It is with great regret that the organisers of the Great North Art Show have decided that this year’s exhibition will not take place.

The Great North Art Show was founded over twenty years ago with the intention of providing an annual exhibition which would be accessible to all and free to enter. Since then it has grown and flourished and become a firm and popular event in the life of Ripon and the Cathedral, and is now recognised as the leading open exhibition in the North of England.
However reputations are hard won and easily lost.
The past three years have been a difficult and challenging time for the organisers of the exhibition for a number of reasons, principally the Pandemic which meant cancellation of the exhibition for two successive years, with substantial loss of revenue. Other unexpected expenses and problems have arisen, and it has become clear recently that without some resolute action on our part this year’s exhibition and our future would be
in jeopardy. It would be unfair to our artists, the public and the Cathedral to hold the exhibition in circumstances that it could be underfunded and lack the necessary support and resources.
We have therefore reluctantly decided that it would be too big a risk to proceed with this year’s exhibition. We believe that now is the time to pause, take stock, to review our plans, and restore our finances so that we will be in much better shape to mount the exhibition in 2024. We are actively following up a number of encouraging proposals to put ourselves on a firm financial footing and the extra time available will be invaluable in
bringing this about.
We realise that this decision will be a disappointment to our artists and many loyal supporters. We can assure you that it is not one we have taken lightly, but we are convinced that it is the only option open to us if we are to ensure the continuation of this wonderful event in years to come.

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