ARTISTS with a Yorkshire connection are invited to submit work to The Mercer Open.

This is the first time the biannual open exhibition has extended its invitation beyond Harrogate.

Another first is that no longer will buyers have to wait until the end of the exhibition to pick-up their purchases. They can take them home straight away, allowing replacement artwork, promising a more dynamic exhibition.

Harrogate's Mercer Art Gallery occupies a stunning 19th-century building in Swan Road. Originally the Promenade Rooms, it then became a theatre and a Town Hall before transforming into the Mercer Gallery in 1991.

The gallery hosts a wide range of ever-changing exhibitions; national touring shows of painting, photography, sculpture and crafts; exhibitions drawn from the Harrogate District Fine Art Collection and contemporary work.

Karen Southworth, Curator at the Mercer Gallery, said: “The Mercer Open is not only a wonderful celebration of the fantastic artistic talent associated with Yorkshire but also offers an amazing opportunity for visitors to the Harrogate district and art-lovers to discover the Mercer Art Gallery and to buy something really special.”

For artists interested in submitting entries, applications are to be made online through the CuratorSpace website  before midnight on Sunday 31 July 2022.

The Open Exhibition will run from September 17 to January 8 at the Mercer Gallery, which is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm.