WITH all eyes turned towards Southport this summer as the Golf comes to Southport, the Town's ArtHouse will host the Southport Contemporary Art’s Gallery's  much anticipated Summer Open Art Exhibition:-  "Southport: Land, Sand & Sea," within the building located on:- Eastbank Street.

As co-Director of SCA, Norrie Beswick Calvert, explains:- "Our Summer Open is all set to show off the unique qualities of Southport to all of the visitors we will have in town for the Golf Championships. Many of the visitors won't have visited Southport before, and we'll be bringing a taste of all that they might enjoy to their doorstep with a show that explores and celebrates Southport's Land, Sand & Sea."

SCA has established a reputation for bringing together a range of high quality contemporary art and craft from both emerging and established artists throughout the year, and this year’s Summer Open will unmistakeably demonstrate the scope of creativity and artistic talent across the Region.  Open to artists and makers living in the Liverpool City Region or Lancashire, there will be plenty to attract even the most discerning connoisseur at this year’s wide ranging show:- "This fabulous showcase of work that celebrates our town and it's fabulous buildings as well as our open spaces including of course our:- famous golf courses, beachfront, bird reserves, parks, vast sandscape and big skies, will appeal to golfers, followers and families alike."

Originally from Liverpool but now living and working in Burscough, mixed media artist, Amanda Clark Price has always been keen to pass her skills onto others at her popular SCA classes and at the Ainsdale Discovery Centre as part of their:- 'Back From the Brink - Gems in the Dunes' project.  After many years developing artwork in others, Amanda is now really enjoying having the space to focus on producing her own distinctive artwork.  In 2021 she had her 1st solo show at:- The ArtHouse and for this year's Summer Open Amanda's watercolour, soft pastel and coloured pencil study:- 'Salt Marsh Skies' was inspired by one of her explorative investigations out into the unique environment around Southport:- "It's 1 of a series I did from some photographs I took one Sunday morning looking over the salt marsh out to sea near Marshside, 1 of those bright but stormy looking mornings. I wanted to capture the drama and exaggerate the colours and contrasts."

Also from Burscough, Becky Atherton’s regal:- 'The Protection of Salus' painting draws attention to the imposing sculpted face of the ancient Roman goddess carved high above the central 3rd storey window of an iconic Grade II listed Victorian building on Lord Street:- "While being part of the SCA Heritage Group, we explored number:-  479 to 481 in Lord Street, a beautiful blue tiled, Victorian eclectic building. During the making part of the project my interest was sparked by the female head situated at the top of the building often surrounded by pigeons! The group researched and found and named her as Salus, the Roman Goddess of safety, welfare, health and prosperity. I wonder if Salus is still protecting the people of Southport today, and in turn are the pigeons protecting her?"

Although a professional photographer, Guy Keen, originally studied photography at:- Southport College of Art, back in the days of shooting 35mm film, using medium format cameras and developing his own prints in a darkroom, he went on to have a successful career in the Fire Service for 30 years, but never lost his lifelong passion for photography:- "I was an early adopter of digital and the bulk of my development was self taught with the assistance of You Tube and lots of experimentation. I started my own photography business in 2013, and last year I rebranded and opened ‘House of Monochrome’ specialising in bespoke fine art monochrome work, incorporating landscape, documentary and portraiture work."

Black and White photography has always been his preferred metier:- "Since my teens when I 1st discovered the magic of a monochrome image appearing before my eyes in a home made darkroom and seeing the incredible work of photography masters such as Ansel Adams, I’ve been hooked on black and white photography. My main camera is Leica M10 monochrome, a modern reincarnation of a film camera first made in the 1950’s. The camera has a monochrome sensor, incapable of recording colour, but captures exceptional quality black and white images. For the majority of my work I use a small number of niche lenses, carefully chosen for their unique ability to render images that combine optical excellence with vintage character."

Guy will be featuring his evocative image of Ainsdale’s iconic pine woodlands:- "Cloistered Glade," in the Summer Open.

Liverpool born artist, Anthony Coulthurst, returned to the North West in 2019 having lived in London for over 30 years following the completion of a Fine Art degree. Having previously enjoyed working across a variety of different media including:- printmaking, pastel, watercolour and acrylic, for the last few years Anthony has worked almost exclusively in collage:- "The improvisational quality of Collage makes it particularly suited to representing transient effects; the assembling then re-assembling of disparate items in tune with the ever changing environment."

In his colourful mixed media submission:- 'Picnic,' Anthony "wanted to create something with a sense of excitement and fun. I have therefore made all objects as simple as possible and concentrated on the mood. The exact location in Southport is ambiguous but somewhere near the sea as indicated by the inclusion of a beach ball and a:- Herring Gull."

Also from Liverpool, Alice Lenkiewicz, who enjoyed a solo exhibition, at:- The ArtHouse in 2020, enjoys working with acrylic and oil on canvas because of their:- "immediacy, varied drying times and vibrant colours." She will be exhibiting two paintings:- "View of Hesketh Park" which was actually painted out on location at the park and the mysterious 'Woman at a Window' which was prompted by an Art Nouveau styled stained glass window in Wayfarers Arcade originally designed by prominent local architect, George E. Bolshaw in the 1890’s:- 'Woman at a Window’ was inspired by the Renaissance tradition of profile portraiture, particularly the Florentine Quattrocento portraits that idealised beauty, virtue and status within calm interior settings. I painted the lady from imagination, allowing the imagery to unfold naturally, but I wanted to place her within a distinctive interior space and began searching for a suitable window design. Climbing the staircase inside Wayfarers Arcade I discovered a beautiful stained glass window with flowing floral forms and soft colours intended to maximise light beneath the arcade’s glass roof. I was captivated by their beauty and wanted to pay tribute to them within my painting."

Multi talented, local textile creative, Barbara Richardson, certainly has more than 1 string to her bow with her artistic output embracing mixed media, felt making, botanical dying, batik work and currently print making. A graduate of Roehampton Institute in Education and Art in London, specialising in textiles, Barbara has always been passionate about passing on the diverse skills of her craft to others:- "I have taught secondary Art in Croydon, Liverpool and Hampshire but have spent the past 20 years sharing the love of my subject with primary age pupils, while continuing to develop my own work."

A longstanding convert to beachcombing, Barbara is often found discovering the treasures washed up on the Southport seafront:- "I take inspiration from our coastline and the natural materials found along the shore. I develop my finished pieces from photographs and sketchbook studies incorporating sea washed stone, wood, glass and botanicals to reflect the changing light and colour palette that defines the shifting boundaries between:- land and sea."

On display is Barbara’s contemporary screen print of the inimitable historic architecture of Southport that was created from detailed collages constructed from self-generated photographs, sketchbook studies and recycled magazine print type:- "My collaged image of Southport celebrates Lord Street, Southport's famous boulevard lined with ornate Victorian shop fronts and decorative brickwork."

This year’s celebratory Summer Open exhibition will run from:- 7 July 2026 until:- 15 August 2026, Tuesdays to Fridays:- 10 am to 3 pm, and 11 am to 4 pm on Saturdays.