Annual Wexford Lion’s Club Exhibition 2025
Opening Reception & Award Ceremony: Saturday 11th January at 2pm
Guest Speaker & Adjudicator: Artist & Former Curator of the Pigyard Gallery, Patricia Robinson
All welcome to attend.
The Annual Wexford Lions Club exhibition celebrates local talent and offers a platform for artists who are at various stages of their careers as well as those with an interest in art who wish to see their work realised within a gallery context. For this reason, it is an important show within the Wexford Arts Centre’s visual art programme. The exhibition will be on view in the lower and upper galleries of Wexford Arts Centre from Saturday 11th January to Friday 21st February, 2025.
As a result of the tremendous success of previous years exhibitions and the remarkably high-quality work received, the theme for the 2025 Lions Club exhibition was left open. The open brief allows participants the freedom to create exciting and original artwork, and to tell their own stories. These stories or experiences can were related through a varied range of subjects such as urban and rural narratives, abstraction and even pure imagination.
In our upper gallery we feature the work of young, budding artists. Children and young adults were encouraged to experiment with all types of mediums and objects – paints, glitter, buttons, transfers; Lego… The Perpetual Children’s Trophy was awarded this year to Lydon Brody-Hayes for a work Pray for Food with showed his exceptional compositional and paint handling skills.
This year, the People’s Choice Award, run in association with Wexford Tidy Towns, launches in memory of Denis Collins. Denis provided for countless writers and artists during his lifetime as a former Artistic Director of Wexford Arts Centre, gallery owner, and editor and publisher. He was also a social activist and volunteer with organisations including Wexford Tidy Towns, Fair Trade, and Amnesty International.
The People’s Choice Award is a meaningful addition within the annual Lions Club exhibition as it allows the community to select their favourite works in three categories: adult, 10 years plus, and under 10 years. If interested, please pick up and complete a form at the Box Office at Wexford Arts Centre.
Wexford Lions Club has served the community of Wexford since 1979. This support may be monetary such as food vouchers at Christmas for families and individuals in need, or by giving their time to assist community projects such as The Trabolgan Holiday and The Message in a Bottle and the Carer’s Weekend Project.
ADULT AWARD WINNERS 2025
Selected by Artist & Former Curator of the Pigyard Gallery, Patricia Robinson
Sponsored by: Light & Shadow Wexford, Helen McLean, Spectrum Art & Framing, Wexford County Council, and Wexford Lions Club.
Overall: Nen Byrne, Dance to the Beat, 2025, acrylic on canvas.
Merit 1: Aoife Greenan, Cold Bus Service, 2025, oil on board.
Merit 2: Jane Prendergast, Today’s Bread, 2025, mixed media on canvas.
Merit 3: Sarah O’Connor Doyle, Where did you go?, 2025, acrylic on canvas.
Bio-diversity 1: Beata Bekalska, Forest Spring, 2025, mixed media on board.
Bio-diversity 2: Colette Doyle Rochford, Bluebell Harvest Mouse, 2025, oil on canvas.
Helen McLean Art Award: Colette Blake, Spirit of the Woods, 2025, acrylic on canvas.
CHILDREN’S AWARDS WINNERS:
Sponsored by: Light & Shadow Wexford, Helen McLean, Spectrum Art & Framing, and Wexford Lions Club.
Under 6 years: Heidi O’Hanlon, Picnic in the Park, pencil and pen on board.
7-9 years: Nessa Brady, 2025, Coco Running through the Fields, acrylic on board.
10-12 years: Amy Young, Koi Fish, 2025, acrylic on canvas.
13-15 years: Megan Ruane, Lone Puffin, 2025, mixed media on board.
16 years +: Gabija Bielyte, Loki, 2025, acrylic on board.
Highly Commended (under 10 years): Bonnie Ryan, Save the Chameleons, 2025, acrylic on board.
Highly Commended (over 10 years): Finn Stafford, Fire Beach, 2025, spray paint on board.
Perpetual Trophy: Lydon Brody-Hayes, Pray for Food, 2025, spray paint on board.
The exhibition will run in the lower and upper galleries of Wexford Arts Centre from Monday 14th to Friday 21st February 2025. and gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10am-5pm, and Saturday from 10am-4pm.
Wexford Arts Centre and Wexford Lions Club would like to thank Light & Shadow Wexford, Artist Helen McLean, Spectrum Art & Framing, Wexford County Council, and Wexford Tidy Towns for their ongoing and generous support of this exhibition.
Image Credits:
Top Left: Sarah O’Connor Doyle, Where did you go?, 2025, acrylic on canvas.
Top Right: Lydon Brody-Hayes, Pray for Food, 2025, spray paint on board.
Bottom Left: Colette Doyle Rochford, Bluebell Harvest Mouse, 2025, oil on canvas.
Bottom Right: Gabija Bielyte, Loki, 2025, acrylic on board.
For further information on the exhibition please contact catherine@wexfordartscentre.ie or jackie@wexfordartscentre.ie.
