Our 2025 Summer Exhibition has completed its successful three-week run at St. Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury. Thank you to everyone who exhibited work and especially thank you to all who visited and voted for your favourite paintings. Read on for all our winners!
We were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Shrewsbury, Councillor Alex Wagner, to open the Exhibition at our Preview event on Saturday 21st June. He gave an inspiring speech asking us to celebrate our members’ and our Society’s contribution to the flourishing Shrewsbury and Shropshire arts’ scene. Thank you Alex!
At that same event the first of our three prizes this year was awarded, by the Townsend family and the Society, the Judy Townsend Memorial Prize of £100. This went to Ja Edwards for his painting, Solent Dash. Making the award on behalf of the Townsend family and in memory of his wife, Judy, Alan Townsend said that the energy of strength, challenge and movement conveyed by the painting was “amazing”. He and his daughters, Sally, Jane and Jo, unanimously felt the strength of the composition contrasting with the incredible portrayal of the light in the sea’s spray to be exciting and innovative, with the figures seeming to move as one with the yacht. He said he was inspired by the work and that the quality of it bode wonderfully well for the future of our Shropshire Art Society. No-one was surprised that by the end of the Preview, the painting had sold.
Wonderfully for Ja, we are also happy to announce that he also won the People’s Prize of £100, voted for by members of the viewing public, but for a different painting. Everyone who visits the Exhibition can vote for their favourite painting… and you chose… Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the Fading Sun by Ja Edwards. Ja’s Solent Dash was voted in second place, and in third place was Lifebelt by Phil Hadley. Very well done Ja and Phil!
This year, for the first time, a third award was made, by our members themselves, the Members’ Prize. Our members voted for their favourite painting. In first place was The Old Sawmill by Lena Jarl Churm. Solent Dash took second place and Lifebelt third place. So our congratulations go again to Ja and Phil, but this time especially to Lena, who receives the accolade of being chosen as the winner by her fellow Shropshire Art Society members!
We are grateful to everyone involved in choosing these winners, and, of course, to our Exhibition Secretary, Tim Parker, and his team of volunteers who did such a splendid job of staging the Exhibition this year. As always, too, we must express our gratitude to the Churches Conservation Trust for the beautiful historic space that is St. Mary’s. We are all already excited for 2026.
Meanwhile, we have our Permanent Exhibition space in St. Mary’s as the next part of our contribution this year to the Shrewsbury Arts Trail.
And, our Autumn Exhibition will be held in the Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury from 29th September to 11th October. We look forward to seeing you there!