WAC 2024 SHOW ANNOUNCED, CALL FOR ENTRIES IS OPEN

The Wells Art Contemporary 2024 show will take place in Wells Cathedral from 3rd to 31st August 2024 (Private View on 2nd August). It will exhibit works selected by a prestigous panel of judges from the entries to two separate international competitions:

The Site-specific installations call for entries is now open. Find out more and make your application here before 5pm GMT on 11th March 2024.

The Gallery call for entries is now open. Find out more and make your application here before 5pm GMT on 9th May 2024.

WINNER OF THE 2023 PEOPLE’S PRIZE ANNOUNCED

3rd September 2023: The Chubb Bulleid People’s Prize award attracted more than 3,700 public votes. The winner is… Frances Carlile’s magnificent installation on the Chapter House steps, “West Wind Procession”.

The runners-up, in no particular order, were: Bill Prickett’s “Mobius T Clef”, Emily Lawlor’s “Study of a Wing III”, Olivier Leger’s “Whaley McWhaleface” and James Lake’s “The Sprinter - Gold Run Remix 2012”.

WAC 2023 EXHIBITION IS NOW CLOSED

2nd September 2023: The exhibition is now closed. Thank you to our volunteers, the contributing artists and all our visitors. The winner of the 2023 People’s Prize will be announced here soon. WAC will return in 2024.

WAC ANNOUNCES 2023 AWARD WINNERS

7th August 2023: WAC is proud to announce the winners of its 2023 competition, celebrating cutting-edge contemporary art from around the world.

With over 3,000 submissions from 1,650 artists, representing 55 countries and six continents, the WAC 2023 exhibition displays a breadth of contemporary practice, from artists across the UK as well as Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, and the United States of America.

The judging panel, comprising artists Curtis Holder, Nina Murdoch and Kelvin Okafor, distilled the thousands of entries into a shortlist of 137 artworks for display in the Wells Art Contemporary exhibition, in Wells Cathedral’s cloisters.

From hundreds of proposals, 28 site-specific installations were also selected to stand as responses to the architecture and history of Wells Cathedral, by selectors Adelaide Damoah, artist, Jacquiline Creswell, curator, and Rebecca Newnham MA(RCA) FRBS, sculptor and designer.

When the WAC 2023 exhibition opened its doors on Friday 4 August 2023, seven outstanding artists received awards ranging from £2,000 in cash to a residency in France, art supplies and mentoring, for their exceptional contributions to this year’s showcase.  

And the winners are…

Philip Battley's strikingly realistic portrait of a young girl, entitled Hold me back, receives the Howden Art Award, worth £2,000 cash.

Laura Hope receives the NG Art Creative Prize, a two-week placement with NG Art Creative Residency & Gallery in Provence, France, for her work Luke.

Originally from Madeira, Portugal, and currently pursuing a Master's in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking at the University of the West of England Bristol, Adriana Nóbrega receives the Student Prize, a £1,000 cash award which aims to support a young artist in developing their practice.

Kate Wilson's seemingly mundane yet captivating painting, Throw Away, delves into our relationship with food and consumption, and reveals the unexpected beauty hidden in everyday discarded objects. She receives the Parker Harris Mentoring Prize, a one-to-one mentoring session with members of Parker Harris’ team of art consultants, and one-year’s subscription to their mentoring programme for artists, The Art Ladder.

Leah Hislop’s site-specific installation, A Safe Place, uses paper from reclaimed books, individually hand-folded into triangles, to create a profound artistic response to Wells Cathedral's spiritual essence. Her creativity is recognised with the Somerset Art Works Prize, a one-to-one mentoring session with local artist-led organisation Somerset Art Works.

The JGM Gallery Prize, an online showcase from the West-End based gallery, goes to Rob Irving from his video artwork, Breathe.

Clare Phelan receives the St Cuthberts Mill Award for her print, Strata Data, which reuses obsolete technologies, combining traditional processes with contemporary artistic practice.

The People’s Choice Prize, £500 the artist who received the most public votes, will be announced at the end of the exhibition.

WAC ANNOUNCES SHORTLIST AND EXHIBITION

3rd July 2023: Now in its 12th year, the Wells Art Contemporary exhibition runs in Wells, Somerset, from Saturday 5 August to Saturday 2 September 2023. The free exhibition includes an Installation Show, 29 site-specific works located throughout the Cathedral and its grounds, and a Gallery Show with 133 artworks across painting, sculpture, print, photography, drawing and more displayed in a white-wall gallery in the Cathedral’s Cloisters.

WAC ANNOUNCES “DRAW!” 

26th June 2023: Wells Art Contemporary, which celebrates contemporary art in all its forms, is delighted to announce free drawing sessions showcasing the magnificent West Front of Wells Cathedral. This exciting addition to the WAC programme will take place in August 2023 on Cathedral Green during the upcoming exhibition in the Cathedral. Learn more and book your place.

SOMERSET COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SUPPORT FOR WAC

29th May 2023: WAC is delighted to have received a donor directed grant from Somerset Community Foundation. This will support our Community Projects for 2023.

WAC ANNOUNCES A COLLABORATION WITH OUTSIDE IN

5th May 2023: WAC announces a collaboration with Outside In, the national charity that provides a platform for artists who encounter significant barriers to the art world due to health, disability, social circumstance, or isolation. We are delighted that we will be able to show a work by James Lake, from Exeter, at WAC 2023.

INSTAGRAM FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS GOES LIVE

28th April 2023: An Instagram account for WAC’s Community Projects is now live @waccommunity. Follow us to keep up!

SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR WAC 2023

24th April 2023: Congratulations to these artists for making it through the selection process!

Angela Woodhouse & Caroline Broadhead, Alexandra Ghose, Amy-Jane Blackhall, Angela Wright, Barbara Beyer, Clare Phelan, Emily Lawlor, Frances Carlile, Hamish Young, Ian Marlow, Jacques Pavlosky, Jane Taylor Weekes, John Meikle, Juliet Duckworth, Kate Windibank, Leah Hislop, Lou Baker, Lucy Large, Melody Clark, Mike Hipwell, Nicola Turner, , Paul Bonomini, Paul Tuppeney, Rachel Goodison, Robyn Neild, Rosie Musgrave, Sheena Devitt, Srabani Ghose.

WAC ANNOUNCES COMMUNITY PARTNERS

14th April 2023: WAC announces partnerships for 2023 with the following local charities

• Creativity Works, Radstock

• Heads Up, Wells

• The Lawrence Centre, Wells

Each of these organisations receives a grant from WAC of £500 towards a group project. All the projects will be part of WAC 2023.