention and make the viewer appreciate the expertise involved. They also help create a positive impresssion with visitors - so long as the paintings are good.

Colour

The paintings also lack colour to some extent. There's a lot of dark / grey / muted / neutral paintings. Looked at one their own - by one artist - this is not an issue. Looked at in a large exhibition, it begins to be noticeable. However I did feel the North Gallery was rather muted this year.

ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - North Gallery

Take as another example the end wall in the West Gallery - devoted to the theme of Urban Life. 

Quite a subdued neutral wall - only the vegetation stands out!

I came away on the Friday feeling a little wintery and underwhelmed. Which is not to say that there's not a lot of excellent paintings in this exhibition.  

The Paintings which jumped out at me

Given the above comments I've decided to focus on some of the paintings which jumped out at me - in a nice way!

I typically walk around an exhibition about three times. 

• first time round, I'm just looking at the art and not at the labels (who painted it etc.) or whether it's won a prize - just looking to get a general impression and see what jumps out at me
• second time round, I'm looking to see if the things which appealed the first time still appeal - and this time I look at the labels and pay particular attention to who painted them
• third time I'm collecting data on who has sold - and for how much!

So here's my top 10 - in no particular order

That said, I thought this was by far the best painting in the show. I'm not normally a fan of hyperrealistic artwork but there's such a lot to admire in this one. I was really surprised to see that it had not won a prize - particularly given the emerging status of the artist.

How to apply to become an associate member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers

For all those printmakers who think they might be ready to move up a stage - and want to add RE after their names.

This post covers

• a very brief history of the Society
• how to apply to become an associate member (ARE) of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers - which is the first step on the pathway to becoming a full member (RE).
• what happens if you are elected an Associate Member 

A brief history of The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers

The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers is a very old art society.

• formed in 1880 - as a reaction to the Royal Academy of Arts' reluctance to exhibit etchings and engravings (ironic considering the contemporary popularity of printmaking at the RA Summer Exhibition!)
• 1888: received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria and became and became the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers
• 1911: full members began using RE after their names
• 1991 changed its name - having formerly been known as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers - hence the RE acronym.
• It is the foremost society for all printmakers
• Printmaking methods included within the scope of the society:
• 1897: Engraving
• 1920: wood engraving
• 1987: lithography
• 1990: all forms of creative and forward-thinking original printmaking
• eminent past members have included Graham Sutherland, Stanley William Hayter, Edward Bawden, Julian Trevelyan and Michael Rothenstein.

Since its inception, every member has had one piece of work selected, providing a snapshot of the artist's portfolio at the moment of his or her election.

If elected as a full member, your name and the title of your chosen ‘RE Diploma Print’ are entered in a Roll-Book whose entries arch back to 1880.

The Society shares its home at Bankside Gallery, in London, with the Royal Watercolour Society in an association that has lasted more than a hundred years.  Each year there are various opportunities to exhibit:

• RE Members are invited to submit two works for inclusion in the Society’s major annual exhibition at Bankside Gallery 
• there are a number of opportunities to show in joint exhibitions at Bankside Gallery and elsewhere.

Demonstrations and lectures are held as part of the education programme accompanying exhibitions, fulfilling the Society’s status as an educational charity. The RE is run by its Members, all of whom are expected to take an active role in furthering the interests of the Society.

Applications for the Election of Associate Members in 2024

The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) was formed in 1880 to seek recognition for and to promote the value of printmaking as an art in its own right. Membership is open to artist-printmakers of the highest order. To this day it continues to promote original printmaking in all its forms, widen the knowledge and understanding of printmaking as a process, whilst also providing its members with artistic opportunities.

This is the Applications Page on the RE website

This is the ONLINE FORM you need to submit to apply for election as an Associate Member

You can Download the 2024 application guidelines (PDF). Links to online guidance pages are included below 

Timeline for applications and selection:

• Deadline for receipt of applications: Monday 27 November 2023 12 noon
• Notification of Shortlisted Artists: Friday 22 December 2023
• Deadline for submission of actual prints by shortlisted artists: Saturday 3 February 2024, 11am - 6pm (see Information for Shortlisted Candidates - which also outlines the provisions for all Overseas Artists)
• Collection of prints: (see details about collection)
• Sunday 4 February, 4 - 6pm & 
• Monday 5 February 11am – 1pm 
• Results are sent by email by end of Monday 5 February.

TIP Read the Terms of Election and Guidance very carefully and always aim to create a good first impression. THINK CAREFULLY about 

• whether you are ready to apply this year 
• or whether it might be better to spend the next year gathering together all you need for a good quality application which reflects your suitability for election in 2025.

Who is eligible to apply

FBA Calls for Entries could be improved and a lot simpler

I think the FBA Method of communicating Calls for Entries needs a rethink and revamp.

The method currently used for 

• communicating Calls for Entries 
• for the Annual Open Exhibitions of Societies 
• belonging to the Federation of British Artists (FBA) 
• needs, in my opinion, a complete rethink 
• to improve communication with artists and generate more entries.

I've made a point of writing "calls for entries" posts for all FBA societies each year - for very many years - because of the issues I know arise with:

• artists not understanding what they need to do
• artists locating part of the information - but not all of it
• artists not having one document they can print off and read at their leisure 
• and/or use as a practical fail safe checklist when submitting their entry

I'm currently writing a post about the Call for Entries for the 2023 Annual Open Exhibition by the NEW English Art Club - which is very popular. 

To do so I'm having to refer to three seperate websites - which all say things slightly differently - with some of the really important information buried on another website.

This is because:

• The art society "owns" the exhibition and is responsible for selection. Plus promotes the exhibition on its own website.
• The FBA and its commercial arm - the Mall Galleries - are responsible for:
• the legal contract around the call for entries and making sure everything is done properly
• has a Call for Entries Page - which does NOT provide 
• either all the "need to know how" information on one page 
• or in one document
• processing the administrative aspects
• receiving the artwork
• hanging the exhibition
• processing sales
• making sure unsold work gets collected
• The FBA / Mall Galleries also contract out the digital submission side of the FBA Call for Entries to OESS - which is the third website

To be perfectly honest, I go round and round in circles trying to work out whether all the website sites say the same thing - and trying to make sure I've not missed anything.

Mostly it stays pretty much the same from year to year - but changes do occur - BUT ARE NEVER HIGHLIGHTED i.e. there is no "what's different this year" - which is one of the things I try to highlight.

PLUS Links to really critical bits of information can be very easily missed i.e. 

• way down the page - often near the bottom
• links are NOT highlighted or capitalised or bolded in any way.

I don't think this is good enough. I think it could be done much better. 

My challenge to the FBA is to have a think about how they can make the Calls for Entries better for artists for the benefit of all concerned.

The Bottom Line

I do NOT understand why the ALL the "Call for Entries" information is not made available in 

• ONE DIGITAL / DOWNLOADABLE DOCUMENT
• which is identical AND available and PROMINENT on all three websites i.e.
• NEAC - as sponsor of the exhibition
• FBA/Mall Galleries - as organisers of the administration and hangers and host of the exhibition
• OESS - contracted to process the digital entries and notify artists about outcomes
• Incorporating a complete 'failsafe' checklist for artists to use as they prepare their submission
• Plus the roles of ALL relevant agencies - and who to contact about what - spelt out very simply and clearly in the digital document.

In my opinion there's 

• just far TOO MUCH legalese and rolling over of longwinded documents - without a proper review of whether this form of communication is working effectively (i.e. the documents rarely change much - and yet could be constructed much better) and 
• far TOO LITTLE consideration given to the fact that a significant number of artists are dyslexic and/or struggle with 
• written documents 
• small print 
• very pale links to very important information.

I'd very much like to see 

• A RADICAL OVERHAUL OF CALLS FOR ENTRIES
• to deliver one coherent, consistent document - reviewed and updated every year
• which is easily accessible by all artists 
• as one document - on all relevant sites.

Is that too much to ask?  

Anybody else think this has got to be an improvement on the current process?

Open Exhibition: Submission & Selection

Open Exhibition Submission & Selection (OESS) is the organisation behind a platform now used by a lot of art societies, national art organisations and some art galleries to provide a digital platform for the administrative process behind digital submissions to open exhibitions and art competitions.

If you see a call for entry with "oess.org.uk/" in the URL, it uses this platform.

This is the OESS  organisational Home Page https://oess.org.uk/ for a website which has two sides:

• one for the organisations - to create calls for entries
• one for the artists to submit artwork to open exhibitions

Below I look at what each side does in more detail

What's very refreshing about the whole setup is it's been developed and is managed by artists for artists. In other words, people who know what the challenges and frustrations of both running and curating open exhibitions and entering them! No wonder it has grown so fast in the last decade plus!

The OESS is hosted and managed by Interactive Technology Ltd.

Managing the OESS and OLIST for artists, art galleries and arts institutions in the UK and abroad.

 

Home Page of the Website

The OLIST - for artists

This is The OLIST.  You can view The OLIST irrespective of whether or not you have registered.

An example of the listings on the OLIST

Essentially the OLIST connects artists with UK 'Calls to Artists' and other UK arts opportunities. It provides a continuous listing of calls for entries - listed in order of the deadline for the call for entry

You can view the OLIST whether or not you have registered

However if artists register, the OLIST provides them with

• monthly updates of the listing of all calls for entries registered on its system
• reminders of when calls are due to close - with additional 7 days and 48 hours to go reminders too
• dedicated help and support if applying for exhibitions on the OESS system

How do open exhibitions get on the system?

Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

This exhibition is on for longer than most of the annual exhibitions of the art societies based at the Mall Galleries. The Annual Exhibition 2022 of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters opened at the Mall Galleries on 24th November and closes on 10th December.

This is a review of what I found when I visited in the first week. I've previously written about the prizewinners in Prizewinners at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

Annual Exhibition 2022

This exhibition comprises 285 paintings which are hung in the three galleries at the Mall Galleries. (This compares to 304 in 2019 which was the last ROI exhibition I went to and is the second lowest total since 2014)

The first thing is that I've uploaded my photos of the exhibition to my Facebook Page - by gallery - as follows:

• West Gallery
• East Gallery
• North Gallery
  

Part of the hang in the East Gallery

Part of the West Gallery

I've highlighted paintings I liked and/or was intrigued by through photographs of the  individual paintings.

You will appreciate that I've reviewed such exhibitions many times - although I've missed the last two ROI Annual Exhibitions due the pandemic and shielding prior to surgery. (I got as far as the hospital a year ago today - before being sent home again!)

So I'm splitting this review into two halves

• what I noticed
• what I liked.

It's always interesting to do a review a little while after a visit to see if you still think the same as what you noted at the time.....

What I noticed

Themes for my commentary are as follows

• Groups of artworks by members
• Changing Times (Theme)
• Young Artists
• Small = Affordable?
• Framing
• Media
• Sales

Groups of artworks by Members

I liked the grouping of artwork by members with very distinctive styles. It makes for a more impactful presentation.

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022 & Events

This week the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters opens to the public at the Mall Galleries on Thursday, 24th November 2022. 

I haven't been to one since 2019 - so am really looking forward to going this year. This is after the ROI experienced the worst luck possible of having both its 2020 and 2021 exhibitions clobbered by you know what - plus I was avoiding exhibitions pre-surgery last year.

That said, I'm still not attending Private Views (I'm still averse to large crowds indoors), so I'm not going to be visiting until Friday at the earliest so thought I'd take the opportunity today to highlight below

• the Online Exhibition - which you can view now
• the many Events - including painting with the ROI members - being held during the Exhibition

ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

Venue: Mall Galleries
Dates: 24 November 2022 to 10 December 2022
Hours: 10am to 5pm
Admission: £5, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries, ROI Friends, under 25s. Concessions available. No booking required.

ROI Online Exhibition

You can view the ROI Online Exhibition of all the artwork selected for the exhibition in 2022 on the Mall Galleries website.

You can also view the ROI Catalogue on ISSUU. This includes images of artwork by members and the complete listing of all the artworks and artists - with media and prices - in the exhibition

Landscape paintings by members of the ROI in the Exhibition Catalogue 2022
(Left clockwise: Andrew King, Julia Hawkins, Tom Stevenson; Right: Nicholas Verrall)

It was very sad to see from the catalogue that the ROI has lost five members in the last year - in alphabetical order

• Brian Bennett ROI
• Fred Cuming RA NEAC Hon RGA Hon ROI (1930-2022)
• Derek Daniels AROI (1912-2022)
• Neville Fleetwood (1932-2021)
• Ken Howard OBE Hon RBA PPNEAC RA ROI (1932-2022)

ROI Events at the Annual Exhibition 2022

Some of these events involve painting and hence require some planning ahead of time - so best to highlight BEFORE the exhibition!

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters invite entries to the OPEN Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in November 2022. The deadline for entries is Friday 9th September 2022 so you've still got time to be get organised and get your entry in. 

This year’s theme is ‘Changing Times’, which can be interpreted widely. 

The last Private View of the ROI I went to - in 2018

I always like to give people a point of reference for entries in terms of images of the last exhibition

So I've spent this morning looking for my photos of last years exhibition - only to realise that the ROI has been really, really unlucky in that its annual exhibition is held late in the year and got caught by pandemic scares / lockdowns in both 2020 and 2021. I was being very cautious well before lockdowns, so I've not seen an ROI Exhibition since 2019!

However there is a video tour of the 2021 exhibition - which was hung - and the catalogue is available on Issuu

and a video of the 2020 exhibition - which is an hour and half long - see below

Peter Graham ROI talks about eighty of the works in this year’s show, including paintings by long-established ROI members as well as pieces by non-member artists selected from open submission.

Call for Entries - ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

You can find the official and FULL Call for Entries here on

• the Mall Galleries website
• the ROI website

Below is as a summary ONLY.

Interestingly I note the new website indicates on its home page that

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters was founded in 1882 and is the only major British art Society that promotes and exhibits work of the highest standard exclusively in oil paint.

However I note that the Call for Entries still states "Acrylic and water-soluble oil paint is acceptable if framed as an oil, so as not to spoil the general appearance of the exhibition." so I think maybe somebody needs to review the use of the word 'exclusively' on the ROI website.

Who can enter

• The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18.
• It is also open to international entries - you don't even have to be live or work in the UK. However International Artists need to make sure they read the Mall galleries/FBA Notice notice about the need to register for VAT to get your artwork through Customs and into the UK! You might also find my page about International Art Shipping: How to ship / export art to other countries useful.

What sort of artwork can you enter

• Eligible media includes: oil. Acrylic paint or water based oils are eligible if framed like an oil painting. Below is a table I constructed from reviewing the works selected for hanging in previous exhibitions. Over 90% of artwork has been in oil in the last six hing exhibitions between 2014-2019.

Number and percentage of works - by medium - in the ROI Annual Exhibitions 2014-2019

• Size: The combined measurement of works accepted will not exceed 8 feet maximum per artist
• Age: Work must have been completed within the last three years 
• Previous Exhibitions: it must not have been previously shown at Mall Galleries.
• In terms of presentation there are some very specific guidelines 
• Wide mounts between painting and frame, as in watercolours, are not acceptable.
• Glazed work is not encouraged.
• Unframed work can be accepted if on a well-presented box canvas.
• For sale: Work MUST be for sale
• the minimum sale price is £300. 
• Note that any prices must allow for the deduction of commission @45% plus VAT %20% on the commission sum - so for a work priced at £500 you will receive £230 after the deduction of commission (£225) plus VAT on commission (£45). The price also needs to cover the cost of the frame and shipping (there and back if unsold). 

This year’s theme is ‘Changing Times’, which can be interpreted widely. Artists are encouraged to contribute a work on the theme, however it is not compulsory. If a work is on the theme, please elaborate on how in the artwork description box.

How to enter

All work must be submitted online - and pre-selection also takes place online.

If you make it through the pre-selection from digital images, you're then invited to take/send your artwork to the Mall Galleries for final selection for hanging in the exhibition - in front of a panel of ROI members.

This is the process you need to follow:

Online Exhibition by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators

If you've ever considered moving on from an interest in drawing and painting animals to becoming a Natural Science Illustrator, you may well be interested to view the Online Exhibition of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.

It coincides with their 2022 Virtual Annual Conference which has finished the Core Conference - with workshops to come on 20–21 & 27–28, 2022.

2022 Juried Members' Exhibition by GNSI Artists

You can view the Online Exhibition here

How to assess entries for an open art society exhibition (Part 2) - marking artwork

Today's Part 2 of my focus on assessing entries for an open art society exhibition is going to focus on a method I've devised for giving every entry in an open exhibition a specific mark.

Yesterday I wrote about How to assess entries for an open art society exhibition (Part 1) which focused on the increased use of digital selection following the introduction of digital submissions and, in particular, the pandemic

The rationale behind a marking system

I have 100 marks to award to each of a very considerable number of artworks. 

The challenge for me is to 

• make the allocation of marks make sense to me 
• try and achieve consistency across all entries during the time required to mark each one
• ensure the marking is fair i.e. that each and every artwork ends up being ranked "correctly" in terms of my views of the relative merits of the different artworks

So how best to do this? 

My marking system

How to assess entries for an open art society exhibition (Part 1)

I think very many people might be surprised by how entries for an art exhibition get assessed by most art societies. 

I've written on this topic before in The agony and the ecstasy of art competition judging - which comments on the time involved in reviewing and judging 15,000 entries for the RA Summer Exhibition

This post comments on how the pandemic has influenced how artwork now gets judged.

How entries for open art exhibitions get assessed

In person versus digital

Traditionally, the practice has been to convene a selection panel which sits in a room as handlers bring artwork past. The speed with which the artwork moves depends on how many entries have been received and how much time has been allocated to the selection process. Bottom line it's not long.

Then we began to have digital entry - and selection of entries started to have a digital element to the process. Often with the "first cut" being done via digital assessment of the images submitted by artists, and then final assessment being made by a panel from the "longlist".

During the pandemic, efforts were made to keep annual exhibitions going and many switched to selection being wholly digital and online - and virtual exhibitions.

Interesting aspects of digital selection is that 

• Selectors will assess much more on the basis of what they as individuals think 
• "groupthink" is instantly eliminated (assuming no discussion between selectors). 
• Selectors will spend the amount of time they think they need to spend on selection. It's unlikely to be identical and there may be extremes.

A big benefit of digital selection is that

• it cuts expenses for art societies dramatically - given there is no need to reimburse people for travel to get to places where artwork is being judged. These expenses can be significant for national art societies and can be a welcome saving.
• once experienced, you need to come up with a very good reason to go back to being in front of the art to sift out the "no hopers" and "not quite good enough"

HOWEVER The main problems with digital assessment are:

• people who don't read instructions and submit images which are too small. They're an automatic "fail" in my book as I can't assess an image which is too small.
• people who digitally manipulate their images to make them look better than they are in reality. This typically affects colour and/or tone. It is possible to detect images where this has happened. Or at least I know how.... ;)
• It's really difficult to get a sense of the size of the work. I have to make an effort to check dimensions when assessing. Anybody who fails to provide dimensions end up leaning towards a a fail for me.

Sift and sort or mark and grade?

Then there's the issue of how much effort you put into decision-making

NEAC Annual Exhibition 2022 opens tomorrow

The Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club (NEAC) opens to the public tomorrow at the Mall Galleries in London.

It's open 

• from Thursday 23rd June to Saturday 9th July 
• Hours are from 10am to 5pm every day, except the last when it closes at 2pm.

You can also view the exhibition online

• on the Mall Galleries website - sales are ONLY handled via this link if purchasing online
• on the NEAC website

a snapshot of artwork available to view on the NEAC website

You can also order an Exhibition Catalogue. The catalogue used to be available online via Issuu - but I can't find a link to a copy of the 2022 catalogue.

There are five FREE events taking place during the exhibition (access via exhibition ticket). You can find details of events on the events listings:

• here on the NEAC website - and 
• here on the Mall Galleries website

They include

• The Magic of Drawing with Neil Pittaway NEAC
• Action: The Art of Painting the Moving Figure with Toby Ward NEAC
• Designing and Painting a Portrait Sketch in Oils with Andrew James NEAC RP
• The Perception of Narratives with Robert E. Wells NEAC RBA
• The Process of Sketchbooks with Robert E. Wells NEAC RBA

Acrylic Painting, Art Societies and Education

There are huge numbers of artists across the world who paint in acrylic. Many of whom can do absolutely fantastic things with what I regard as a medium that presents a number of problems for working practices and can be difficult to master.

tubes of professional acrylic paints

What I find very odd is the apparent fact that 

• so MANY acrylic painters appear to want to be seen as painters in traditional media rather than a distinctive and different non-traditional medium.
• so FEW acrylic painters are concerned about promoting knowledge, education and best practice in the use of acrylic for artworks.

Maybe the latter can only be achieved if and when

• acrylic painters start owning their media and 
• stop pretending to be something else?

The acrylic painter with various hats

At present:

• Acrylic paintings have become a major presence on the walls of exhibitions by art societies which used to be focused on the use of traditional watercolour paints (i.e. ones used for centuries).
• While other acrylic painters appear to want to pass themselves off as painters in oils - because oil paintings are better regarded and typically sell for more money!

What is the problem about being open about the fact the media is acrylic - and that what it can do should be celebrated not hidden?

For a long time, I assumed what I have tended to regard as a bit of a 'masquerade' was because acrylic used to have a very bad reputation in the relatively past. 

This was back in the days when 

• lack of knowledge about how it works and 
• lack of skill in use of acrylic painting
• RESULTED in a number of acrylic paintings cracking, peeling and flaking after a few years.

The behavior of acrylics as a painting medium and their physical and chemical properties are different from oil paint which warrants distinct guidelines for acrylic paintings' care. Some traditional conservation methods can be harmful to the acrylic paintings. The aging characteristics of acrylic paintings are just beginning to be understood. At present, preventative care seems to be the best care for acrylic paintings.

Care of Acrylic Paintings | Smithsonian 

See also 

• Conservation Concerns for Acrylic Emulsion Paints: A Literature Review | Tate Papers

In general, very few studies of the conservation of acrylic emulsion paintings have been published. Instead, concerns tend to be communicated through informal discussion.

However, of late I've begun to wonder:

• why we've not yet seen any change and 
• why acrylics are now the ONLY art medium lacking a major and well recognised art society dedicated to its use. 

Art societies help educate artists 

To me, one of the benefits of an art society which embraces a particular medium is that it can also 

• educate and promote good practices in the use of a media
•  through associated educational and charitable activities.

To not have a leading art society doing this for acrylics is, to me, very odd. Even odder, when you think that many artists are also art teachers.....

Acrylic Art Societies

There are of course existing art societies which focus on acrylics. However, none have the same status as the older art societies associated with oil or watercolour. 

As a result, in the UK we have acrylic crossing the oil and watercolour divide - and sometimes forgetting that 

• those on the water side should NOT look like oils and 
• those on the oil side should NOT look like watercolours.

Maybe it's a question of acrylic painters needing to achieve a much higher profile - in terms of an art society with a very clear focus and its own membership and exhibitions?

It's always interesting to see an art society which is explicit about the fact it includes work in oils and acrylic paints.

 

Below is a list of art societies which are EXPLICIT about their use of Acrylic Paint.
Some of the history of how they came about is also highlighted in extract quotations from websites - and current places you can find them online.

LINKS to their websites are embedded in their names.

How Art Societies can use Zoom

Is your art society running its AGM on Zoom. If not why not?

Does your Art Society deliver any online demonstrations / webinars / critiques online?

One of the aspects of art societies which has always struck me as being rather unsatisfactory is the way that those societies which cover large land areas (i.e. NOT the local painting group) have had a habit in the past of holding their Annual General Meetings at a date, time and place which suits those running the society - but is often not one which suits most of its members - particularly those who have to travel long distances to attend.

I remember well attending AGMs at 3.30pm on a Sunday afternoon, when I'd driven halfway across the country to attend - and had to drive back and go to work the next day! I was not impressed with the amount of thought and consideration given to the membership at large.

As a result, an AGM can often generate the following results

• poor attendance (as a percentage of its total membership)
• an unexciting agenda i.e. no thinking or discussion about what the society should be doing / how it might change / what it could do in the future
• elects the same people again to do the same jobs.

Should we be surprised? 

Probably not. It's exactly the same way as many companies and organisations have conducted their AGMs for decades - if not centuries!

However one of the benefits of the pandemic is that it's provided a new way of doing things.

I looked online - and found a number of examples of art societies who moved online for regular meetings and/or their AGM. Mostly these were societies who had taken to using Zoom for other aspects of their continuing activities during the pandemic eg talks to members and/or critiques.

The ZOOM AGM held by the
Frimley and Camberley Society of Arts
February 2022

Once again Coronavirus, this time in the form of the new Omicron variant, meant that the AGM has had to be held via Zoom. There were relatively few members able to attend in this way but members will receive this in their Newsletter via email.

A decade or more ago, the issue would be about whether you could use email for routine communication with members. 

Now email is routine and the next challenge is getting members to sign up to Zoom!

How Zoom can move organisational change up a gear.

The advantages of thinking about using Zoom as one option for AGMs is that use of Zoom can:

• promote increased interactive involvement and attendance by a wider membership - when travel is an issue. That means more people have scope to be engaged with and contribute to the ongoing wellbeing and development of the art society
• eliminate boring and longwinded speeches
• make organisers think more about agendas and who will speak 
• develop time management skills amongst organisers and those attending - given the 'free option' comes with limits on who can attend and how long meetings can be (i.e. for 3 to 100 participants, Zoom meetings are limited to 40 minutes)
• make art societies think about the paid option - thus allowing them to have meetings of unlimited length for a variety of purposes all year round. The cost of a paid licence at Basic level (£119.90 per year in the UK) can be cheaper than the hire of a hall for an AGM!
• reduce greatly the travel expenses paid to core members who must be at the meeting - and who get their travel expenses paid.

Of course, Zoom won't suit everybody - especially those who refuse to engage with technology. If 'core participants' feel excluded because of the use of Zoom it might serve to remind them what it feels like for all those who live e.g. a long way from London (or where ever the annual exhibition/event is being held which the AGM has been tacked onto). 

However for anybody with a smartphone it's perfectly possible to participate using Zoom - you don't actually need a computer!

The other major benefit of Zoom is that for the paid version events can be recorded and stored online and then accessed via a link by anybody unable to access and participate at the exact time and date. Not something you can do with a live event unless you video it yourselves.

Art Society activities on Zoom

I took a quick look round to see what I could find by way of art society activities on Zoom

Local Art Societies

Check out Newsletter 389 of the Berkhamsted Art Society which highlights:

• Zoom Coffee Mornings - described as 'very popular' and a place where people can converse about art, tips and techniques, art appreciation and consider their themed "homework"
• Zoom Life Drawing Sessions - based on organising a proper life model to work from
• Zoom Demos - using remote tutors to provide demonstrations of how to tackle particular topics - in much the same way as regular talks. Except everybody has the benefit of exactly the same view

As it was our first online demo, we were pleased to find that our view of the artist and his work was better than often achieved in the Civic Centre!

• Critique Evenings - which can work in the same way as normal such sessions - but just online.

What I found interesting is that looking forward there was a good amount of Zoom sessions for different activities in their forward planner. 

To me this indicates that a lot of people valued the way they could 

• continue to be part of a community of like-minded individuals
• participate from home - and reduce travel time/costs and feel safe
• continue to learn about an important interest and activity

Other Art Societies organising activities via Zoom. For example

• Guildford Art Society has arranged a programme of demonstrations as virtual demos or online video presentations in 2022. However they are also delivering face to face events too.
• Radlett Art Society has been holding lectures via Zoom
• Richmond Art Society - their Lectures are now a mix of in person and on Zoom
• Lyme Regis Art Society - has been holding regular demonstrations via Zoom

What was disappointing was that I didn't find more art societies which had taken the initiative to explore a new way of engaging with their members.

[UPDATE] These are comments left on the Facebook post associated with this blog post.

Dorking Group of Artists - throughout the pandemic, Dorking Group of Artists supported and involved our 185 members with regular weekly topics/programmes via zoom, social media, and our website, and very quickly introduced practical demonstrations from a wide variety of artists as well as life drawing. We held our AGM online in 2021, and set up an online selling gallery for our members at the beginning of lockdown. For those members without the technology, we kept in touch with them by landline or mobile. For many of our members we were a lifeline, maintaining their interest in art, drawing and painting, helping them to keep occupied and diverted from the generalised Covid anxiety that everyone suffered from. During summer 2021 we resumed weekly plein air drawing and painting sessions in different parts of our local area. In October 2021 we at last met again at our usual weekly venue, although we still have Zoom demos and lectures.

The South African Society of Artists, of which I am a member, held our monthly meetings, demonstrations, and lectures on zoom throughout the lockdown period of the pandemic. It was a learning curve all round. We've recently resumed our normal in person monthly meetings

National Art Societies with an International membership

I've now attended three Annual General Meetings and Annual Conferences of the American Society of Botanical Artists

• in Pittsburgh in 2019 (when I was one of the speakers)
• online via Zoom in 2020 and 2021 - see ASBA 27th Annual Meeting & Conference - Online in October

This is something many more national art societies with international memberships should be doing.

• HOWEVER I would caution that delivery needs to be thought through carefully when delivering across an international dateline.
• Speaking personally I would not seek to replicate face to face Conferences - but rather space sessions and events out over a longer period so that you don't challenge people too much with the timezone differences.

What happens when Art Societies don't Zoom?

Winter / Spring Art Society Exhibitions in 2022 - at the Mall and Bankside Galleries

As a lot of the constraints are removed, I thought I might as well list all the upcoming exhibitions at the Mall and Bankside Galleries which I'll be missing while 100% non-weight bearing on my right leg and mobilising entirely on my leftleg with a very dodgy knee and various aids.

I am of course being masochistic. It's an anxiety diversion tactic about the ankle fusion surgery next Monday. Oddly, the surgery does not bother me - it's the 12 weeks of not being able to walk / staying at home. On the other hand I wonder how long it will be before I can walk to a gallery in London, walk around the exhibition three times and then get myself home again. It's certainly been a long time since I've been able to do that easily and/or not be absolutely wiped out the next day. People keep telling me it takes about a year before you're back to 'normal' except I can't even remember what 'normal' feels like.....

I'm going to have to decide whether I can review from the Virtual / Online exhibitions - which I absolutely HATE doing. The difference between an exhibition online and in the gallery is ENORMOUS!

National Art Society Exhibitions at the Mall Galleries

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, St. James's, London SW1Y 5AS

Admissions: 

• FBA Society Exhibitions: £5
• Concessions for people with disabilities (with free entry for one companion), Students, Registered Unemployed and Group Bookings (over ten in a group): £3
• FREE to Friends of Mall Galleries and Under 25s.

Website: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk

Below I'm including overviews of some of my photos of the different exhibitions last year which you can find in albums on my Making A Mark Facebook Page - by art society and gallery

FEBRUARY - Pastel Society

• The 123rd Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2022  17 February 2022 to 26 February 2022 - The exhibition has a theme of ‘Fresh Eyes’

some of my photos of the Pastel Society exhibition last year

MARCH - The Royal Society of British Artists

• The Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2022 3 March 2022 to 12 March 2022

some of my photos of last year's RBA exhibition

APRIL - Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

• Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 14 April 2022 to 23 April 2022

MAY - Royal Society of Portrait Painters

• Royal Society of Portrait Painters | Annual Exhibition 2022 5 May 2022 to 14 May 2022

This one I might make - depending on whether or not I'm 100% weight-bearing - and how far I can move....

Read my review of lst year' exhibition to see what to expect https://makingamark.blogspot.com/2021/05/review-130th-annual-exhibition-of-royal-society-portrait-painters.html

National Art Society Exhibitions at the Bankside Galleries

Venue: Bankside Gallery, Thames Riverside, 48 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH (next to Tate Modern)

Admission: FREE

Website: https://www.banksidegallery.com

FEBRUARY - Society of Wood Engravers

• Society of Wood Engravers 1 - 20 February 2022
• Society of Wood Engravers website: https://www.woodengravers.co.uk

The Society exists to promote wood engraving, but also embraces all forms of relief printing, which makes this show a fascinating and affordable collection of images inspired by a wide range of subjects.
This year's featured artist is Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers member, Ian Corfe-Stephens

MARCH - RWS Open

• RWS Open 4 - 20 March 2022
• RWS Open website - https://www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk/competition

Established by the Royal Watercolour Society, this annual open-submission exhibition explores innovation and experimentation in all forms of water-based media. Exhibiting artists range from established art professionals to those completely new to exhibiting.

MARCH - APRIL - RWS Spring Exhibition

• RWS Spring Exhibition 25 March 24 April 2022
• Royal Watercolour Society website - https://www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk

I've not been a fan of this exhibition in the more recent past - when it seemed to want to become "edgy" ditch traditional watercolour and reinvent itself as a genre for contemporary art - which in my opinion was not very good. It seems to have changed following the very welcome change of President.

This is how they describe it.

Reconsider your ideas about watercolour with the Royal Watercolour Society’s spring show. Expanding from traditional genres of watercolour painting, today members of the RWS explore the boundaries of this medium and use a wide variety of water-based media such as gouache, ink and acrylic. Be prepared to be delighted by modern work that is beautiful, exciting and distinguished.

MAY - JUNE - RE Original Prints

• RE Original Prints - 13 May - 11 June 2022
• Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers website - https://www.re-printmakers.com

This is a society which generates an exhibition which I regard as well worth a visit - except I keep forgetting what the dates are!