A Summer Exhibition Full of Winners

A successful opening night of the Dumfries and Galloway Fine Arts Society 99^th Annual Summer Exhibition at Gracefield Arts Centre on the 3rd July 2026 saw seven artists win awards for the quality of their submissions.

Seventy artists had entered over 230 works, and a trio of judges, Society President Elizabeth Gilbey, ceramic artist Ruth Elizabeth Jones, and creative photographer Kim Ayres, carefully selected works for show, and decided on prize-winners for six separate categories: still life, landscape/seascape, abstract work, sculpture, applied art and the Judges’ Choice award for originality and vision

Provost and Chair of the Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing Directorate, Councillor Tracey Little awarded prizes to:

Tom Lindsay for Still Life

Joint winners James Macaulay and Roger Lever for Landscape/Seascape

Christine Pauly for Abstract

Jennifer Watt for Sculpture

Gaynor Ranshaw for Applied Art

And Heather Davies for Originality and Vision.

“It was a fantastic launch, and extremely well attended,” says Paul O’Keeffe, Chair of the Dumfries and Galloway Fine Arts Society. “The winners were very well deserved, and it was lovely to share in their delight on Friday.

“And their winning work represents what is a quality exhibition through and through, everyone’s a winner here. We got really positive feedback on the exhibition from opening night visitors. And big thanks too to the Provost, who gave a very well appreciated speech, and  Dawn Henderby and all her colleagues at Gracefield for helping hang the exhibition so expertly.”

And now, Dumfries and Galloway Fine Arts Society is asking members of the public to vote for their favourite picture, a visitor’s choice award, when they visit the exhibition. And the winning artist will be declared at the end of the show’s run.

The 99^th Summer Annual Exhibition runs until 15^th August. Most of the works on display are available to purchase.