MONTPELLIER GARDEN, CHELTENHAM - JUNE 6 2026 is NOW LIVE

SATURDAY 6 JUNE, 2026 10am - 5pm

We had such a wonderful day last year, we decided to do it again! Come and join the third  plein air painting competition at Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham  with prizes to be won

Registration is NOW CLOSED

Open to traditional (as opposed to digital) 2D artists of all ages media and styles, the criteria to get your work judged by our expert panel is that your entry is started and completed in the gardens on the day,or within 200 metres from the garden boundaries (to include Montpellier Street) within the time allotted, and is made in direct response to the surroundings.

Registration

For all over 18’s who have registered for the event, the entry fee is £15

£14-18's are  FREE (under 14's are free, but not eligible fro judging)

Prizes:

£250 Overall Winner     - 

Lucy Birkinshaw          

£100 Contemporary Abstract Landscape prize - sponsored by Gardens Gallery 

Liz Freedamn 

£100 Drawing and illustration prize - sponsored by Friends of Montpellier Bandstand and Gardens (FOMBAG) 

Lynn Hurcum

£100 Urban artwork prize - 

sponsored by Cheltenham Arts Society

Joe Meldrum

£50 Sense of Place and Location

Jacksons Art Voucher, sponsored by wtscollective

Owen Eaddy

4 Highly Commended prizes will also be awarded 

Becky Seaby

Leanne Violet

Imogen Saunders

and

Ben Millward

We are hugely grateful to all of our sponsors, for supporting this event:

Sponsor websites:

Gardens Gallery

https://www.gardensgallery.co.uk

Friends of Montpellier Bandstand and Gardens (FOMBAG) https://www.facebook.com/MontpellierGardens/mentions/

heltenham 

https://www.theartssocietycheltenham.org.uk

Our  confirmed judges so far are:

 Conrad Clarke, SPRING gallery owner and award winning professional contemporary landscape artist. His work draws inspiration from the natural world around him and often focuses on the interaction between plants and their environment.

Nicola Millington is a painter, arts educator and owner of Cheltenham's 'The Art Studio'. She was a wildcard entrant for the Sky Arts Landscape Painter of the Year 2022 and painted en plein air at Compton Verney. 

Painswick Rococo Garden 

16 May 2026, 10am - 6pm 

We had such a wonderful day last year, we decided to do it again! Come and join the third  plein air painting competition at Rococo Garden, with prizes to be won

Registration is NOW CLOSED

Open to traditional (as opposed to digital) 2D artists of all ages media and styles, the criteria to get your work judged by our expert panel is that your entry is started and completed in the gardens on the day, within the time allotted, and is made in direct response to the surroundings.  

Registration

For all over 18’s who have registered for the event, the entry fee to the stunning garden is included in your registration fee of £20. 

Prizes:

1.  Overall winner - Joe Meldrum

£250 cash prize 

private sponsor

Plus free  framing by Eight Bells Framing Tetbury

2.  Contemporary landscape - Niki Bradfield

 £100 cash prize  - private sponsor

3.  Painting / Landscape - 

Rob Osman 

£100  cash prize

(sponsored by Tetbury Goods Shed). 

4.  Sense of Place and  Location - 

Kamil WOj

£50 arts material voucher  plus a free frame of this piece 

sponsored by Jackson's Art Supplies and Framing by  Ro Frames of Stroud

There will be a GROUP EXHIBITION  held at ROCOCO including the winners as part of the Stroud Open Studios Dates – 13/14th June and 20/21st June 

5. Rococo Artists in Residence

The winners of the above categories will be invited to take part in a residency to paint seasonally within the Garden.

Seasonal Paintings

For those who wish to enter, we are continuing  this hugely successful category in this year's competition.

- Winners and Highly Commended will be offered the opportunity to come and  create four pieces of work over the course of the year, all plein air, within the Garden.

- Entry to the Garden up to four times over the year will be free.

+ 4 Highly Commended prizes go to:

Mark Owen

Sophie Wardle

Mel Cooper-Powell

Bobby Open 

We are hugely grateful to all of our sponsors, for supporting this event:

Tetbury Goods Shed  -

https://shed-arts.co.uk

Jackson's Art - 

https://www.jacksonsart.com/welcome-pegasus-customers

Eight Bells Framing Tetbury - https://www.eightbellsgallery.co.uk

Ro Frame of Stroud - https://roframes.com

The Painswick - https://thepainswick.co.uk

The Plein Air Competition will be part of a collaborative programme of events between Painswick Rococo Garden and Tetbury Goods Shed (TGS) 

Roger Dellar, award winning artist and acclaimed en plein air specialist painter and awarded by the following socities: New English Art Club, The Royal institute of oil Painters and The Royal society of British artists, amongst others.

* Jaynie Cordell, professional artist and prize winning en plein air specialist painter, passionate about the creative process, with a love for the outdoors, colour and painting directly from life.    

Chris Woodcock, Prior Owner and Curator at Spencer House Gallery in Tetbury .