Following the highly successful exhibition in the theatre during the summer of 2019 the curatorial team from Artmill Gallery had arranged for a three-month long exhibition in the Theatre Royal Gallery but lockdown restrictions of necessity meant the complete closure of the theatre. This had a knock-on effect with the schedules and a frustrating wait of two years for things to settle into its normal pattern with the resumption of programmes, the re-opening of the restaurant and bar, and the reviving of displays of the visual arts. Theatre Royal Plymouth is an ideal venue to foster the Society’s founding aims set, as it is, in the heart of the city and being open to audiences of widely varying tastes.

From its formation in 1944 and the inaugural exhibition in the City Art Gallery the aim of the Society was to present to the people of Plymouth work of professional substance, the members being drawn from the City or who had strong links with it. Those aims remain the core principle though the membership has been considerably broadened in the intervening years, as have the external influences that prompt the work of the professional artist. The inclusion of three dimensional work in the exhibition this time, constructions and cast bronze sculpture, strengthen to great effect the members’ presentation and the range of work on offer