By Megan Oberholzer, Fourth Year Liberal Arts
Bristol’s next artistic chapter is unfolding - and its artists are just next door. From public murals and street art to new painters and professional photographers, there’s a whole scene waiting if you know where to look.
It’s no secret that Bristol is a hotspot for creatives, with Invest Bristol and Bath describing both cities together as the ‘third-largest media hub’ in the UK and Bristol City Council’s first culture impact survey discovering that our cultural sector generated £892.9m in economic impact in 2023/24. However, Bristol’s artists mean more than economic abstractions. With a combined audience of more than 10 million people in 2023/24, Bristol’s art community has a real social impact on our everyday lives, across wellbeing, education, employment, and environmental sustainability. And we owe it all to the consistent efforts of individual local artists sharing what they love. So, here are some brilliant local artists to watch, and where they are exhibiting.
Frank Morris - Drawing Pubs and Sharing Online
Frank Morris is a freelance artist and content creator, who started drawing pubs in London during the pandemic and has continued his passion while living in Bristol. His fineliner drawings do not start with a plan or pencil sketch and come straight from the scene in front of him. He prefers to draw across multiple sittings, chatting with locals and developing a real feeling for every pub he takes as his subject.
His Instagram posts @frankspubdrawings document his projects with cosy music and a warm narration on each pub’s history, which overlays his sincere videography of the location and the process of each drawing as it takes shape. Prints of his works can be found on his website and Etsy.
Mina Malpass - Painter, Drawer and Lover of Colour
Mina Malpass is a ‘late blooming’ artist, who after a busy professional career, discovered a real joy for painting when she retired 13 year ago. While Mina also dabbles in portraiture and pencil drawings, her collection of colourful landscape acrylics are especially awe inspiring and the result of hard work developing her skills over the dozen years or so. Her ‘Avon Gorge’ was voted the ‘Public’s Choice’ by the Clevedon Art Club Summer exhibition and also features in Cass Art’s January OPENWALL.
'I have done a number of pictures in this style, and love how it allows me to transform a conventional image into a something a bit more interesting, and which hopefully makes the viewer look differently at a very familiar icon. I absolutely love colour and this way of painting allows me to mix it all up.'
Evie Luckhurst - Accomplished Visual Artist and Writer
Evie Luckhurst is a writer and visual artist from west Cornwall and a University of Bristol student studying Liberal Arts. Simple materials are essential to her artistic practice, which is shaped by the bounds of student life. Her works take inspiration from theories of art and active reflection on the relationship between pen and paper as mediums for both visual art and writing. She has exhibited work at Wharfside Art Hub in Penzance, Cornwall, as well as the Louisiana in Bristol, and her poem ‘lace’ (2025) was published online and commended by The Poetry Society and The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art.
‘With my drawings and my writing, I want to deviate from what’s expected of the simple materials I use. I want to display what I see on a page with lines restrained so that what’s there is at once comprehensible and strange.’
Sam Baggott - Graphite and Charcoal Intuitive Artist
Sam Baggott is a relatively new artist living in Bristol, who is inspired by nature and our human connection to it. After working as nurse during the pandemic and raising a family, Sam’s art has become a therapeutic return to her early passions. She studied art at A level and for a brief time at university. After first completing portrait and pet commissions for friends and family, she has come to experiment with her style and artistic voice and landed on something truly unique. Her mostly black and white pieces blend the natural and the human with restrained bursts of colour that often result in a magical and whimsical feel.
After some encouragement from her husband, she first brought her art to the public through the Totterdown Arts trail and has since featured in cafés, art fairs, virtual galleries and finally the Cass Art OPENWALL. You can explore and purchase her artworks and prints on her website.
“Bristol is a creative city full of opportunities from art trails and fairs to Art galleries that like to showcase new, emerging and local artists to the more established galleries. There is inspiration around every corner from the hustle and bustle of the city to the serene and tranquil forests and countryside.”
Nicky Ebbage - Authentic, Collaborative Photography
Nicky Ebbage is a non-binary event and performance photographer and a UOB master's student. Their photography has a natural, authentic style that borrows from documentary conventions. They specialise in capturing moments of emotions, expression and creativity, with a focus on local and marginalised communities. As you can imagine, their photography really transports you into the moment.
Nicky’s first contact with photography was through their mum’s photography business and since 2018, they have gone into business for themselves as a freelance photographer. In 2020, they founded a project called Bristol Trans Portraits, which has now evolved into the UK-wide Trans Photography Collective that aims to promote and connect transgender photographers like themselves.
Artists in Bristol are everywhere. And for those looking for their artistic community, there are many great opportunities to get involved. Why not become a University of Bristol Art Society patron, or apply to the Annual Open Exhibition at the RWA? And if you’re not an artist, you can always see what’s on at the Clifton Arts Club, the Clevedon Arts Club, Arnolfini, the Makers - the list doesn’t end.
Alex Boersma
Featured image: Megan Oberholzer
Do you know any artists in Bristol?
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