Harrogate's biggest exhibition of the year takes a new approach to widen its appeal Yorkshire-wide

The Mercer Open exhibition has been held annually with great success for 20 years.

But this year's, which will be launched in just over two weeks' time, will be the first where the selected artworks hail not just from the Harrogate area but from all of Yorkshire.

Karen Southworth, Curator at the Mercer Gallery, said: "We’ve been delighted to extend entry invitations more widely this year and we look forward to an incredible showcase of artwork bringing new audiences.”

Located in a stunning 19th century building on Swan Road, any artist who was born in Yorkshire; or who lives, works or studies in the county, currently or in the past; was welcome to enter.

The chosen artwork will be put on display throughout the exhibition, resulting in a show that evolves over time with more artwork from a wide range of artists included.

In another first, buyers no longer need to wait until the end of the exhibition to collect their purchases but will be able to take their artworks home straight away.

Courtney Spencer, Guest Curator of The Mercer Open said: "It's been brilliant to broaden the callout to include artists connected to Yorkshire, to move the submissions process online and to reduce the submission fee to enable more artists to submit works."

The Open Exhibition runs from September 17 to January 8, 2023 and is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm.