Picture This Exhibition opens in Sovereign Centre

A public exhibition showcasing the finalists in an innovative art competition opens on Tuesday 2 November.

North Somerset Council ran the ‘Picture This’ art competition in partnership with Culture Weston over the summer, which invited local people to imagine a carbon neutral future where the worst impacts of climate change have been prevented.

Artworks submitted to the ‘Picture This’ competition could be in any creative medium and focused on what is possible and achievable to address the challenge of climate change and create a better world for the future.

An exhibition showcasing the finalists opens to the public for two weeks from Tuesday 2 November in the Sovereign Centre, Weston-super-Mare. Winners will be chosen by a judging panel later in the month, based on their creativity and ability to engage people in thinking about a net zero carbon future.

Cllr Bridget Petty, executive member with responsibility for the climate emergency, said: “Picture This aimed to inspire local people and provoke change to work towards our target of North Somerset becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

“The entrants did a fantastic job of imagining a net zero carbon future for North Somerset and created some very exciting artworks that visualise a much brighter future, where we have adapted to use low carbon technologies and are more resilient to climate change.”

Culture Weston is a partnership-led initiative that places culture at the heart of Weston-super-Mare’s daily life and future growth. It is led by North Somerset arts organisation Theatre Orchard, in collaboration with North Somerset Council, Arts Council England and the local community.

Tom Newman, Programme Manager at Culture Weston, said: “We all know that the old ways of doing things are not working and have not worked. New ideas are vital. We need new ways of thinking and living, to inspire people and provoke change.”

In net zero carbon communities, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced as close to zero as possible, with the small amount which remains being removed from the atmosphere, for example through planting trees.

The ‘Picture This’ exhibition will be accompanied by music created by young people with special educational needs and disabilities who attend mainstream schools in North Somerset. The recordings were made on a music course the council’s music service ran in partnership with Bath Philharmonia’s creative learning team.

The exhibition will take place in ‘The Market Hall’ of Sovereign Centre (the former ping pong parlour)

See all entries and vote for your favourite over on the Picture This dedicated instagram page