THE Harlow Open 2026 has once again attracted a strong response from artists across the region, with 237 artists submitting a total of 484 artworks over two busy submission days.

From these entries, 205 works were selected for exhibition at the Gibberd Gallery in the Harlow Civic Centre.

Credit: All photographs by Adrian Pitic

The artworks were selected and prizes awarded by a panel of respected figures from across the art world.

The judges were Emily Jolley, an abstract artist influenced by modernism and the natural world and a member of the Cambridge School of Art

Advisory Board; Jasper Joseph-Lester, a London-based artist and Head of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art; and Jeremy Parker, founding director of CORPUS, a contemporary art gallery in Cambridge.

For 2026, the Harlow Open also features a fresh visual identity designed by Snootie and a new curator.

Laura Noble, artist, founder and curator of the FIX Photo Festival and a nominee for the prestigious PrixPictet Prize, has taken on the curatorial role for this year’s exhibition.

Around 250 guests attended the Artists’ Private View, where prizes were presented by Nick Bullions,

Chair of Harlow Art Trust, and also Head of Visitor Engagement and Operations at the Henry Moore Foundation. Reflecting the growing popularity of the exhibition, a second VIP Private View was introduced this year.

The event welcomed Friends of Harlow Sculpture Town, previous patrons and local partners, with local MP Chris Vince among those attending to show support for the town’s arts community.

Artists from Harlow once again did the area proud, with a number of local creatives selected for the exhibition and recognised by the judges.

Contributors ranged from hobbyists and members of local art groups to professional artists working from
studios including Harlow’s, Parndon Mill.

Organised annually by the Harlow Art Trust, the Harlow Open is a major community event celebrating the region’s rich creative scene.

The Trust is an independent charity and the guardian of Harlow Sculpture Town’s internationally recognised public art collection, as well as the Gibberd Gallery, home to the Sir Frederick Gibberd
Watercolour Collection featuring works by Edward Bawden, Elisabeth Frink and John
Nash.

The exhibition is free to visit, and all artworks are available for sale, giving visitors
the opportunity to support local, living artists as well as the work of the Harlow Art
Trust. Visitors can also vote for their favourite artwork in the Public Vote, with the
winner announced shortly before the exhibition closes.

The exhibition runs from Saturday 7 March until Saturday 2 May, open
Wednesday to Saturday, 11am – 4pm (excluding bank holidays).

Harlow Open 2026 Winners

1st Prize
Martin Barrall – Evening at Bradley’s Tea Hut, Epping Forest (Acrylic Painting)

2nd Prize
Joe Fordham – (Two pieces selected) Fragment 02 and Fragment 03 (Polaroid lifted
onto found ceramic) – Harlow

3rd Prize
Jim Brown – Lawn Yawn (Photography)

Special Awards

Sue McDonald Prize for Painting

Farah Corrigan – Self Portrait (Oil on paper with half chalk background) (Parndon
Mill artist)

David Mitchinson Sculpture Prize

David Price Cousins (All three pieces selected for prize)
Curvilinear Pot (Concrete)
What? (Concrete, metal, wood and shell)
Impartial Eclipse (Concrete and rubble)

Highly Commended
Several artists were also recognised by the judges:
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Ali Frewin – Perfect Imperfections (Ceramic)
Andrew Smardina – Self Reflection (Photography) – Harlow artist

Guy Paterson – My Mother’s Carbon Paper (Van Dyke silver & iron print).
Paterson, who works with experimental analogue photography techniques,
is currently relocating his studio from Hackney to a new base in nearby
Roydon.

Jo Cleall – Westgate Corner, The High, Harlow (Cyanotype) – Harlow
artist
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Yvonne Estop – Broad Consensus (Birch plywood & coloured pencil)
Photography by Adrian Pitic.