The thirteenth annual exhibition of wildlife art hosted by MIWAS at Marwell Wildlife proved once more to be a great success, despite the economic downturn! Television presenter and Zoologist Mark Carwardine declared the exhibition officially open on the special guest evening of Wednesday 24th August, following which he presented the category winners of the 2011 ‘BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year’ with their prizes.

Stella Mays won the overall prize of a trip to Borneo with her winning entry ‘Amur Ambush’, a stunning picture of Siberian Tigers and all the BBC category winning pictures were on display during the exhibition. The MIWAS award winners were also presented with prizes by Mark Carwardine, with help from BBC Wildlife Magazine Editor Sophie Stafford, the MIWAS best exhibit award being won by Angela Smith with her picture ‘Supremacy’.

The exhibition was packed on all three private view evenings and on the Bank Holiday weekend the Art Market was opened to allow visitors to Marwell the opportunity to meet some of the many artists and sculptors who had stalls in the marquee.

The art marquee, the largest to date of any MIWAS exhibition, remained very busy, being particularly crowded on the Bank Holiday Monday and many artists reported strong sales and several ‘sell-outs’! The camaraderie and laughter between the artists and sculptors sharing the bustling marquee was great to witness, and everyone seemed to be having fun!

The exhibition catalogue was considered the best to date and an exit survey conducted by Marwell showed that 40% of visitors to the exhibition this year awarded the show ten out of ten marks for enjoyment! Once more a huge thank you to all the generous MIWAS artists who stepped forward to help stage the event – now recognised as the world’s largest annual wildlife art exhibition. This 2011 show was a great tribute to our thriving, talented and happy art society!

Pip McGarry
Chairman, MIWAS.