Grosvenor Museum opens entries for its 16th Open Art Exhibition

The Grosvenor Museum in Chester is accepting entries for its 16th Open Art Exhibition, Cheshire West and Chester Council announced on 30 September 2026. Artists aged over 16 who live or work in the eligible region have until midnight on Sunday 15 November to submit work. The call offers a route into a public exhibition planned for February to July 2027, but entry does not guarantee selection.

The museum says online submissions opened on 21 September. Artists may enter up to three works at £10 each, making the maximum entry cost £30. The fee is non-refundable and, according to the museum, contributes to prizes and exhibition costs. The detailed entry rules and submission link are on the museum’s event page.

Who can enter the Grosvenor Museum Open Art Exhibition

The invitation covers artists aged over 16 who live or work in the North West region and specified neighbouring areas. The museum’s detailed guidelines list Cumbria; Lancashire, including Merseyside and Greater Manchester; Yorkshire; Derbyshire; Staffordshire; Shropshire; Denbighshire; Wrexham; and Flintshire. Its shorter event description refers more broadly to North Wales, so artists elsewhere in North Wales should check their eligibility with the museum before paying.

Entries may address any theme, and digital photography is accepted. The museum excludes giclée prints, installations, performances and work that needs electricity. Three-dimensional work is eligible if it is sturdy enough for open display on the plinths the museum provides. No work may exceed 1.8 metres in any dimension, including its frame, or require more than two people to carry it.

How selection and prize judging will work

Judging has two stages. Selectors first choose works for the exhibition; a later round determines the prize winners. The museum says artists will be told the outcome of the first round on 4 December 2026. Those selected are due to bring, post or courier their work to the Grosvenor Museum for the second round on 22 or 23 January 2027. The museum plans to notify prize winners on 26 January.

The named selectors are Jessie Petheram of West Cheshire Museums, Georgina West of Storyhouse, Maria Hayes of Ruthin Craft Centre and textile artist Vicky Lewis. According to the museum, they will consider the quality and effectiveness of work, skill in its medium, intrigue, personal preference and the diversity of the exhibition. It says any, all or none of an artist’s submitted works may be chosen, and that it will not provide feedback.

The announced awards are £1,000 for first place, £500 for second and £250 for third. A £150 Visitors’ Choice award will be decided by public ballot. The museum has scheduled an official opening and prize presentation for 5 February 2027, followed by public opening on 6 February. The exhibition is planned to run until 4 July 2027.

What artists should know before submitting

Artists whose work is accepted face conditions beyond the entry fee. The museum says works cannot be removed before the exhibition closes. If a work sells during the show, a 30% commission is payable to the museum; works in the exhibition cannot be offered for sale elsewhere while it runs. The guidelines also say accepted works must not have appeared in an earlier Grosvenor Museum Open Art Exhibition.

Council cabinet member Lisa Denson said the exhibition is held every two years and has received hundreds of entries in previous editions. That figure describes earlier shows: the number of entries and selected artists for the 16th exhibition is not yet known. The previous call opened in 2024, with the 15th exhibition scheduled for 2025.

Photographer Glyn Davies described one experience of that previous exhibition in a first-hand account published in March 2025. He said two of his three submitted photographs were accepted and his third was not. Davies wrote that he had once associated the show mainly with drawing and painting, then entered after seeing that photographic work could be selected. His account illustrates how decisions can differ between works by the same artist; it does not predict this year’s results.

For this edition, the immediate step is the online submission by midnight on 15 November. Applicants should read the museum’s detailed rules before paying, particularly its limits on media, size and later sales. Selection notices are scheduled for December, with physical judging in January and the public exhibition planned for February.