The first open exhibition to be held at the Old Parcels Office at Scarborough Railway Station opens this weekend.

Works by 44 of the artists have been selected by the panel of experts for the exhibition.

The panel included Paula MacArthur, an artist and tutor at the Royal College of Art, Tom Wood who has a distinguished career as an artist with work in some of the county's top collections and Sally Gorham, chairwoman of Scarborough Studios, which runs the Old Parcels Office at Scarborough Railway Station.

The artists started arriving at the end of last week to hand in their work and since then the curator Andrew Dalton and the volunteers have been nstalling the art works ready for the opening of the show on Saturday March 12 and runs for a few months.

In keeping with the aims of the Old Parcels Office, the selected works showcase an exciting, eclectic cross-section of contemporary art.

Sally Gorham said “This exhibition which has been made possible through the generous support of Yorkshire Coast Bid brings together work by some of our talented local artists, together with work from artists further afield.

"It’s always been the Old Parcels Office objective to give local artists opportunities to show their work and to bring art from further afield to a Scarborough audience and this exhibition combines both objectives in one show.”

Six of the works have been shortlisted by the selectors for the Yorkshire Coast Destination Business Improvement District (Yorkshire Coast Bid) Prize and the winner will be announced later on during the exhibition.

Winners will be announced in April.

Entry to the exhibition is free.

Shortlisted Works

Marc Appleton: Silent Vessel - Out Newton - Pencil, charcoal and chalk on watercolour paper

Christy Burdock: The World is a Stage - Graphite on paper

Wendy Galloway: India rules. India stamping on the greedy colonialist - Fabric and wood

Ellie Hawkes: Aquamarine - Photographic Print onto white backed acrylic disc

Zach Thorne: The End Part XXII – Oil on Canvas

Anna Turner: Test Card III - Acrylic on linen

Other prizes include the Hawthorn Printmaking Prize sponsored by Hawthorn printmaking supplies and a ‘Visitors’ Choice’ prize which will be awarded to the most popular work as voted for by visitors to the exhibition - also sponsored by Yorkshire Coast DBid.

Selection Panel

Paula MacArthur – Paula is a painter, exhibiting nationally and internationally, and working from her studio in Rye, East Sussex. Alongside her painting practice, she curates exhibitions, is BA Painting Tutor at Open College of the Arts and is a member, and current chair, of the artist-led group Contemporary British Painting.

Tom Wood – Tom is based in Halifax and has a long and distinguished career as an artist and art educator both in the UK and Hong Kong. Toms work is held by the Yale Centre for British Art, HRH The Prince of Wales, The National Portrait Gallery Collection, The National Trust, London Transport Collection, and The Hepworth Wakefield.

Sally Gorham – As well as being Chair of Scarborough Studios which runs the Old Parcels Office Sally combines her own art practice with curating exhibitions of work by emerging artists. Her work has been shown in China, Canada, USA, London and other parts of the UK.