Nairn Book & Arts Festival

Following the success of last year’s inaugural competition, instigated and run by the Nairn Book & Arts Festival, and responding to popular demand, this year’s Open will be exhibiting more art works and for a longer period.  Selected works in all media from oil to gouache, photography to sculpture will be displayed in the Court House and in the Seaman’s Hall.  These East and West exhibitions will be selected by a panel of judges from the many hundreds of entries which have been received from all over Scotland and beyond.  Good prizes have ensured huge national interest in the past and this year there is a new Highland prize for residents in the Highlands and Islands.  All works are for sale but none will be removed till the end of the exhibition on 19 June.

Download more information (PDF).
Download the application form (DOC).

Smallish paintings are always a challenge to artists but prescribed sizes (exactly 16” by 16”) make for an attractive and fascinating exhibition.  The subjects and media are not specified so our artists have been able to follow their own preferences.  We invite our audiences at the Community Centre, our main venue, to allow plenty of time to visit this exhibition which demonstrates the diversity and individuality of our chosen artists. All paintings will be for sale and the exhibition continues till 19 June.

Ruth Nicol has achieved a great deal since winning Nairn’s 2009 Open Art Competition.  She has completed her degree course at Edinburgh College of Art, and travelled frequently around the North East of Scotland.  Her solo exhibition is a pictorial record of her fascination with road travel and with the surrounding landscape as it changes throughout the seasons.  Never shy of covering large canvases, Ruth has excelled herself with this dynamic and inspiring exhibition in the Community Centre.

The Nairn Camera Club will exhibit entries for their competition, which has three categories: Under 12 (or attending Primary) 12 – 18 and Over 18’s.  The competition which is free to enter and open to all allows a choice of subject and either colour or black and white for the photographs.

Download Competition Poster
Download Entry Form

An exhibition of paintings with a broad range of styles/subjects by thirteen local artists, featuring the work of:

Sally Gunn, Adam Walker-Parker, Olive Starsmore, John Wilson, Mary Wilson,
Norma Shewan, Heloise Shewan, Chris Lane, Al Knight, Rod Verity, Chris Gaunt
Alex Webster, Chloë Furze.

Opening Times: 9.00am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday (Closed Tuesdays/Sundays)
Phone: 01667 456126

Working mainly in watercolour, acrylic and pastel, Isabel Caldwell’s paintings are inspired by the ever changing light and moods of the surrounding Moray Firth and the local scenery around the Highlands.