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Tuesday 10:30am - 5pm Wednesday 10:30am - 5pm Thursday 10:30am - 5pm Friday 10:30am - 5pm Saturday 10:30am - 5pm

RBSA Gallery

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from RBSA Gallery, Nonprofit Organization, 4 Brook Street, Birmingham.

The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) is an artist-led charity which supports artists and promotes engagement with the visual arts through a range of exhibitions, workshops, and events.

12/06/2026

Tomorrow is the last day to see our current exhibitions, the RBSA Portrait Prize 2026 and the RBSA Membership Small Works Exhibition. There are over 200 works to see across both shows, and of course our glorious Gallery Shop to browse, so come on down today or tomorrow before the shows are gone for good!

11/06/2026

We look forward to welcoming you all to the Gallery for the Preview Evening of the RBSA Summer Show 2026 on Thursday 18 June from 6.00pm.

Speeches and prize giving will take place at 7.00pm, the exhibition will be opened by Dr Kate Nichols from the University of Birmingham.

See you there!

Image: Lucy Pass, Maraschino 73

10/06/2026

The RBSA Summer Workshop programme 2026 runs from 18 - 29 August, and comprises 10 wonderful art and craft sessions suitable for adults of all abilities and experience levels.

All of our workshops are led by professional artists and are designed so that students can enjoy one-to-one tuition, in-depth demonstrations, and group tutoring, all at a relaxed and comfortable pace.

This summer's programme includes:

Summer Botanicals in Watercolour with
Urban Sketching in the Jewellery Quarter with
Cut and Fold - Exploring Paper with
Ghalamzani Metal Engraving with .ghahramanpouri
Drawing Portraits with
Lino Reduction with
Leaded Panel Stained-Glass with
Madhubani Folk Art with
Life Drawing Studio with Paul Bartlett RBSA
Character Heads in Clay with

Full details and purchase details can be found on our website https://rbsa.org.uk/workshops/, alternatively you can book by calling the Gallery.

09/06/2026

The Next Generation RBSA programme is triennial opportunity open to early-career visual artists based within easy reach of the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham. Through the programme, the Society is offering a small number of artists the opportunity to enjoy the benefits a three-year free membership of the Society.

In order to be eligible to apply for the programme, artists must fit the following criteria:

You may have graduated from an arts-related course within the past few years or you could be a self-taught artist who has chosen to take another route to start your artistic journey
You have a growing body of work that has been shown in exhibitions, but you feel that you would benefit from access to more opportunities
You live within easy reach of the gallery
You have an ongoing and demonstrable commitment to making art
You are prepared to involve yourself in Society activities, such as installing or taking down exhibitions, as a volunteer, and work alongside the existing membership
You are keen to learn and forge relationships with others in the Society

Full details and the application form can be found on our website, https://rbsa.org.uk/call-for-entries/next-generation-rbsa-2026/. Please ensure that you read the application pack carefully before applying.

Image: Ross McCormack, The Worker (detail)

05/06/2026

Coming up in August is our second heritage exhibition of the year: Largely Unseen: Works From The RBSA Permanent Collection.

The objective of RBSA heritage exhibitions is to give the public access to the Society’s Permanent Collection of artworks. Themes for these shows are chosen to facilitate the display of a broad selection of pieces, aimed at giving visitors the opportunity to view as wide as possible a cross section of the works held.

With a collection of around 1000 artworks to choose from, limited space often means that the Archive Team cannot feature the larger works owned by the Society. Largely Unseen will rectify these omissions by focusing solely on the most substantial artworks held in the Permanent Collection.

Both of Norma Rhys-Davis’ monumental oil paintings, 3 Cliffs – Gower III and Seascape, will be shown side by side for the first time, and John Ridout’s sunny gouache piece Little Greek Church will sit next to his bold acrylic Blue And Ochre Landscape.

The show runs from Tuesday 4 - Saturday 29 August.

Image: Norma Rhys-Davis RBSA, 3 Cliffs – Gower III, 1988

04/06/2026

Two weeks to go until the RBSA Summer Show 2026 opens on Thursday 18 June with its Preview Evening from 6.00pm.

Opening the show will be Dr Kate Nichols from the University of Birmingham, with speeches and prize giving from 7.00pm.

Image: Wan Ning Liao, Meeting Another Me In The Fields Of Donbas

03/06/2026

The Gallery Shop is looking wonderfully colourful at the moment with new scarves from Heron Design Studio and ceramics by Helen Harrison. We also have large collections of jewellery, textiles, glassware, prints, books, and gift cards, so pop in today and have a browse.

02/06/2026

Open for applications on our website is Next Generation RBSA, a programme for emerging artists who would like the opportunity to be awarded a free three-year membership of the RBSA.

Whether or not you have an arts education, if you are an emerging artist committed to making art, who would like to immerse yourself in Gallery and Society activities, we want to hear from you.

This free to enter call is open to all emerging artists, no matter your age. All we ask is that you have a developed practice and would like access to a wealth of opportunities.

Full details, the application pack, and application form can be found on our website, https://rbsa.org.uk/call-for-entries/next-generation-rbsa-2026/ The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 7 July 4.00pm.

Image: Leavon Bowman ARBSA, Eclipsed

28/05/2026

As always, we are enormously grateful to Judd Medical for continuing to sponsor prizes for our exhibitions.

It is also always a pleasure to welcome Sam, pictured here with our Director, Rachel, and Zac to the Gallery to see the prize winning works, this time from Nic Dillon and JR Root.

As a charity, the RBSA is only able to do its incredible work of supporting artists and promoting the visual arts thanks to benefactors such as Judd Medical. Thanks also to the GMC Trust for their continued support.

26/05/2026

The call for entries for the RBSA Prize 2026 is now open for submissions on our website.

The biennial RBSA Prize celebrates creativity and innovation by promoting work at the cutting edge of contemporary art. While this call is open to artists based locally, nationally, and internationally, we encourage those with more contemporary practices to submit work, allowing the RBSA to shine a light on work that is pushing boundaries. All styles and media are eligible, and we invite entries from both established and emerging artists.

The following prizes will be awarded:

First Prize £1000
Second Prize £500
Third Prize £250
Up to six highly commended certificates will also be awarded

The deadline for entries is Tuesday 11 August at 4.00pm and the exhibition will run from Thursday 1 - Saturday 31 October. To enter, visit our website https://rbsa.org.uk/call-for-entries/rbsa-prize-2026-open-contemporary/

Image: Ruiya Xu, Entropy

Address

4 Brook Street
Birmingham
B31SA

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	10:30am - 5pm
Thursday	10:30am - 5pm
Friday	10:30am - 5pm
Saturday	10:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+441212364353

Website

http://www.rbsa.org.uk/

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