The Great North Art Show (2019): My First Exhibition

We’ve visited the annual Great North Art Show regularly over the last few years; it’s held in Ripon Cathedral in September – it's in one of our favourite venues, and at my favourite time of year.

September still holds the excitement and promise for me of a new term, a new hockey season, even though it’s decades since I was last involved with either.

I like the ambience of the exhibition, the quality and variety of the artwork and the way it’s presented. And so, I had that vague notion that maybe, possibly, perhaps I’d consider it – consider entering my own work, maybe in 2020. But I saw the ‘Call to Artists’ for the 2019 show back in May, on the same day I had photographs for Sarah and Claudia sitting on the kitchen table, mounted and ready for their farewell party. The call was for a body of six pieces of work; Sarah’s leaving present comprised six photographs. Was this a sign from the gods?

Maybe, perhaps I should enter this year.

Maybe I could.

Delivery Day, 27 August 2019
My prints waiting patiently, in the nave of Ripon Cathedral (2019)

My diary shows that I submitted my (very speculative) entry on June 16; I received the acceptance on July 6; we delivered the framed prints to the exhibition on August 27; attended the Preview Evening and saw my work hanging for the first time on August 30; and brought the prints home (all bar the one which was sold) on September 23.

But that’s just the bones, the factual skeleton. It doesn’t describe the emotional roller-coaster or the practical learning curve that accompanied the Great North Art Show 2019, my first exhibition.

To start with, Sarah’s leaving present was, in truth, just a random selection of images on the theme of local trees, around our North Leeds home. And so, I had to think what a body of work really meant to me – with a lot of trial, error and prints in different combinations on the kitchen table – and how I wanted to present them (thank you for your ideas and advice, Dave and Catriona).  I’ve learnt about archival paper and giclée printing (thank you, Peter) and about framing, mounts and non-reflective glass (thank you, Max). And mirror plates and D rings for hanging – plus a bonus lesson from Max on the best way to sign a limited-edition print (with a 2B pencil, if you’re asking). I’ve navigated the exhibition process and the paperwork, determined the expected standards (thank you, Wendy and Sam), written the artist’s statement. And struggled with the practicalities of moving a ‘precious cargo’ from home to the Cathedral (thank you, Ian). As I said, it was a very steep learning curve.

On the emotional side, I experienced the highs of validation (with its permission to take myself seriously as an artist), the pleasure of seeing my work hanging in the Cathedral, the excitement of seeing it advertising the exhibition on Facebook (alongside) set against the lows of being out of my depth, an impostor, a novice.

But, months on, these are fading memories and what remains is the warmth of the experience; the advice and help from the experts, so readily given; the support, encouragement and goodwill of family, friends and acquaintances, and their very evident pleasure on my behalf; the history education community who shared (and magnified) my excitement when I received the acceptance-email, in their midst, at a history conference; the friends who travelled from Edinburgh and from London to be with us at Ripon, others from Rutland and North Yorkshire; all the messages, emails and hugs.

Thank you all.

It truly is a first exhibition to remember.

Paddy

December 2019