Friday 16 October 2026 – Sunday 10 January 2027
The annual Open exhibition at the Ferens Art Gallery has celebrated the creativity of local amateur and professional artists since 1967. Each year the Open Exhibition provides an exciting opportunity for artists to display and sell artwork.
Visitors can expect to see a fascinating array of artwork including impressive paintings, photographs and textiles, as well as a number of striking sculptures and ceramics, most of which are for sale.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Ferens and BSB Architecture
Open Exhibition Selectors
The selectors for the 2026 Open Exhibition are Anna Turzynski, Arts Director at Sunnybank Mills, Daniel Watts, Disability Access Consultant and Sam Larter, Artist.
Anna Turzynski
Anna is the Arts Director at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley, Leeds – a unique cultural destination with a contemporary art gallery and museum. Based in a former textile mill, Sunny Bank hosts almost 50 artist studios, creative courses, community engagement, and events. The gallery focuses on platforming contemporary craft and hosts four exhibitions a year curated by Anna.
Previously a Senior Producer at LEEDS 2023: Year of Culture, Anna produced significant projects including The WOW Barn, The Awakening & The Gifting. She spent ten years working as a freelance producer in Leeds, working for companies like Compass Live Art, Leeds Playhouse and East Street Arts, as well as artists Ellie Harrison and Hannah Buckley. Her expertise lies in large-scale cross-artform producing and bringing work to unconventional spaces.
After growing up in Brighton, Anna moved to Leeds to study Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and has championed the city ever since. She is passionate about making culture accessible to people and encouraging future generations of artists and producers to thrive in the industry.
Daniel Watts
Dan is an experienced Disability Access Consultant, Artist and the driving force behind Elephant in The Room Disability Services. Using a friendly, honest, and understanding approach, he proactively ensures access to cultural events through his humanist philosophy of 'Access by Design'.
While possessing a rich background in making local, national, and international theatre productions accessible, Dan’s expertise spans the wider arts and cultural sector. He is a passionate advocate for inclusive practices, collaborating extensively in strategic and consultative roles with organisations such as Drake Music, the Humber Music Board, The Big Malarkey Festival, and the Museums Access Forum. He has given talks about his practices on the international stage and in the media. As an artist, his commissions include the Truth to Power Cafe (London Artists Project/British Council) and a 2017 Hull City of Culture installation at Hull Minster that was broadcast internationally.
His commitment to regional, community-led inclusion is further reflected in his active leadership of Artlink's Disability Arts Network, Our Big Picture in Grimsby's Health, Disability Arts Forum and access provision with Freedom Festival.
His mission is deeply personal. Growing up as a Deaf person and navigating the world as a family man, Dan knows firsthand what it feels like to face barriers to enriching cultural activities. He is dedicated to dismantling these barriers across all creative disciplines, ensuring that no one ever has to miss out, and that everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the magic of the arts.
Sam Larter
Sam is an artist from Yorkshire, working from her studio in the East Yorkshire countryside. Her disciplines span sculpture, drawing and printmaking, creating work made from everyday materials that are easily found. Since graduating from The Hull School of Art and Design in 2017, she has exhibited her work across the UK, including in the Ferens Open Exhibition.
In 2022 she was nominated for the Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award. Sam was also the Artist in Residence at Ferens Art Gallery in 2024. Her work responded to the permanent collection at Ferens, presented through traditional elements of sculpture created from free, discarded and donated everyday materials such as cardboard. Sam believes that everybody should have access to art and advocates making art with materials that are readily available to hand.
Her work transforms everyday materials and the overlooked clutter of daily life often through fast and instinctive making. She believes in curiosity, experimentation and persistence—if someone doesn’t like what you make, make more of it. Make it bigger. If you say it’s art, it is.