2022 Friends’ Exhibition – Meet the selectors

We are delighted to announce the much-anticipated return of the Friends’ Exhibition this May at the Create Centre in Bristol, and we can’t wait to see your entries – and we have assembled a superb panel of selectors…

Dallas Collins RWA MRSS

A former aircraft engineer, Dallas is a sculptor working in variety of media including bronze, wood and even foam. He studied sculpture at the RCA from 1999 to 2001, specialising in foundry art practice, and has taught in Chelsea, London, Bristol and Cardiff. Dallas has had numerous shows throughout the UK, Europe and USA and his work is held in private and public art collections.

In 2018 Dallas became both become an academician of the RWA and a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. He was one of the selectors for the 2019 RWA Sculpture Open exhibition.

Read our artist Q&A with Dallas here.

Lucy Austin RWA

Originally from Yorkshire, Lucy Austin has lived and worked in Bristol for the last two decades. Her distinctive brand of abstraction, combining painting and collage and using imagery drawn both from the landscape and her imagination, has won national acclaim.

Lucy’s work has featured in the Jerwood Drawing Prize, The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition and The Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy in London, and she was recently shortlisted for the Contemporary British Painting Prize. She was elected Academician at the RWA in 2016.

Read our artist Q&A with Lucy here.

Andy Phipps

We’re delighted that Andy Phipps of That Art Gallery (thatartgallery.com) will be returning as a selector this year, having contributed brilliantly in 2019.

Andy is a great champion of Academicians and other artists, and That Art Gallery is one of Bristol’s most exciting contemporary art spaces.

Read our Q&A with Andy here.

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Friends’ Exhibition 2022

Friday 13 May to Wednesday 25 May 2022
Weekdays 11am – 5pm, Weekends 11am – 4pm. Free entry.

Preview: Thursday 12 May 5-8pm

The Create Centre, Smeaton Road, Spike Island, Bristol BS1 6XN

Entering the Friends’ Exhibition

Friends can enter up to four artworks. Entry is open from 8 March until 6 April 2022. Full details are here.

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The Friends of the RWA is an independent charity that supports the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol’s first art gallery. 

For just £35 a year Friends can make unlimited visits to RWA exhibitions and enjoy a host of other benefits, as well as making an important contribution to the arts in Bristol and the South West. Find out more and join up here.