2025 Young Person Bursary Awarded
20 June 2025
Penny Solway Proudly Announced as the art unlimited's 2025 Young Person Bursary Awardee
Photo Credits: Graham Hunt

A Chain of Mayors gathered to endorse the presentation of the 2025 Art Unlimited Young Person’s Bursary which was awarded to Penny Solway of Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis, Dorset on Saturday 14th June 2025 in the Art Unlimited Gallery, South Street, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 3NR.
Howard Flanagan, owner of Art Unlimited and initiator of this Award was joined by Cllr Anne Rickard, Mayor of Bridport and Cllr Philip Evans MBE, Mayor of Lyme Regis to present Penny with her Bursary cheque for £2500.
The Bursary has been funded by entry fees from the 2024 Art Unlimited International Open Art Competition. This Award was created to support young student artists within the community and encourage their further education.
Howard Flanagan: ‘We are keen to work closely with both schools and colleges as well as the business community in order to foster young talent and develop a platform here in Bridport from which they can shine.’
Students from local schools including Bridport’s Sir John Colfox Academy, Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis, Beaminster School and Thomas Hardye in Dorchester were invited to submit a 250-word personal statement stating what this award would mean to their future artistic career.
Penny who has already been accepted into her UAL Art & Design Foundation course told us how ‘transformative’ this would be for her enabling her not only to invest in better equipment and tools with which to reflect the full extent of her ideas, but to get out of the studio and explore creation elsewhere. ‘This funding would mean that someone believed in my potential and that belief would push me to make the absolute most of this year.’
The 2025 Competition is currently open for online submissions until Friday 4th July 2025 (NOW EXTENDED UNTIL MONDAY 14th July 2025) with this year’s entry fees going towards the 2025/26 Bursary,
The Shortlisted artists will be announced on 1st August 2025.
An exhibition of all the finalists’ works will be on display at The Malthouse Gallery, Town Mill, Lyme Regis from 6th- 18th September 2025.

Following Howard's exhibition trip to the US and the big interest from artists there wanting to enter our International Open Art Competition but felt the deadline to enter was too tight, we've decided to... Extended our entries deadline until midnight on Monday 14th July to give more opportunity to enter! You can find out more about our 2025 Competition and how to enter by visiting the competition page HERE.

We are delighted to announce the launch of Best Dorset Artist category for our 2025 Competition which is sponsored by Dorset Hideaways . All artists that reside within the county boundary of Dorset are eligible. Whilst we are an international competition eager to discover and show art from around the globe, Dorset is very much our home base. The county has a wealth of diverse creativity that deserves to be recognised and celebrated. Our aim is that the Best Dorset Artist category will provide a platform from which we can display the talent and creativity of the artists that call this picturesque county their home.

Helping to usher in our new 2025 Competition prize category for Dorset based artists, we are holding an exhibition in the Gallery to celebrate some of the talented artists from Dorset who were finalists in our 2024 Competition. Running in the Gallery until Saturday 10th May. You can find out more about the exhibition by checking out its own page HERE . Our 2025 International Open Arts Competition is open for entries until Friday 4th July, You can find out more about the Competition - including the new Best Dorset Artist Category, sponsored by Dorset Hideaways - by viewing the 2025 Competition webpage HERE .

We are proud to announce that our 2025 International Open Art Competition is OPEN FOR ENTRIES. Along with a fantastic top prize of £5,000 we have two new category prizes fresh for this year, and our other category prizes too. The new categories are Best Dorset Artist - for artists that are based in Dorset - and The Adapted Class - for artists who paint with their mouth or feet or use adapted tools to create their art. More can be found out about the Competition on it's dedicated page on our website, the link is below. Good luck if you are entering and please spread the word to anyone else who you feel may be interested. Thank you!

In the Gallery from Monday 10th until Saturday 22nd February during opening hours, the Ocean Love Exhibition will feature paintings and sculptures by Scapa Joe that promote their love of the ocean, while still being in their distinct style that raises awareness about the environment. 'Whilst I have always loved the sea, since moving next to the sea 18 months ago , my love has grown.' - Scapa Joe You can preview some of the artwork that will be on display here. For more details please contact the Gallery.

20 of our Gallery Artists are helping us with the countdown to Christmas, with Christmas baubles they have created especially for us in their own unique style. Starting today and finishing on Wednesday 18th of December, we will be revealing the different baubles created by the Gallery Artists each day and showcasing the work of the featured Artist. You also have the opportunity to potentially own some of these fantastic baubles by entering our Prize Draw, where all proceeds are going to the charity - The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares . To find out more about the Christmas Bauble Countdown, please check out it's own page HERE

From Monday 18th until Saturday 30th November, we will be holding an fortnight Exhibition to prominently display art work from our Gallery Artists that is priced between £25 - £200. It will be a great event to pick up any Christmas presents or for a small indulgence in a treat for yourself! For more information on our Affordable Art Fortnight or to view the artwork that will be on display check out its dedicated webpage here. Also we are now offering a Layaway Scheme, to help spread the costs of purchases between £150 - £5,000, subject to our terms and conditions, to help make the art that we sell more attainable to purchase. More can be found out about this scheme by contacting us directly, or speaking to a member of the team when visiting the Gallery.

We are proud to now offer our customers the ability to pay for Gallery purchases using our Layaway Scheme. For purchases between £150- £5,000, you can now spread the cost with weekly or monthly instalment payments that are relative to the purchase amount and interest free. Each Layaway Scheme is individual and tailored to you - working within our general framework and subject to our terms and conditions. If you would like to find out more contact us directly or speak to a member of the team when visiting the Gallery.

With the judged categories announced at the Awards Night on Saturday 14th and the People's Choice announced via social media on Sunday 29th, we are pleased to further announce the winners of our 2024 International Open Art Competition on our website too. We have been thrilled to have been able to show case these amazing Artists and their artwork with you and if you would like to find out more about them follow the link here. Congratulations to all our winners and also thank you to everyone that has participated in the 2024 Competition, with either entering, visiting the Finalists Exhibition or voting to help choose our People's Choice winner.