Scotland’s oldest artist-run organisation on the road to Ayr for annual exhibition

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland’s oldest and largest artist-run organisation is coming to Ayr this month - venturing outside Edinburgh for only the third time since 1892.The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) will hold its annual exhibition at the Maclaurin Art Gallery, in Rozelle Estate, from Sunday, November 19 through to January 14.The show, which is free to enter, will feature around 175 artworks, including painting and printmaking, installation, moving image and performance pieces.The SSA has been hosting its flagship exhibition in the Royal Academy Building in Edinburgh since 1892 - only being held outside the capital twice before; once in Glasgow in 1948 and then in Dundee in 2009.On show will be work by 15 recent graduates from all five Scottish art schools, who received awards from the SSA earlier this year following visits to degree shows by SSA selectors in the summer.Scottish artist collective, CutLog, will stage a series of moving image works under the theme Viewpoint.Around 20 coveted prizes will be awarded during the first week of the exhibition, including the W.

Gordon Smith Award, which will see an artist win a potentially career-changing £4000.This prize was set up in 2017 in memory of the late art critic and broadcaster, who was a champion of the SSA.Other highlights include new work by the Maclaurin’s patron, Peter Howson, who was recently the subject of a major critically acclaimed retrospective in Edinburgh.SSA’s new President, Vasile Toch, said the change of venue is part of a bigger plan to reach out to all areas of Scotland, while continuing the organisation’s longstanding and ongoing relationship with the National Galleries of Scotland.Mr Toch, an architect and artist who lives in Ayrshire, said: “We want to create