ENTRIES have now opened for the 2019 Fife Art Exhibition and entry forms are now available from all ONFife Cultural Trust venues as well as at www.onfife.com

The exhibition, sponsored by Shell UK, will run in ONFife’ s Lochgelly Centre from Saturday October 5 until Saturday November 23 and entry is free of charge.

The Fife Art Exhibition is open to all artists living in Fife who are not currently taking or who have not completed full-time degree or diploma art courses and last year Benarty artist Elizabeth McMahon was a winner.

The six works judged best by a selection panel will be purchased by Shell and presented to Fife hospitals and health care facilities with winning artists receiving a Shell award of £200.

Last year, a new Youth Award was included within the six awards. This category is open to those aged between 14 and 24 years. The artwork submitted for the youth award must have been created outwith school or college.

The emphasis is on young people pursing the creation of artwork in their own time. The six awards include the Youth Award, a 3D/Craft Award and four 2D Awards.

This annual exhibition has been running for 33 years and is hugely popular within Fife’s arts and crafts community.

During the exhibition period, ONFife Cultural Trust will offer Fife Art participants the opportunity to take part in specialist arts classes within the Lochgelly Centre’s purpose built art department.

This includes a pottery, kiln room with 3 kilns, (one specifically for glass), and a large art room used for painting, stained glass and jewellery making.

The winning artworks will be displayed at Kirkcaldy Galleries before they are handed over to Shell, then NHS Fife.

Teresa Waddington, Plant Manager, Fife NGL, said: “Shell runs a wide range of community investment programmes in Fife covering everything from the arts and sciences, through to safety, education and social inclusion programmes. "I am proud to say that we have been supporting the Fife Art Exhibition for 35 years, which officially makes it our longest running sponsorship in the UK and we were delighted to add the Youth Award last year.”

Entry forms must be completed and delivered to Lochgelly Centre by 5pm on Monday September 2. Digital versions of the form are accessible via website www.onfife.com and should be returned to Fife.Art@onfife.com also by Monday 2nd of September.

Our picture shows the handover of 2018 Winning Artworks to NHS Fife pictured at Kirkcaldy Galleries with ONFife Cultural Trust, Shell and NHS Fife. Tricia Marwick (NHS Fife); Erin Kinninmonth (Balwearie High School); Ingrid Mayes; Teresa Waddington (Shell FNGL Plant Manager); Andrea McMillan; Jonathan Brown; Elizabeth McMahon and Michelle Sweeney (Director of Creative Development).