Scotland’s only society dedicated to promoting watercolour painting, the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) is planning its 143rd Annual Open Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) in Edinburgh in January 2024.

The Society has announced a new prize marking emerging talent: the £1,000 Dawson Murray Award for the innovative use of water-based media, open to artists under 30, and launched in memory of artist Dawson Murray – an RSW member who passed away in 2022, by his wife Liz Murray, also an artist.

Artists under 30 also have the opportunity to win the £3,000 Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award – made annually at the exhibition. Last year’s winner, Dominik Zarzycki (pictured), planned to use the award for an expedition to Greenland. Artists included in the exhibition will be eligible for a wide range of prizes with a total value of more than £10,000, including the £4,000 W Gordon Smith & Mrs Jay Gordonsmith Award.

The online system for submissions (see panel, left) will open on 2nd Oct, and all submissions must be complete by 5th Nov. Work by non-members will then be considered by a selection panel for the exhibition, which will open on 13th Jan in the RSA’s Upper Galleries.

RSW President, Angus McEwan, said, ‘The RSW is unique among the artist societies I’ve seen around the world because it brings together artists working in all kinds of styles and techniques. At an RSW exhibition, you can see straight away how inventive and expressive these artists are. We want to continue to encourage artists to think again about all that can be achieved with watercolour and water-based media.’