The Maclaurin Art Gallery News
South Ayrshire Secondary Schools Art Awards
The Maclaurin Gallery • December 9, 2019
The bi-annual Senior Schools Art awards are currently open at the Maclaurin Art Gallery and the exhibition continues until mid January.
Two prizes were being competed for: the principal one, The Maclaurin Award, given to the pupil who, in the opinion of the judges, has produced work of outstanding creativity and artistry.
The winner of the Maclaurin Award this year is Mhairi Smeeton from Kyle Academy. No stranger to open competition Mhairi won the Kilgour Award two years ago.
The other major award, The Kilgour Award, named in memory of Jack Kilgour who was a major influence at the gallery in its early days and one of the instigators of the Friends of the Maclaurin organisation.
This year the award went to Katie Bryan from Carrick Academy. Katie also received a Highly Commended in the Maclaurin Award competition.
All images courtesy of Iain Forrest Photography.
The first exhibition of the year is Ayr Sketch Club's Annual Exhibition. It's always a popular event with a wide range of Ayrshire based artists. We hosted a ‘Meet the Artists’ event midway through their exhibition as, sadly, their scheduled exhibition launch was cancelled due to storm Eowyn. What a great afternoon it was, bustling with artists and visitors! This exhibition continues until the end of March.
Heading into Spring, we are hosting a variety of art workshops in the Patrons Gallery, over the next few weeks. We have already kicked this off with a fabulous Pastel Workshop by Gregory Moore, Artist and Printmaker in February. We didn’t even get a chance to advertise this on our social media pages, before the 2 days were booked up! Similarly, Angela Ortenzi-MacColl has already proved a big success, with another of her collage workshops coming up on 22nd February (no spaces left!). Next on the agenda is Sue Howat from Sixpenny Studio, who will be teaching her interesting watercolour and Indian ink resist technique. There are 2 date options for this workshop, Tuesday 4 March and Saturday 8 March 2025. Anyone interested should register directly with Dianne Gardner (Maclaurin Trust): dianneagardner@gmail.com Further workshops will appear, just keep your eyes on our social media pages - Facebook and Instagram , where the latest up to date information will be advertised.
This is our first exhibition of 2025 and it's already off to a flying start, despite having to cancel their preview event due to storm Eowyn. We are however holding a MEET THE ARTIST event on SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2025 at 2pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to see some of your favourite artists from Ayr Sketch Club as well as meeting new ones. They will be around to answer your questions and chat, while you see the show. This is a free event, open to all and refreshments are provided. Just come along and enjoy!