2025

This year, we launched the first Summer Exhibition of the North (at Sunny Bank Mills in Leeds), extending the cultural focus on Yorkshire, as Bradford celebrated its status as City of Culture 2025, and also hosted the Turner Prize for the first time.

The Summer Exhibition marked a new direction for New Light – to complement the well-established Prize Exhibition, we wanted to give more opportunites to artists than ever before. We invited all Northern artists to submit artwork for consideration by 8 judges, who each had their own core specialism. Judges were asked to curate their own personal choice of artworks which made the exhibition visually interesting and certainly encouraged debate. Bursaries of £500 were given to nine artists, as chosen by each judge and also by Sunny Bank Mills to help them develop their craft.

‘Wonderful Exhibition, fabulous work. Beautifully curated in a superb space.’

(A quote from the visitor book, Summer Exhibtion of the North)

Click here to view the New Light Summer Exhibition catalogue

2023-24

The Prize Exhibition was a our largest to date – visiting five venues in total. Both visitor numbers and artwork sales exceeded our targets. In addition to this;

• The entry criteria was opened to artists in Cheshire for the first time.
• Launched in Liverpool (Birkenhead) for the first time.
• Introduced our first Sculpture Prize (hosted by The Biscuit Factory)

Click here to view the New Light Prize Exhibition 2023-24 catalogue 

Click here to view the New Light Prize Exhibition 2023-24 Facts & Figures

2022

As a celebration of 10 years of exhibitions, we wanted to mark the occasion with a retrospective exhibition. We invited all previous winners to take part in a show hosted by Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester.

Northern Lights – A New Light Retrospective.

Click here to view the Northern Lights Exhibition catalogue

2021

We launched the New Light Art Collection in October 2021 at the newly opened 5 star Grantley Hall Hotel near Ripon, North Yorkshire. With over 80 paintings, drawings and prints, artists across the North of England are represented in the Collection – Artists include: Norman Ackroyd RA, Mark Demsteader, Maxwell Doig, John M Angel, Jo Taylor, Tom Wood, Erin Ward and Anya Percival.

The Collection has been borrowed by various groups since New Light started to collect, including Scarborough, Harrogate and York Hospitals, The Retreat, York and others.

Click here to view the New Light Collection Catalogue

2020-2021

Due to so many of our lives moving online in 2020 (due to the global pandemic) so did our exhibitions. While the Prize Exhibition still toured to four different venues, we added the exhibition to our newly refurbished website and we saw record sales of art during one of the country’s challenging periods.

The Prize Exhibition launched at Scarborough Art Gallery, then went to Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, returned to The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle and finally finished at Bankside Gallery at the end of 2021.

Click here to view the New Light Prize Exhibition 2020-21 Catalogue

Click here to view the New Light Prize Exhibition 2020-21 Facts & Figures

2019

In 2019, Emerson Mayes, our CEO, left New Light to focus on his own creative practice.

Rebekah Tadd, our current CEO, took the reins and we decided to move the (sometimes biennial) Prize Exhibition to the following year. We did not foresee the global events of 2020, and so we learned to adapt daily to ways of continuing to deliver the exhibition during a global pandemic.

IMAGE CREDIT: ‘ESTRANGEMENT’ BY ANASTASIA BORODINA, 2020

2017 -18

The New Light Prize Exhibtion established its now familiar tour of the North & London, visiting:

The Bowes Museum, County Durham

Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield

Bankside Gallery, London

Tullie House & Museum, Carlisle

Click here to view the online New Light Prize Exhibition 2017-18 catalogue

Click here to view the online New Light Prize Exhibition 2017-18 Facts & Figures

2015-16

The New Light Prize Exhibition launched at The Bowes Museum, County Durham.

The Bowes Museum experienced its highest visitor number during this time as the New Light Prize shared the floor with the very popular Yves St Laurent exhibition in the Autumn of 2015. The exhibition then travelled to the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate, and a selection also went to Panter & Hall in London. We introduced the tig Visitors’ Choice Award this year, letting the visitors choose their favourite piece in each gallery. The Zillah Bell Gallery also awarded their first prize (a solo exhibition) to a print-maker. As part of our Art for All Programme, artist Vicky Holborough led an immersive art week with a local Durham School. The children visited the exhibiton and took part in some creative activities, then they spent a week producing their own collective piece of artwork for their school.

Click here for the New Light Prize Exhibition 2015-16 online catalogue

Click here to view the online New Light Prize Exhibition 2017-18 Facts & Figures

2013-2014

The ‘New Lights’ Prize Exhibition returned to the Mercer Art Gallery and then travelled to the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. A selection of artworks were also taken to the Mall Galleries in London.

In addition to this, several solo exhibitions were awarded to individuals:

The Curzon Ripon Prize

The Swinton Foundation Prize

The Biscuit Factory Foundation Prize

Plus, the late Norman Ackroyd RA awarded £1,000 to the winning print-maker.

2011 – 2012

The ‘New Lights’ Prize Exhibition launched at The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate. It was one of their most successful shows, attracting 10,000 visitors.

IMAGE SHOWS OUR LONG-TIME PATRON, VALERIA SYKES, AND WINNING ARTIST NAT QUINN STANDING IN FRONT OF ‘UNTITLED (ORANGE)’.

2010

New Light (North of England) was set up as a charity to promote and celebrate the talent of fine artists in the North, with particular attention to the repeated application of learned skills in painting, drawing and print-making. Annette Petchey, our current chair, founded the charity on these principles with the generosity of Valeria Sykes, our patron of 15 years.