2026
Our 2026 exhibition programme showcases a vibrant and varied range of work, with each show as diverse as the artists we represent. Alongside the exhibitions, we offer events, talks, and opportunities to meet the artists, creating rich insight into their practice. With free access to all exhibitions, it’s a welcoming space to explore, enjoy, and purchase original artworks while directly supporting the creative community.
STITCHES, PATCHES & GLITCHES
Anna Konig
4 July – 22 August
OPEN 25 Exhibition Winner
Anna Konig is the winner of the OPEN 25 Exhibition, recognised for the originality, skill, and vibrancy of her work. Through stitch, collage, and techniques of mending and making, she creates richly textured pieces that explore colour, material, and form.
Her work celebrates transformation — of fragments into whole, of ordinary materials into extraordinary compositions — inviting viewers to linger on detail, texture, and the thoughtful interplay of colour. Konig’s practice reflects a playful yet considered approach to textile art, marking her as one of the most exciting contemporary voices in the field today.
Meet Anna Saturday 4 July 2 – 4 pm.
Meet the Coat of Hopes in the gallery at 4 pm Find out more here
THE MAKING OF A WILDFLOWER YEAR
29 August – 17 October
Julia McKenzie
Julia presents the illustrations she made for the book A Wildflower Year by Frances Tophill, using inks, wax, watercolour and sepia ink applied with dip pen, brush and embossed papers to enhance the stories behind the wildflowers. The sixty illustrations will be featured alongside new work inspired by the book.
CUTTING LIGHT
24 October – 24 December
Steve Manning
Steve is a printmaker specialising in reduction lino print making.
He has adapted a medium usually associated with bold blocks of colour to capture fleeting cloudscapes and the ephemeral nature of light. Steve’s images expertly convey an immersive sense of space combined with a tangible sense of calm. ‘Cutting Light’ gathers together a collection of new and old works inspired by the landscapes of the West Country from the Somerset Levels to the Exe Estuary.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
STILL LIVES
An Exhibition of Embroidered Intimacies from Around the World
24 January – 28 February
Janina Bacchetta, Oliver Bliss, Alice Bowen Churchill, Jane Colquhoun, Gary Dickins, Nina Gronw-Lewis, Sandra Meech, Joy Merron & Lydia Needle.
Still Lives presents embroidered works by artists who transform everyday domestic moments into quiet reflections. Through thread, scenes of home and habit are paused and made extraordinary — a gesture, a glance, a shared moment.
The exhibition features intricately hand-stitched works created by women artisans in Karachi, Pakistan, on loan from Alice Kettle, and invites us to slow down, notice the beauty in the ordinary, and find connection in the rhythms of daily life.
Image: Janina Bacchetta.
FLIGHT
7 March – 11 April
Art Textiles: Made in Britain – Louise Baldwin, Jessica Grady, Cas Holmes, Christine Howell, Rosie James, Edwina Mackinnon, Sandra Meech, Sylvia Paul, Stephanie Redfern, Christine Restall & Sarah Waters.
Flight presents new and vibrant works by members of Art Textiles: Made in Britain, a group dedicated to promoting contemporary British textile artists. This exhibition takes inspiration from the natural world — from the delicate hum of a bumblebee to the sweeping arc of migration — exploring the many meanings of flight as movement, freedom, and imagination.
Across a diverse range of disciplines, artists interpret the theme through colour, texture, and form. Wings, journeys, and flights of fancy become metaphors for creative transformation — of ideas, materials, and states of mind. Together, these works reveal the power of textiles to capture motion and stillness, change and continuity, within a single stitched line.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Saturday 11th April from 11am – 1pm
PLEASE NOTE
The exhibition will close at 3 pm on Saturday, 11th April
IN THE CHAPPELL GALLERY:
DOVECOTE SCHOOL
17 – 21 March
An art exhibition by students from Dovecote School. A lively, vibrant and enjoyable show that includes collage, printmaking and sculpture. Students have been exploring the natural world and drawing inspiration from artists Hundertwasser, Peter Randall Page, Delaunay, and Tinguely. We can’t wait to share our students’ creativity with you.
UNFOLD
18- 25 April
ABCD (Artists’ Book Club Dove)
Explore the latest collection of unusual and intriguing artists’ books from the ABCD group of printmakers, poets, textile artists, ceramists, puppeteers, researchers and book lovers who meet regularly at Dove Studios in Butleigh. Enjoy unfolding, opening, unrolling and reading our books. Turn the pages and be inspired!
DRAWN FROM THE WEST
2 May – 13 June
Amanda Bates, Ian Hedley, Sue Side, Susan Poole, Paul Newman, Sue Hardy, Jo Barber, Ibby Lanfear, Mike Skinner, Felicity Flutter, Angela Knapp, Marc Bodie, Louisa Crispin, Gary Cook, Mark Beesley, Anne Carpenter, Jean Whitley-Smyth and Jackie Devereux.
Artists from the South West membership of the Society of Graphic Fine Art have a wide variety of work on show in this exhibition. The SGFA values drawing as fundamental to its activities, and the work here represents a range of subjects executed using pencils or brushes, engraving or etching tools, threads or pens and ink, all to translate inspiring ideas into drawings.
Preview Saturday 2 May 11 am – 1 pm
Artists Statements for Society of Graphic Fine Artists
Demonstrations & Talks
Saturday 16 May
Paul Newman
🕚 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Saturday 23 May
Angela Knapp
🕥 10:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Saturday 30 May
Ibby Lanfear
🕥 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Saturday 6 June
Jo Barber
🕚 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Saturday 13 June
Felicity Flutter
🕐 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Please note the gallery closes at 3 pm on Saturday, 13 June.
THIS IS ART
20- 27 June
A.R.T: Artists in Research and Textiles
Janina Bacchetta, Lou Baker, Oly Bliss, Vivienne Beaumont, Rachel Cole, Jane Colquhoun, Alice Crane, Sue Green, Nina Gronw-Lewis, Kelly Harris, Leah Hislop, Charlotte Humpston, Angela Knapp, Anna König, Helen MacRitchie, Emma Mawston, Joy Merron, Lydia Needle, Pen O’Gara & Jan Ollis.
This exhibition brings together a diverse group united by a shared exploration of fibre, fabric, and stitch as powerful mediums for artistic expression and enquiry.
A.R.T is rooted in the belief that textiles extend far beyond traditional notions of craft. Instead, they act as carriers of meaning, memory, and innovation — materials through which stories are told, identities are shaped, and ideas are challenged. The collective provides a supportive space for creative dialogue, skill-sharing, and collaboration, fostering both individual growth and a strong sense of community.
Grounded in the rich legacy of fibre arts while pushing contemporary boundaries, A.R.T invites audiences to reconsider the role of textiles within today’s artistic landscape. The exhibition highlights a wide range of practices, reflecting the diversity of voices and approaches within the group.
Visitors can expect an engaging and thought-provoking experience, as well as the opportunity to learn more about the artists, their processes, and the collective itself. This Is Art offers a chance to connect with a vibrant community of makers and to explore the evolving language of textile-based art.