The remarkable response to that first show, which opened on 3 December 1990, deluged and almost overwhelmed the organisers. Over 3,300 works were brought along to the Mall Galleries by eager and hopeful artists from Cornwall to Abergavenny, to Northumberland and beyond. We have gone from strength to strength since those early days.

Inside this edition, the Mall Galleries' Annabel Elton shares her memories of being involved from the very beginning, how DE was brought to life and how it has now 'come of age'.

Over the years, the charity has grown and developed and you might recall that in our last newsletter we announced a new initiative — the launch of the Discerning Eye's own permanent collection. A new prize, the DE Founder's Prize, was also launched at the 2008 exhibition, with the winner's work being the first to join The Discerning Eye Collection. In addition, I invited artists to donate works. I am pleased to say that some artists have indeed contacted us with kind offers of works and that we are now in the process of confirming those donations. We have also had loan offers and aim to mount our first touring exhibition in 2010. If you would like either to donate or loan a work to what we hope will become a unique collection please contact Mary Dodwell.

One artist who has agreed to donate a work is one of last year's selectors, Anita Klein who, I am delighted to report, has also agreed to join the DE education committee to replace Anita Taylor. I am sure she will be a great asset to our activities. Anita is also a previous exhibitor at the ING DE and will be exhibiting again this year, having had two of her works selected via open submission; so look out for them.

I would like to thank all of you who submitted works this year. Many of you will have been disappointed to have been rejected, but the great thing with the ING DE is that each year brings a fresh group of selectors and therefore six new chances of being selected, since decisions are made by each individual selector, not by committee. Selectors are not told of the artists' names; established artists and newcomers alike have the same chance of being chosen, so this is truly an 'open to all' exhibition.

Finally, my congratulations to those who have had works selected for the 2009 exhibition. I am sure your work will be enjoyed by all who visit the Mall Galleries in November and you can be assured that even in these difficult times, we will be doing our best to find new homes for your work!

 

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