SEPTEMBER see the opening of the first Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition at the Ilkley Manor House, showing work by over 30 selected contemporary UK artists.

Keen to build on its work bringing new art to the residents of Ilkley, Ilkley Arts - an artist-led charitable organisation - launched a call out earlier this year for artwork not previously shown in the town.

Submissions were received from across the UK, with over 400 artworks, put forward for consideration by the appointed selection panel, chaired by Kathryn Fox, trustee of Ilkley Arts and prime mover behind the Ilkley Arts Open Exhibition.

She said: “We are absolutely delighted to have drawn so much interest from artists who really excel in their field, reflecting on a theme which has relevance to us all.

“In the exhibition, ‘Take Time’, each artist offers their own consideration of our experience of time - the landmark moments in our lives and our aspirations for the future, as well as our sense of being in the present. The historic Manor House provides the perfect backdrop for such an exhibition.

“The work has been selected by an independent panel of professional gallerists and curators with an impressive collective and individual experience, together with a couple of Ilkley residents who are engaged with the arts very much as viewers rather than practitioners."

‘Take Time’, opens in the Western Gallery at Ilkley Manor House Ilkley on September 16th, 2023 (private view 2-4pm) and runs until October 15th, 2023 (open weekends only from 11am to 4pm) and includes photography, painting, textile work, printmaking, drawing and 3D work, with much of the work for sale. Entry is free and there will be a programme of interviews in the gallery with some of the participating artists which are also free to attend.

Artists In Conversation in the Gallery (free) are: Jordan Cunliffe (Lancashire based textile artist) September 23, 2pm; Hazel Roberts (Manchester based screen printer) September 30, 2pm and Lynne Chapman (Sheffield based artist) October 14th, 2pm.

The selection panel comprised: Clare Alton-Fletcher, Chief Executive of West Yorkshire Print Workshop; Cathy Baxandall, Ilkley resident and trustee of the Ilkley Literature Festival and the Open College of Arts; Robert Gibson, Ilkley resident, lifelong enthusiast and supporter of the arts; Jane Kay, Creative Director of The Gallery at Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley; Martyn Lucas, Artist and Curator at Turnpike Gallery, Leigh and Joanne Tinker, Ilkley resident, highly successful UK artist and gallerist who owns and runs Ilkley’s very own Tinker Gallery.