Plett Arts Association celebrates strong response to its 2026 festival exhibitions

As the Plett ARTS Festival 2026 came to a close, the Plettenberg Bay Arts Association (PAA) celebrated an encouraging response to the two exhibitions it presented as part of this year’s wider festival programme, Community Canvas and the inaugural White House Collection.

Across the two exhibitions, 126 artworks and creative pieces were sold, while participating artists reached new audiences, made valuable connections and gained opportunities to exhibit at very different stages of their creative journeys.

For PAA, this was exactly what the two exhibitions had been designed to achieve.

“At the heart of the Association is a very simple idea: there should be a place for artists at every stage of their journey,” says Jill Forbes, Chair of the Plettenberg Bay Arts Association. “Whether someone is developing their confidence and exhibiting for the first time or is an established professional artist, we want there to be opportunities for them to learn, participate, exhibit, sell their work and grow.”

Community Canvas creates an accessible space for artists

Held at the Piesang Valley Community Hall from 28 September to 4 October, Community Canvas brought together artists from Plettenberg Bay and surrounding areas in an accessible community exhibition alongside workshops, demonstrations and opportunities for visitors to engage directly with creativity.

More than 100 sales were recorded through Community Canvas over the course of the exhibition, reflecting enthusiastic support from residents and visitors.

For many participating artists, particularly those newer to exhibiting, the significance went beyond the sale itself.

“Every sale means that an artist’s work connected with someone strongly enough for them to take it home,” says Forbes. “For someone who is still finding their confidence as an artist, that can be enormously affirming.”

Community Canvas also included three Community Art Walls, with two offering donated works at R100 and a third at R200, as well as a raffle, workshops and other fundraising activities.

Funds raised through these initiatives will help the Association continue developing opportunities for young and emerging artists in and around the Bitou region, including access to materials, skills development, exhibitions and practical experience within the arts.

An encouraging debut for The White House Collection

PAA also introduced The White House Collection for the first time this year, creating a very different exhibition opportunity for artists.

The nationwide competitive exhibition attracted applications from 54 artists from around South Africa, with 22 artists selected for the final collection through an independent judging process involving art advisor and curator Barbara Lenhard, artist and gallerist Dallas Smith and artist Elize Bezuidenhout.

By the close of the exhibition, 24 artworks had been sold, an encouraging result for the inaugural Collection.

The value of the exhibition, however, was not measured only in sales.

PAA Treasurer and participating artist Marcelle Heller says the Collection also gave artists an opportunity to be seen in a professional exhibition environment and reach people they may not otherwise have encountered.

“Your work hung among known artists, was seen by gallery owners and professional art advisors, and reached a whole new audience,” she told participating artists following the exhibition.

“Alongside the sales came new contacts, new friendships and the seeds of future success.”

For PAA, that exposure is an important part of creating sustainable opportunities for artists.

The Association deliberately developed Community Canvas and The White House Collection as two very different exhibition formats, one offering an inclusive entry point for artists from the community and the other providing a professionally judged and curated platform.

Together, they allowed PAA to contribute to the wider Plett ARTS Festival programme while pursuing its own aim of supporting artists at different levels of experience.

The exhibitions were made possible through the contribution of participating artists, PAA members and volunteers, workshop facilitators, musicians, sponsors, local businesses and members of the public who visited, purchased work and supported the various activities.

The PAA board works on a voluntary basis, with the shared goal of giving participating artists meaningful exposure and opportunities appropriate to where they are in their artistic journeys.

“We came into these exhibitions wanting to create opportunities for artists,” says Forbes. “We came out of them having seen artworks sold, new artists discovered, established artists recognised, people learning new creative skills and connections being made. That gives us something very exciting to build on.”

For the Plettenberg Bay Arts Association, the experience has strengthened its commitment to creating more opportunities for artists and helping grow a connected, supportive arts community in Plettenberg Bay and the wider Bitou region.