Bordering on the Sacred
The Festival of the Sacred Arts is pleased to offer Scottish visual artists an opportunity to enter their work for inclusion in a week-long exhibition in the Undercroft of St Vincent’s Chapel, Stockbridge. The exhibition will form part of the 2026 Edinburgh Festival for the Sacred Arts which takes place between the 16th and 22nd August.
The theme of the exhibition is ‘Bordering on the Sacred’ and has been chosen to elicit (or stimulate) visual art that uses some of the boundaries of traditional Christian artefacts as a frame of reference within which to present freshly resonating figurative or abstract images. These frames of reference might be churchyard walls, church doorways, altarpiece frames, cloisters, printed borders in prayerbooks and missals, or similar recognizably Christian motifs.
The Undercroft
The Undercroft of St Vincent’s Chapel makes a fine exhibition space (see pictures below) and has regularly been used as such. Please note, however, that the entrance is at the foot of a stone stair and that there is no disabled access.
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The submitted pieces, up to 150cm square in size, can be paintings, drawings, etchings, fabric, embroidery, or collages. Sculptures and installations are also eligible, subject to space available.
A limited number of works for inclusion in the exhibition will be chosen by a panel, including Edinburgh artists David Grossart and Carol Marples, some of whose work will also be exhibited.
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Submission will open on 1st March 2026 and close on May 1st 2026. The list of works selected for exhibition will be decided by June 1st.
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Submission is free. Initial submissions should take the form of jpeg images sent as attachments to exhibition@edinburghsacredartsfestival.org . Up to three works may be submitted, with up to three images of each work. The images should include information on title, medium and size.
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All submissions will be assessed anonymously and accordingly images should not include any indication of the identity of the artist. All personal details -- name, address, phone number, email, website, etc. -- must be confined to the accompanying email, which should also include the title.
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Successful submissions may be offered for sale, subject to a commission of 15%. Once the final choice has been made, exhibitors will be sent detailed instructions about mounting and dismantling the exhibition.
Selection Panel
Carol Marples
Carol left school at 16 to attend her local art collage in Mansfield, beginning her love and passion for art, which developed into a life’s calling of bringing spirituality and artistic expression together. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1988 with a BA (Hons.) in tapestry, and since then she has regularly exhibited created artworks and installations, taught courses and led workshops for all ages and abilities both in person and online.
From 2011-2019 she studied the intersection of art, workshop and theology for an MLitt and PhD at St. Andrews University Institute of Theology, Imagination and the Arts.
Carol is the artist and teacher for the Soul Marks Trust (Est. 2003). and presently works as the Arts and spirituality facilitator for the St. James episcopal Church, Leith.
Eileadh Swan
Eileadh Swan is the owner of Morningside Gallery in Edinburgh, a gallery specialising in contemporary Scottish paintings and ceramics. With a focus on both established and emerging artists, the gallery presents regular solo and mixed exhibitions throughout the year. Eileadh has worked in the gallery for over twenty years. Prior to that she completed a PhD in Social Anthropology.
David Grossart
David Grossart is an Edinburgh based artist and icon painter, working across a range of mediums, with a particular focus on painting. In his icons, he fuses modern approaches to oil painting with the traditional forms and techniques of iconography. And in Edinburgh, his work can be seen in St.Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place ; St.John’s Church, Princes Street and in Old St.Paul’s, Jeffrey Street.
“My calling and journey as a creative artist has been intimately connected with my desire to know and express something of the divine. Whether exploring the human face or the wonder of creation in all its forms, or using the magic of colour through the divine energy of icon painting, I hope to reflect something of the truth found in the words of St.John of Damascus ; The whole world is a living icon of the face of God.”
Recent exhibitions of his work were held at St.Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh in 2022 and 2025. Patrons include the Bishop of St.Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the former Bishop of Edinburgh and the Knights of Malta.