10^th Community Arts Exhibition

The 10^th Annual Community Arts Exhibition held over 27 and 28 October proved once again how popular this event is for local artists to showcase their work and for the local community to enjoy this breadth of talent whilst socialising with friends.

There were over 150 entries covering skills as diverse as painting, embroidery, pottery and photography as well as some more unusual entries in glass, giclée, hand-painted silk and melt art. Commission on the sales of entries and tearoom tickets resulted in over £2000 being raised for the ongoing restoration work of the church buildings.

The guest judge for the exhibition was Theresa Talbot from the BBC Beechgrove Garden and Potting Shed programmes who complimented all the exhibitors on the quality of their entries before announcing her choice for The Bill MacKinnon Award for the best exhibit as a hand-painted silk by first-time entrant Lilias Conroy. The Edward Marle Award, for the most promising Arts Centre student, chosen by Ted Marle, was awarded to Karin Hecht for her oil painting Midnight Iris. The exhibition was then formally opened in a witty and entertaining way by the Depute Provost Pam Clearie.

The final award, for the Most Popular Exhibit, was chosen by visitors’ votes at the end of the 2-day exhibition and was also awarded to a new entrant, Maire Colston, for her painting of Winter Dawn (East Kilbride).