Founded in 1946, The Colchester Art Society has played a pivotal role in nurturing creative talent across Essex and beyond. Its founders included John Nash RA, Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines, whose teaching at Benton End shaped generations of artists, including Lucian Freud, whose work is now held in the Tate Collection.

Now, in celebration of its 80th anniversary, the Colchester Art Society presents a vibrant new exhibition at Firstsite, bringing together 32 works by current members, including Simon Carter, Wendy Bailey, Ryk Pryke, and more.

What to expect

Discover a wide collection of oil, watercolour, acrylic, pastel, ink, pencil, and charcoal works covering portraiture, still life, nature, and urban and rural landscapes.

Each piece invites you to look closer, explore, and see familiar places and everyday moments in a new way.

The exhibition celebrates the creativity and skill of today’s members while highlighting the society’s ongoing role in supporting artistic practice and engagement across generations.

About the exhibition

The works were chosen, following a members’ open call to exhibit in celebration of Colchester Art Society’s 80th anniversary (1946-2026), by a selection panel comprising Simon Carter, President of the Colchester Art Society and co-founder of the artist collective Contemporary British Painting and the East Contemporary Art Collection, Firstsite Director Sally Shaw MBE, and independent art advisor and specialist in pictures for the BBC Antiques Roadshow, Frances Christie.

Firstsite and The Colchester Art Society

We have a longstanding relationship with Colchester Art Society, hosting lectures each year and previously celebrating the society’s 70th anniversary with an archive exhibition at Firstsite showing works from the society’s permanent collection.

This exhibition builds on our long friendship, highlighting how art brings people together and why the society still matters just as much 80 years later.

Exhibiting Artists

Linda Adcock, Sara Anton-Watts, Susan Austin, Wendy Bailey, Sue Bennett, Pamela Booker, Annette Burrows, Simon Carter, Derek Chambers, Angelina Cook, Gillian Cowan, Amy Drayson, Claire Fenwick, Pauline Fletcher, Sally Freer, Lucia Hardy, Ronald Hellen, Jocelyn Hollis, Ilona Johnson, Nicola Johnston, Brenda Jones, Sarah-Jane Lane, Katherine Lees, Peter McCarthy, Jean McNeil, Michael Middleton, Margie North, Hilary Owers, Ryk Pryke, Daphne Sandham, David Stone, Chris Wenlock

About The Colchester Art Society

For the past 80 years, the society has maintained to offer a lively programme of exhibitions, workshops and many other activities, and continues its mission to support future generations in their practice and appreciation of the visual arts. Membership is open to all who practice, or have an enthusiasm for, the visual arts.

A special thanks to the Lund Humphries Foundation for the Visual Arts for their contribution in support of this exhibition.

Photo courtesy: Ronald Hellen, Derek Jarman's House and Boat, Dungeness. Courtesy of the artist