Joy Open Exhibition

We are delighted to announce that East Quay will be hosting our second Open Exhibition in Watchet, in Autumn 2026. We are inviting artists from Somerset and further afield to submit works which explore and reflect on the theme of ‘Joy’.

An independent panel of judges will select artworks for the exhibition based on the theme, and the works will be on display in Gallery 1 at East Quay from Saturday 19 September 2026 – Sunday 31 January 2027. There will be an opportunity to win a range of prizes worth £1,000 each, including the Audience Favourite Award, as voted for by visitors during the course of the show.

ABOUT THE THEME – Joy

Joy & wonder is one of our core themes for programming over the coming few years. This call is intentionally not prescriptive, and we welcome your interpretation.

What does joy mean to you? What brings joy? How does it take shape in your body, your practice, your relationships, or your connection to place? Is joy fleeting or sustaining, quiet or defiant, private or collective? Where does joy live in everyday life, and how can it be cultivated, protected, shared, or re-imagined?

How might joy function as an act of resistance in the face of exhaustion, injustice, precarity, or erasure – and what does it mean to choose joy deliberately, as a radical and relational act? How might joy sit alongside grief, uncertainty, or complexity rather than in opposition to them? Is it personal or political, tender or transformative?

We welcome artistic responses that consider how joy is found, interrupted, reclaimed, or made together.