OPEN CALL 2025 - MEET THE JUDGES

We’re delighted to introduce the judging panel for this year’s Artist Open Call — five talented and experienced industry professionals whose diverse backgrounds reflect the rich spectrum of today’s creative landscape. From curators, gallery owners and educators to practising artists and editorial creatives, each brings their unique expertise and perspective to the selection process.

Meet the Sixteen Gallery Open Call 2025 Judges below:

ELEANOR WARDLE

PARAGON GALLERY & FRESH ART FAIR DIRECTOR

Eleanor has dedicated nearly 20 years to the art industry, cultivating a deep understanding of both its creative and commercial landscapes. She is the founder and owner of the well-established Paragon Gallery in Cheltenham, which has been a vibrant part of the local arts scene for over 12 years. In addition to her gallery work, Eleanor is also the co-founder and director of a successful art fair company that produces large-scale events in both London and the Cotswolds, attracting a wide range of collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts. Eleanor combines her operational expertise with an insightful curatorial eye, ensuring that each event and exhibition she leads is executed with both precision and artistic integrity.

REBECCA SHANNON

PICTURE EDITOR & SHOOT PRODUCER AT THE GUARDIAN

Rebecca Shannon is a highly experienced Picture Editor and Shoot Producer at The Guardian. Since 2018, she has been responsible for commissioning, directing, and producing a wide range of editorial and commercial shoots — spanning celebrity portraiture, fashion, interiors, and travel. Her work involves shaping visual narratives from concept to final, powerful images, working with photographers, stylists, and creative teams across the industry. Rebecca’s work is about storytelling through aesthetics and the ability to conceptualise compelling visual stories. She understands what it takes to create impactful imagery, and her creative instincts and editorial standards bring a unique lens to the judging process.

CONRAD CLARKE

ARTIST & SPRING GALLERY OWNER

Conrad is a contemporary landscape artist, drawing inspiration from the natural world around him and often focusing on the interaction between plants and their environment. His contemporary approach and aesthetic give his work its distinct and unique feel, reimagining natural scenes and reinterpreting landscapes in ways that are both figurative and emotionally resonant. Alongside his practice, he is also the founder of Spring Gallery in Cheltenham — a flexible pop-up space that supports creatives by offering an affordable, artist-led exhibition space for a wide range of disciplines. Passionate about giving artists a platform, Conrad utilises Spring Gallery to facilitate local artists and curate diverse and interesting exhibitions.

KIMBERLEY HALL

ARTIST, ILLUSTRATOR & ILLUSTRATION COURSE LEADER AT UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Kimberly Ellen Hall is an artist and illustrator interested in personal and social histories and how they move and change in communities. Her image-making explores how motifs and symbols can suggest stories, whether hinting at exposing existing stories or imagining completely new ones. She has been in residence at John Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (2018) and Winterthur Museum and Garden (2020), has been published by Abrams Books and Chronicle Publishing, and has public murals in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and the UK. Kim is also an educator and is course leader on the BA (Hons) Illustration course at the University of Gloucestershire. Her teaching is grounded in liberatory practice, which espouses education as a path to freedom.

ANDY OWEN-SMITH

ARTIST & SIXTEEN GALLERY OWNER

Andy Owen-Smith is a painter working primarily in oils. His work captures slices of everyday life, using colour and form to create atmosphere, movement, and tension. Using instinctive brush strokes, spontaneity, intuitive mark making and use of bold colours to create a unique narrative in each piece of work. A Fine Art graduate, Andy has developed his practice over several decades and, following his passion for supporting diverse creative voices, co-founded Sixteen Gallery in Cheltenham with his son Arthur. Their mission is to create an accessible space to support emerging and established artists, which provides visitors with new and exciting exhibitions that celebrate a broad range of subjects in different styles, techniques, and media.

Together, our judges for the Sixteen Gallery Open Call 2025 offer a unique blend of market insight, keen curatorial eye, editorial expertise, perspectives of practising artists and advocates for emerging talent. Valuing work that resonates emotionally and authentically, the panel is looking forward to discovering bold ideas and work that speaks with authenticity and purpose, whether you’re just starting out or refining a mature practice.

Follow the link below to find out more and submit to the Open Call.

Submissions are open until 12:00pm on Sunday 13th July 2025.

OPEN CALL 2025