MAKING A MARK: art society

Showing posts with label art society. Show all posts

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Review: UKCPS Silver Anniversary Annual Open Exhibition 2026

After 25 years, the UKCPS is celebrating its Silver Anniversary with its first exhibition at the Mall Galleries.

It's always been an ambition of the UK Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS) to hold its Open Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. Making it to its 25th Birthday seemed like an opportune time to spend some money and celebrate in style.

UKCPS Annual Open Exhibition
Part of the Hang in the West Gallery

For those UKCPS people not familiar with me or my blog (although I gathered from the PV on Tuesday night that a lot were), I am

a coloured pencil addict and a past signature member of UKCPS. I've written about its exhibitions a lot over the years (see the list of blog posts at the end which also give an insight into artwork in past exhibitions)
somebody who reviews ALL the national art societies which exhibit at the Mall Galleries - and has done so for nearly 20 years. So I've got a very good basis for saying how this exhibition compares with the norm at the Mall Galleries.

History of the UKCPS Society

The Society was founded in 2001 by Bob Ebdon and Pat Heffer.

The UK Colour Pencil Society (UKCPS) was founded in 2001 by Bob Ebdon, spurred by a letter in A&I magazine from Pat Heffer (who became a founder member, enthusiastic supporter and finally President). A few people sharing their interest of colour pencil art, who had never met except via the Internet, started the Society and it was launched at Patchings Art Centre in Nottinghamshire. The Society has grown over the years: the second issue of the quarterly magazine (September 2001) reported they had just reached the 100 member mark, and now there are just over 750 members.
I was also a coloured pencil fan and found them online a little later and subsequently became a member and exhibited with them between 2007-2010. After that I gradually withdrew as a member from all national art societies I belonged to so as to be able to do better reviews of their exhibitions!

The society is different in some ways from other national art societies.

anybody can become a member
recognition of expertise and contribution is made through

becoming a Signature Member (which I became in 2009 - see my blog post Signature membership)
progressing to Silver Signature status (pictures accepted into 5 exhibitions within 10 years) and Gold status (pictures accepted into 10 exhibitions within 15 years.)

it holds three exhibitions each year

an open exhibition for all artists using coloured pencils - which is competitive
an online exhibition for all members
members only exhibition held at the Derwent Pencil Museum, Keswick. (This year it will be 31st August to 30th October 2026)

In June 2018 it was granted charitable status - with an objective of:

promoting the art of drawing for the public benefit through the use of colour pencils
holding a public exhibition at least once a year to showcase work and provide tuition
help educate the public how to use colour pencils

The definition of a coloured pencil for the purposes of the exhibition is

"wood-cased, wax- or oil-based colour pencil"
i.e. pastel pencils are excluded.

The 25th Annual Exhibition of the UK Coloured Pencil Society

Venue: Mall Galleries - West and North Galleries
Dates: Open from Tuesday 17 March 2026 - Saturday 21 March 2026,
Hours: 10am to 5pm

Workshops: click for more information

How the work was judged

One member and two independent artists selected the artwork for the open exhibition.
Another artist judges the selected artwork for awards. This year it was Curtis Holder - a leading exponent of coloured pencil artwork.

You can see all the artwork in the exhibition in two ways:

In the albums of my pics that I've uploaded to Facebook - just click the link in the listing below. BTW, if I like a work I tend to take a photo of it on its own.

Via the UKCPS website where all images of all the artwork are now uploaded

BEST PICTURE IN SHOW

Where Time Rests by Pauline Stuart

(which I had spotted as a "go back and look again" pic!)

Sunday, March 15, 2026

FINAL Call for Entries: New England Art Club Annual Exhibition 2026

You have until 12 noon on Friday 20th March to submit your entries for the New England Art Club Annual Exhibition.

While the seriously committed will have submitted their entries already, there's still time to submit that work which you are pleased with.

Historically, the New English Art Club was founded by a group of artists dissatisfied with the entrenched attitudes of the Royal Academy

Today, its intent is spelt out by its President Patrick Cullen

At the heart of the NEAC is the search and propagation of meaningful, resonant art. It is committed to authenticity through the observation of life, as well as the task of articulating and communicating ideas with the beauty of skilful language.

FINAL Call for Entries: NEAC Annual Exhibition 2026

Entries from open artists are welcomed.

The NEAC Annual Exhibition is a showcase not only for its members but also for aspiring artists: with a history going back more than a hundred years, it is an opportunity for work to be seen alongside some of the best artists today.

I describe the process below. Here are the links to all relevant pages

This is the official call for entries https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/open-calls/new-english-art-club
This is the official entry portal https://mallgalleries22.oess1.uk/

you need to locate the correct exhibition as this is the entry portal for all FBA Exhibitions at the Mall Galleries
UNFORTUNATELY the Full Details, Entry Terms & Conditions is a pop-up page and is NOT a downloadable PDF. Which means if you want to make a record for your files / notes - you have to copy and paste into Word - and then you can print it.

NEAC is not an art society which is afraid of colour!
(NEAC Annual Exhibition 2025: End of West Gallery)

If you want to know what NEAC is about, take a look at my pics of the 2025 Annual Exhibition

Last year, the exhibition 389 artworks which included a lot which were big to very big - which made the hang look very crowded to me

Guidelines re Sales and Pricing

You can see the nature and price of the artworks which sold in 2025 by right clicking HERE and opening in a new tab

60% were painted in oils
just over 20% were landscapes and cityscapes
just over 10% were portraits
just over 10% were still life
the remainder covered marine and coastal (4), other (1) and abstract (2)

In terms of sales, 17 of the 50 sales were by open artists - and the majority were by women. I think it not unlikely that most of the sales were heavily influenced by women too.

For the record, although I've not crunched the numbers for 2025, there are some guidelines for open artists if you want to achieve a sale

sales drop off once you breach £1,500 which I've identified for a long time as an important threshold for sales (i.e. not a lot above this, and these are mostly by members)
OPEN ARTISTS tend to do better in the £500-£1000 price range and pricing - and this is consistent across a number of the art societies exhibiting at the Mall Galleries

Thursday, January 08, 2026

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

Monday, October 27, 2025

Entries for PASTEL SOCIETY's 127th Annual Exhibition 2026 - closing soon

You have just under three weeks left to get a submission into the Annual Exhibition 2026 of The Pastel Society.

I've been trying to get round to this post for a while, which makes it much later than usual. However you still have time to start and finish a new work, or review what you did last year that you are proud of and submit that to the exhibition.

Benefits of Exhibiting with The Pastel Society

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

included in the catalogue
seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a lot of visitors
viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
eligible for a number of prizes & awards - and some have significant cash awards (see below)

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2026 | Key Facts

What drew me to the Pastel Society was the thought of being surrounding by other people fascinated by dry media in particular
Curtis Holder

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, LondonDates:
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 21st January - Saturday 7th February 2026
Private View (invite only): Tuesday 20th January 2026 - 5pm to 8pm, official opening at 6:30pm

Submissions: ONLINE ONLY and open until 12 noon Friday 14 November 2025

Notification of selection: Friday 28th November 2025, 12 noon
Receiving Day (if selected): Saturday 10th January 2026, 10am to 5pm

Collection of unsold work: Thursday 12 February 202610am to 5pm

Awards and Prizes - see listing near the end of this post

Call for Entries

Find out more about how to enter:

Open Calls - Pastel Society on the Mall Galleries website
and BELOW.....

Who is eligible to enter?

This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members.
There is also no restriction of where you live. It's open to artists in the UK, EU, and outside the EU
Any artist over 18 may submit.

What media is acceptable for entries?

All types of pastel including: soft pastel, hard pastel, oil pastel, ink pastel, water-based pastel, conté crayons or sticks, sanguine, and other dry mediums that are similar in their application including charcoal, chalk, and pencil.
Mixed media and three-dimensional works are welcome where pastel or another dry media is the primary medium.
HOWEVER.....

ALL work that is submitted must have a full description of the media used and any process which has been employed in the finished work beyond drawing and painting, e.g. printing, photography.

Please note that failure to do this may result in unnecessary rejection on the grounds that work deserves to be judged on a like for like basis and because any buyer should be made aware of what they are buying.

Bottom line - no sleight of hand! This exhibition emphasises the use of dry media and the expertise of the artist in using it.

What can you enter?

Monday, June 16, 2025

Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2025

I think it's time for a wake up call for NEAC. I'm guessing quite a lot of what I'm going to say may be thought to be complete heresy - but I'm saying it anyway, because everybody is entitled to an opinion.

When I went to the NEAC Private View for its Annual Exhibition I had a big surprise.

NEAC Annual Exhibition on PV night

The previous week I had been in and out of the 40th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists which looked amazing in the Galleries. They hung 466 artworks in just the West and North Galleries - themed by subject matter and colour - however most artworks were small or medium size with some large mediums.

Prior to that I'd visited the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - which was a really impressive looking exhibition - showing a reduced number of portraits (210 artworks hung) generally as a single row for larger works which shows them to best effect - and appropriate to those likely to commission future portraits. It was a very classy shop window for what their artists can do, some of which can be large.

I walked into the NEAC Annual Exhibition and my eyes were assaulted. (Check out the banner image on their exhibition page link)

I saw the complete opposite of the two described above.

there is a huge variety of styles - which is to be expected and nothing wrong with that.
however artwork was stacked high and close together - making it look very busy.

This is a function of how many artworks were selected AND, very importantly, how big they are.
I think this maybe dates back to the days when NEAC members liked to think of themselves as budding RA members, despite the fact the society was founded by a group of artists dissatisfied with the entrenched attitudes of the Royal Academy - (where the art was piled high in the Summer Exhibition).

At the heart of the NEAC is the search, propagation, and education of meaningful and resonant art. It is committed to authenticity through the observation of life, as well as the task of articulating and communicating these ideas, with the beauty of skilful language. At the same time, it strives to keep alive the ideals and ethos of its history. About NEAC

There are 389 paintings hung in the show - whereas there are rather a lot of big to VERY big paintings

which made the hang seem VERY crowded to me.
I thought back to the extremely good looking recent exhibition by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - who also hang big portraits - but they had fewer works hung.

A very large artwork on a wall where several are very often hung.

Lots of artworks were VERY colourful - which is so much better than dull and drab.
HOWEVER those colours include lots of red and orange - which can be major league "thugs" if there's too much in one painting or in paintings adjacent to one another. Particularly when groups of paintings by the same artist are hung together.

Bottom line too much red and orange can behave rather like the bully in the school playground whose every move is “look at me”.
They shout out and can totally drown out other artworks nearby. I almost always feel extremely sorry for any artist whose quieter work gets hung near a thug. That's because it's always had its hang dicatated by the thug.
There’s a reason why such "thug" paintings in museums are almost always hung with LOTS of space around them - which is not the case in this instance.
to hang them close to other artworks you have to choose more subdued works which then disappear into the wall when surrounded by colourful "thugs". That painting of a garden is beautiful but stands no chance next to the paintings either side. I like subdued and subtle work, which works through a range of tones - but it's been skied and cannot be studied closely - as it deserves- in this exhibition. It's playing a subordinate role - more's the pity.
I'd put all the visual thugs together in a small room and let them fight it out and "get the message"!
PS Don't get me wrong - I love colour - but I'm not fond of visual headaches!

Vibrant colours down more subdued and subtle paintings

In this instance the very colourful artwork gets more subdued artwork either side

What could have been a nice wall of landscapes
- except another red thug needs some more subdued paintings either side

Interestingly NEAC used to regularly hang over 400 artworks in their annual exhibition - but they were typically better organised and less thuggish. While they have always had large artworks, I think some of the large artworks have got much bigger.

Our Annual Exhibition is a showcase not only for its members but also for aspiring artists: with a history going back more than a hundred years, it is an opportunity for work to be seen alongside some of the best artists painting today, held at Mall Galleries in London. About the New English Art Club

The selection and the hang also gives me a feeling of this being a somewhat pretentious exhibition.

I actually left the PV early because I found the experience of the way the exhibition was hung - combined with the number of people at the PV to be just TOO MUCH for me personally.

It was an assault on the eyes and ears at the same time - and I very much dislike that.
I like to look at art when it's quiet. I doubt if I'll go to another NEAV PV.

For the record I much preferred how the large artworks were dealt with by the hang in 2023.

When I walked into the Private View of the Annual Exhibition 2023 of the New English Art Club (NEAC) yesterday, I was immediately struck by the new approach to hanging the exhibition in the East Gallery (2023 Review)

However, given I always write a review and have been doing for the last 18 years I went back on Monday to have another look in a quieter environment.

(see the end for links to all my past reviews of NEAC Annual Exhibitions over the last 18 years - going back to 2007)

I had another surprise - namely all the artwork I could not see at the PV because of bodies!

The need for NEAC to have a BIG Rethink

I think NEAC needs to have a VERY long hard rethink its annual exhibition

Specifically about :

their approach to private views

I remember when they used to have Buyers Previews (which were for those, like me, who prefer a quieter environment when they can see the artwork before they buy it)

the size of artwork to hang in their exhibition

I'm thinking of doing an exhibitions metrics post for this exhibition which will relate size to price to sales. Should be interesting!

the price of artwork hung in their exhibition

there are some artists who sell well elsewhere and on commission - and they aren't going to sell anything at this exhibition unless they paint small - but just because they need to price high doesn't mean everybody else should!! I'd want to see verifiable records as evidence for all those pricing above £2K

In 2023, the Number of artworks sold by price range include
over £2K is just 10% of those hung
over £5K is ZERO
Under £500 is 31% of those hung
priced between £750-£1,000 is 24%
priced between £1K and £1.5K is 23%

how many artworks a member can submit i.e. the space given to artists

one very large artwork = 4 medium sized artworks. Is that fair?
retail prices everything on space - why not exhibitions?

an artist's track record on sales relative to the space they get

Everybody needs to make money from the exhibition - to keep the gallery and the society going and to make artists' careers worthwhile - and able to afford their membership fees!
Anybody thinking open artists are just "pleased to get hung" hasn't been studying the commercial realities of late.
a commercial gallery would be looking at ANY artwork from a commercial perspective - and why should it be any different in the Mall Galleries or NEAC for that matter?

can you keep hanging artists that never sell? Independent Fine Art Galleries not far from the Mall certainly wouldn't.

I am amazed again and again when I ask leading members about sales how totally unaware they are of their own society's exhibition metrics

the lack of ANY price guidelines to BOTH members and open artists - resulting in some interesting insights post exhibition

Specifically they need to think long and hard about what they want the exhibition to look like and how they want to present it.

So, for example, if they want more bigger works then

they need to hang less and
do very much better marketing to people who have the houses big enough to hang them and the funds to buy them

Bottom line - do artists really think that those who visit the Mall Galleries have houses big enough to have space for work like this?

I've not seen big paintings sell at the Mall Galleries for quite a while.

Back when Lewis McNaught was Director, I seem to remember there were rather more evening functions for institutions in the City - and there were rather more people visiting the space with the funds to buy big paintings.

I'm not seeing large paintings sell well - or at all - this year either.

I'm puzzled by the rationale of artists producing big paintings

Lots of very big paintings are unlikely to sell. Would they have submitted them if

open artists had to pay the going rate for the wall space they occupy?
members were limited as to the space they can occupy? (eg x square metres)

The only paintings which are selling are small. I've counted (twice)

From my perspective big paintings simply reduce the scope for more smaller paintings and add nothing to an artist's career if they don't sell. This isn't the RP Exhibition with a commission room at the back of the North Gallery!

Prizes & Awards

You can see the artwork which won prizes and the names of the artists who won on this page on the NEAC Website

Interestingly they neglect to include the size and the media and the price.

A Major New Climate Emergency Prize

The exhibition for this is in the East Gallery with every artwork having a green Climate Emergency Prize label

Winner of the Climate Emergency Prize (£2,000)

Reduce Speed Now (Self-heal, Fipronil & Glyphosate) by Nessie Ramm

Oil on aluminium road sign, 120cm x 130cm

I was extremely disappointed to see that the winner of this major new prize has an absolutely TINY label to announce the prize. Plus it is absolutely impossible to tell who had won as it looked absolutely identical to all the other labels

I'm particularly gutted as I chaired the panel of judges who gave Nessie Ramm an SBA Fellow Grant to help her exhibit her roadwork verges paintings on traffic signs last year. She deserves better.

Also, if you’re going to have a prize why not hang them all together? It came across as a half hearted hang giving a strong sense of they started focused and then gave up!

The Artwork

Like last year, the people at the PV and the artwork on the walls is looking different.

A lot of the artists I started out with many years ago are no longer with us.

The days of artists like Fred Cuming are long gone - more's the pity.
So very sad to see the last exhibited artworks by Richard Bawden (1936-2024) and Judith Gardner (1952-2025)
Indeed, there was a drawing of the late Tom Coates by his wife Mary Jackson in the North Gallery
however the old ladies of NEAC are hanging on in there!

four paintings by Judith Gardner (1952-2025)
who is still winning prizes!

Artworks included the following media:

paintings - in oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolour, and egg tempera
drawings - in charcoal, pastels, conte, colour pencils, graphite, pen and ink and mixed media
fine art prints (very few) - etching, aquatint, wood engraving,

In terms of the type of art

Nearly 50% of the artwork is landscapes and it's well over 50% by the time you add in marine and coastal scenes.
22% are still lifes and interiors
15% are portraits and figures

You can see albums of my photos of the exhibition on Facebook

East Gallery - on Facebook

Paintings

What I do know is well received are:

paintings by artists like Melissa Scott Miller - of places people know and which are colourful and cheerful but much less “in your face” and a much more "hangable" size
rather a lot of paintings by women painters who are becoming very old - but are still painting. People like June Berry (now 100 years old) and Jacqueline Rizvi (now 80)

A Quiet Street by June Berry

Still Life with Chinese Teapot by Jacqueline Rizvi

small paintings - by those with limited wall space left!

I liked these two sets even more for the fact they were the complete opposite of visual thugs!

two very plain landscape structures by Sarah Granville NEAC

and

Two landscapes in egg tempera
by Christine Allman
- the third sold early

Drawings

There seem to be many fewer drawings than I’m used to seeing in the past.

Was this be because they hung large drawings?
Multiple instances of thugs hung next to more delicate work as if the latter does not matter
however there were exceptions - such as the suite of drawings by Felicity House (now 75) who won two drawing prizes.

Watercolour and pastel drawings by Felicity House

Sketchbooks on display in the East Gallery
Sketchbooks

One excellent aspect of this exhibition is the attention to exhibiting as many sketchbooks as possible in both the East and North Galleries

Reference: Past blog posts about NEAC Exhibitions

Call for Entries: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2025

Below you can see my reviews in previous years

Review: NEAC Annual Exhibition 2024
NEAC 2023 Annual Exhibition METRICS
Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2023
NEAC Annual Exhibition 2022 opens tomorrow (I was still recovering from surgery)
Three Virtual Views of the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2021 (the Covid Years)
Review: Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club 2021 (the Covid masks exhibition)
Three Virtual Views of the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2021
New English Art Club - Annual Exhibition 2020 (Part 2) - the end of which got clobbered by lockdown
New English Art Club - Annual Exhibition 2020 (Part 1) - after being cancelled twice by lockdowns
A Virtual New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2020 - online now!
Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2019 - the one in which I had a go at them for calling it an "open exhibition"
Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2018 #1
Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2017
The NEAC Annual Exhibition 2016 at the Mall Galleries
Prizewinners at the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2016
Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2015 - the first time it was held in June - at the same time the Summer Exhibition opens
Review: New England Art Club Annual Exhibition 2014
Review: NEAC Annual Exhibition 2013 - also known as the exhibition when I started counting red dots at the end of the exhibition

I've been trying to work out how to word this review of the 2013 Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club 2013. It might more accurately be described as a post mortem.

I've come to the conclusion that it's best just to highlight a salutary tale which is relevant to all art societies. They all have their ups and downs - and this is a tale of a big dip. Review: NEAC Annual Exhibition 2013

Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2012

this year I'm less excited by the exhibition. It's not that the standards of painting have slipped per se (with a few exceptions) so much as it didn't "zap" me in the way I normally expect it to.

Sunday, March 02, 2025

Call for Entries: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2025

I should have written about the Open Call for Entries to the New English Art Club weeks ago! So apologies for that.

This is a reminder that the DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES is Friday 14 March 2025, 12 noon

Most of this post is about how to enter - but I'm starting with two important considerations as to whether and why you might want to enter.

whose artwork gets hung
what prices artwork sells for

View of the East Gallery at
the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition in June 2024

Who gets hung

There have been two major changes in recent times.

For a very long time (i.e. most of the time I've reviewed the exhibition) the open entry artists who got hung used to be dominated by members of other national art societies who also wanted to be members - but that has changed
The ratio of artworks by members to non-members has changed and become more like other FBA Art Societies exhibiting at the Mall Galleries. (I bleated at PVs for years about "you can't call an Open an Open if 80%+ of artworks hung were by members!")

Last year the 409 artworks which were hung were distributed in the following percentages. This conforms to the now more usual notion that at least one third of artworks need to be from people who are not members of national art societies

Bottom line - there's now a much better chance of an open artist getting hung than happened in the past.

While some open artists get more than one artwork exhibited, the majority only get one selected - so make sure you enter your very best!

Pricing is VERY important

The Messanine Wall always has a lot of small and affordable artworks

Another important thing you need to know before you proceed to consider "how to enter" concerns pricing of your artwork.

This is important. You could waste your time if you want to sell but don't read this first.

Below are two charts which indicate what artworks sold for in the 2023 and 2024 exhibitions across different price ranges. The second differentiates between members and open artists.

the 2023 chart compares artworks sold to artworks hung across various price ranges. Note that sales drop off once you breach £1,500 which I've identified for a long time as an important threshold for sales (i.e. not a lot above this, and these are mostly by members)
the 2024 chart indicates that OPEN ARTISTS do better in the £500-£1000 price range and pricing above £1,500 is tantamount to not minding spending a lot of money on entering and transporting an artwork TWICE (to and from the galleries) for no sale.

Sunday, December 29, 2024

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:

they get selected
they price their work correctly
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)