Upcoming Exhibitions: June

Norfolk Churches Trust 50th Anniversary Primary Schools Art Competition:

Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026

10am-4pm Monday to Friday; 10am-3pm Saturday (Closed Sunday)

Admission:  Free

‘Over 600 artworks by Norfolk primary school children’

Norfolk's Young Artists Bring their Churches to Life

The Norfolk Churches Trust is delighted to announce the opening of a remarkable exhibition at the Crypt Gallery, Norwich School. Showcasing the results of its 50th Anniversary Primary Schools Art Competition, this is one of the largest celebrations of children's art ever staged in Norfolk. This exhibition runs from Monday 15th June to Saturday 20thJune, open 10am-4pm Monday to Friday and 10am-3pm on Saturday.

The competition, which attracted an extraordinary 2,500 entries from primary schools across the county, invited children to draw, paint and capture their local church. The response exceeded all expectations. From the entries received, over 600 artworks have been selected to be displayed in this special exhibition, offering visitors a vivid and often deeply moving portrait of Norfolk's churches seen through the eyes of the county's youngest residents.

For many of the children involved, the competition offered a first opportunity to step inside their local church, to look up at the vaulted ceilings, trace the carvings in stone, and begin to understand the extraordinary heritage that these buildings hold within their walls. The results speak for themselves works of remarkable imagination, observation and creativity that reflect the richness of what the children found.

The competition was open to children across three age categories: Reception; Years 1 & 2; Years 3 & 4; and Years 5 & 6. Prize-winners in each category receive significant awards in art equipment — £500 worth for the winning school and £100 for the winning artist in first place, with £250 for the school and £75 for the artist in second place — all kindly supplied by Abacus Creative Resources. At a time when arts budgets are under severe pressure, NCT hopes these prizes make a real and lasting difference to the schools involved.

The competition sits at the heart of NCT's mission: to encourage people of all ages to explore and cherish Norfolk's extraordinary collection of historic churches, over 650 of them, the greatest concentration of medieval churches anywhere in the world. Inviting children to look at these buildings with fresh eyes is part of that endeavour, and the response from schools, teachers and families across the county has been wonderful.

The finalists' work was judged by a distinguished panel of celebrity judges: Susie Fowler-Watt, journalist and presenter on BBC Look East; Ben Youngs, England rugby international; and Lauren Hemp, professional footballer and Lioness. NCT is enormously grateful to all three for giving their time and bringing such enthusiasm to the judging process.

A special Prize Presentation Ceremony will take place on Tuesday 17th June at 4pm, when prizes will be presented by the celebrated ceramicist and entrepreneur Dame Emma Bridgewater.

The Norfolk Churches Trust warmly invites everyone to come and celebrate what the children of Norfolk have achieved. The exhibition runs for one week only, so do take the opportunity to see these wonderful works in person — and perhaps to discover the beautiful setting of the Crypt Gallery for the first time.

The Norfolk Churches Trust was founded in 1976 and exists to support and promote Norfolk's outstanding collection of historic churches. 2026 marks the Trust's 50th anniversary year.

Gather26 — Norwich School Art and Design A Level Exhibition: More details to follow.

Upcoming Exhibitions: July

Mark Pilkington: Rapport – Solo exhibition of photographs and scanographs by Mark Pilkington

Wednesday 8 July – Saturday 18 July 2026

Mark Pilkington will be showing his most recent photographs and scanographs at the Crypt Gallery in Norwich this July. Titled ‘Rapport’, this will be Mark’s first solo exhibition since moving from North Yorkshire to Norfolk two years ago. The exhibition opens Wednesday 8 July 2026 and continues daily until Saturday 18 July 2026 (closed Sunday 12 July). This will be the first occasion that this new body of work has been publicly exhibited.

Both still life and landscape photographs will be on show. The landscape photographs feature Mark’s presence in the North Norfolk landscape. Being present in his photographs, where he explores ‘belonging’ to places he has visited or has lived, has been a feature of Mark’s practice since the 1980s. The still life photographs and scanographs are a result of collecting and photographing or scanning elements from the landscape, e.g. rocks, petals, feathers etc. The images have a poetic quality rather than being merely descriptive and the compositions can be seen as representing personal relationships.

Mark says ‘My practice is less about providing a mirror or documentation of a subject but rather it is an attempt to transcend the literal, to direct attention to a more poetic response’.

‘Rapport’ will be available to all visitors, free of charge, from 10.00 to 16.00, Monday – Saturday, between Wednesday 8 – Saturday 18 July, 2026 (closed Sunday 12 July).

The opening reception will take place on Wednesday 8 July 2026 from 17.00 – 20.00

Mark Pilkington (b1951) studied Fine Art before completing a Master’s degree in photography at the Royal College of Art in London in 1977. Mark taught at a number of UK colleges before moving to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1997, where he taught both the History and Practice of Photography.

Mark has previously exhibited in the UK, including at the Photographers Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Barbican in London and Format International Photography Festival in Derby. Notably, in the 1980s Mark made work in collaboration with artist Helen Chadwick that is now in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery in London. Mark has exhibited extensively in the UAE and has had two solo exhibitions at Tashkeel gallery in Dubai as well as exhibiting in the Sharjah Biennale 6 and 7. His work has also been shown at a number of international art fairs including the Turin Art Fair, Beirut Art Fair and Art Dubai.

Mark has now retired from teaching and returned to the UK in 2018. He now lives and works in North Norfolk.

www.markpilkingtonphotographs.com

@markpilkingtonphotography

Upcoming Exhibitions: July

Chris Hann — Paintings and Drawings

22nd July to 1st August 2026 — Open Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 4.00pm (Closed Sundays)

Chris Hann — Statement

I have realised during the last few years that there is a thread that runs through all my work which is the idea of containment. Houses, harbours and boats are all containers in different ways and many of Hepworth's sculptures have elements of containment too.

I moved to Cornwall from Norwich in 1982 and this had a profound influence on my work. Although I returned to Norwich in 1987, Cornwall has always remained my spiritual home and the catalyst for my ideas, particularly the harbours of St. Ives, Mousehole and Falmouth. An additional major influence has been a long series of drawings done in Barbara Hepworth's garden and studio, as well as the works of Paul Feiler and Terry Frost.

Integrated in to some of the works are elements of Cubism and Chinese perspective as a method of structuring images.My major concern is with composition and colour, and using colour to open up the space on a 2D surface. Sometimes collage is used as a starting point which determines what the composition might be, although this is always subject to change. The collage elements also act as parts of the real world juxtaposed with the suggested applications of paint. Some works have other Cornish images such as tin mine chimneys, segments of Hepworth's sculptures, parts of fishing boats and glimpses of sea, beach and sky. These are not abstract works - they are abstracted - all the works start with observational drawing.

The challenge with my work is to bring these elements together to produce a strong composition that works visually in terms of different relationships as well as an image that evokes a sense of place and meaning - something that can communicate before it is fully understood.

Just as a fisherman is 'caught' by the fish, I am continually drawn back to certain places and images. Mousehole harbour with its solid granite walls containing and protecting the small boats from the ravages of the sea is like a womb. The V shape entrance/exit to the harbour is anatomically feminine too and relates to Hepworth's sculpture 'Divided Form' which has been a source of many works.