00:00For 12 years, Liverpool Art Fair has been giving local artists a chance to showcase their work
00:06while making original art more accessible to people across the region.
00:10Now as this year's exhibition enters its final days,
00:13organisers have revealed the winner of the 2026 People's Choice Award following weeks of public voting.
00:20Something we've done right from the beginning and we think it is really important.
00:22I think first of all it makes you go around the exhibition and look at it a bit differently
00:25if you're trying to think about which artists you really love and you really connect with you.
00:30But it does, as you say, give artists a real sense of achievement and a sense of feeling part of
00:36something
00:36when the majority of the public over a seven-week period have said,
00:40no, that's the artist that I really love.
00:42Charmaine Chowdhury has been announced as this year's winner with two runners-up also recognised.
00:47Each will receive a package of prizes designed to support the next stage of their artistic career.
00:53I'm kind of shocked, to be honest, but amazing.
00:57It's like one thing having your work seen by judges or competitions and exhibitions,
01:03but I think it's kind of the coolest thing for people to vote for your paintings.
01:08For me, that's like the whole point of painting is to get people to resonate and connect with your work.
01:13So the fact that they have is awesome.
01:16It's the coolest thing ever.
01:17This year, the exhibition features work from more than 245 local artists.
01:23Riverside is inspired, a lot of my work actually is inspired by a reference image,
01:28a colour palette and a lot of my imagination.
01:30So it's roughly based on a Paris scene.
01:34And I'm just trying to capture the movement of people in an atmosphere, really.
01:38I paint how I live my life, really.
01:41And at the moment, I'm pulled to living in the city, experiencing as much as possible, making friends, live my
01:47best life.
01:48And so I think that's what my painting represents.
01:52The announcement comes as Liverpool Art Fair prepares to close at the Royal Liver Building,
01:56with Sunday the 26th of July being its last day,
01:59marking what organisers describe as the biggest addition in the event's history.
02:03There's so much talent in our region, you know, that doesn't always get the chance to shine
02:08and to get their work out to the public on a large scale like this.
02:12You know, opportunities for artists are few and far between,
02:15which is why we set this up and why we've managed to keep it going for 12 years,
02:18because, you know, it's really valued.
02:19And it's just incredible to hear from those artists every year who perhaps haven't sold work before.
02:25We have lots of artists who are very, very experienced and lots of sell work all the time.
02:28But every year we have artists who've never sold work before.
02:31Some of you have never shown work before, and we're able to give them their first step on that ladder
02:35towards becoming a professional artist.
02:36The Art Fair is open to artists living within a 35-mile radius of the city,
02:40providing opportunities for both emerging and established creatives.
02:45It's insane when you come to the exhibition and see, like, how talented so many people are
02:51in Liverpool and the North West.
02:53So it's important, I think, to set that out, that there's a lot of talent everywhere as well.
