Royal William Yard’s Artober Exhibition opens on Friday 23rd October at Melville Corner. For nine days it brings together 21 artists and makers, including the five winners of the Yard’s first Paint Out. Entry is free, and the exhibition is open daily from 11am – 4pm until Sunday 1st November. The South West Coast Path Photographer of the Year Exhibition runs alongside it until Thursday 29th October.

The exhibition is the finale of Artober – the Yard’s third month-long contemporary art festival – which has already brought the Affordable Art Market, Plymouth Art Weekender, Path’s Hope Begins With A Home community exhibition, art workshops, and the Paint Out to the waterfront this month.

The five winners of the Paint Out, held at the beginning of October, will take their place in the exhibition. Artists had four hours to capture the Yard from designated spots, and the winning pieces cover a variety of styles and techniques. Sebastian Soper took the overall prize, with Ronan Lear, David Fernandez Giron, Beck Curtis and Zi Jie Chan completing the top five.

Among the artists showing their work at the Artober Exhibition are The Conscious Sisters CIC, run by Plymouth sisters Karen and Fiona Evans, who rework historic knitted fishermen’s jumpers to explore contemporary fishing issues. They are joined by the Yard’s own artist in residence, Sally Holt, known for her animal portraits in charcoal and on canvas. And textile designer Ewa Morawska, whose mixed-media collages and hangings draw on weathered surfaces and objects found on the shoreline.

The coast and moor run through much of the exhibition. Kate Bosence brings energetic, often abstract paintings and prints of Dartmoor and the coast. She’s joined by Gary Winters, who shares her Dartington studio and works across painting, print and collage. Donna Francesca paints atmospheric coastal scenes in oil, ash and wax, and Amy Teague uses a palette knife for her seascapes and landscapes. Alongside them are James Lewis’ seascapes, Elaine Ford’s paintings of land and sea, Erica Ankers’ semi-abstract paintings capturing the light and atmosphere of places, and Grace Beswick’s bold, nature-inspired prints.

Elsewhere, Martin Bush shows his bold, abstract impressionist paintings, Amber Jane Stevens explores feminine identity in contemporary painting, and former architect and designer Graham Steen brings his intricate drawings and paintings to the Yard. Former textile designer Polly Plouviez shows colour-drenched paintings, and digital pop artist Bored Claude completes the line-up.

From Friday 23rd – Thursday 29th October, 11am – 4pm, the Melville Building also hosts the South West Coast Path Photographer of the Year Exhibition. Its 23 large-scale images from the annual competition cover the 630-mile trail across Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, spotlighting the impact of climate change on the coastline alongside its landscapes and wildlife. They include ‘Falling Fog’, the overall winning image, taken at West Bay in Dorset. The exhibition was on display at Paddington Station before travelling to Plymouth.

Families visiting Royal William Yard can also take part in:

• Children’s Pumpkin Carving, Natural Source, Arcade (Saturday 31st October, 3 – 3.45pm and 4 – 4.45pm)
• Free colouring for children and adults continues through October at DockSide, Pebble and the Pop-up Shop, with a drop-in session every Saturday morning at DockSide Coffee Bar

Find out more at www.royalwilliamyard.com/artober