Dumfries and Galloway Fine Arts Society Summer 2026 Exhibition
Exhibition Requirements for MEMBERS submitting to DAGFAS 2026 Summer exhibition at Gracefield Arts Centre 28 Edinburgh Road Dumfries DG1 1NW. This will be our 99th annual exhibition
The exhibition will be on display from Saturday 4th July until Saturday 15th August. Preview night Friday 3rd July 7-9pm.
Please note: Members must not take down or collect their works from the exhibition before it closes at 5pm on Saturday 15th August. Collection of unsold work will be between 12 noon and 2pm on Sunday 16th August. This is to ensure the exhibition adheres to both Gracefield’s and DAGFAS Management Committee’s curatorial standards. If you foresee any difficulties around collecting work on Sunday 16th August, please think about contacting a friend to collect on the Sunday, and let us know your arrangements via exhibitions@dagfas.org.uk. You can also contact that email if you need any help or assistance around the Sunday collection or issues around collection.
Commission will be charged by Gracefield at 30%. There is a £5 entry fee for each work submitted as part of the application and judging process. All works for wall hanging must have the labelling as stipulated in Section 3, to allow for hanging.
Hand-in date is Saturday 27th June between 12 and 2.00pm at Gracefield. If you require assistance in accessing the building please contact exhibitions@dagfdas.org.uk
Rules
4 items in total may be submitted in any category. The categories accepted will be:
Paintings in Watercolour, Oil, Acrylic, Pastel, Mixed Media and Original Digital Art (not AI generated); Drawings; Original Fine Art, Prints, Photography, Sculpture, Crafts and Applied Art.
All submissions must be accompanied by a copy of your submission form on drop off (you will receive a confirmation email on submission that you should use for that purpose)
Works entered should not have been previously exhibited in any DAGFAS exhibition
No direct copies of other artists’ work or commercial work will be accepted
No more than one item marked ‘Not for Sale’ may be submitted
Insurance – DAGFAS and Gracefield undertake to handle all submissions with care but accept no responsibility for damage or loss. You are therefore recommended to insure your work should you wish to do so.
If any of your work exceeds 120 x 120 cm in size please contact the exhibitions co-ordinator before submitting (email: exhibitions@dagfas.org.uk)
The selection process is carefully monitored by the Management Committee using a panel of judges. It will be directing the judging panel to consider the following criteria: skills of perception in composition be the work representational or non representational; skills of expression; and overall presentation of the work for exhibiting. The decisions of the Management Committee are final.
The judges willalso have discretion, if they think standards are sufficiently high, to award a prize of £100 value to the best entry in each of the following categories:
- Still Life
- Portrait / Figurative Work
- Landscape / Seascape
- Abstract Work
- Sculpture
- Applied art
- Judges’ Choice: originality & vision.
Frames
All works must be prepared and ready for hanging. Deep-edged canvasses will be accepted unframed providing the edges are painted, and corded. All work must be fitted with proper picture framing cord or wire with D rings or screw eyes attached approximately one third of the way down the back of the painting.
Shop bought frames without properly fitted wire or cord will not be accepted as they are not suitable for gallery hanging systems.
Any work not properly prepared for hanging as above will be rejected
All frames should be neutral in colour i.e. black, white, grey, natural or stained wood, gold or silver. Your work is part of a group show, it can be too distracting to have brightly coloured frames The focus must be on the work with no other distractions.
Labelling
Each work should have two labels.The official DAGFAS labels can be downloaded from the website (see under ‘exhibitions’) and printed on card or thick paper- or use your own version, as long as the same information is provided. Complete and fix one to the back of each work. The second label should be attached to a piece of string and secured to the back of the painting with enough length to hang over the front of the frame. This will be used for identification and wall-labelling during the hanging process.
Selection
Following the selection process after hand-in, you will be informed if any of your work has not been accepted for the exhibition. It may be collected from Gracefield by arrangement. Please note that no collections can be made during the preview evening.
Preview
A Preview will be held on Friday 3rd July from 7-9pm with refreshments . All members, friends and exhibitors are welcome. This is your opportunity to see the final display, meet the artists and other guests and to show your support of DAGFAS and the work it does for our membership.
Collection
Collection of unsold work will be on Sunday 16th August between 12 and 2pm. Members must not take down or collect their works from the exhibition before it closes at 5pm on Saturday 15th August. This is to ensure the exhibition adheres to the curatorial standards of Gracefield Arts Centre and DAGFAS Management Committee.
Dumfries and Galloway Fine Arts Society
‘Celebrating and promoting the work of artists and makers in Dumfries and Galloway’.