By Megan Oberholzer, Fourth Year Liberal Arts
Once a year, the independent art shop Cass Art holds a Staff Exhibition in their downstairs gallery - and this year, it returned between Monday 3rd and Sunday 24th November with a sense of humour and staff camaraderie.
Halfway down Bristol’s Park Street, Cass Art sits at an angle, selling anything from beginners acrylic paints to niche craft materials for established artists. Like all of their stores across the UK, they have an open gallery space - a tradition that has lasted since the opening of the first Cass Art store on Charing Cross Road, London in 1984.
I asked a staff member, Seb, about this year’s Staff Exhibition. 'I don’t know what brought it on really. I have never been able to exhibit [my work] before.' This year’s exhibition included everything from Zelda-inspired digital drawings, thoughtful landscapes and nature art, to mix medium signage-style abstractions made from gold leaf, barbed wire and nails. Seb and many of his colleagues are professional artists and illustrators off the clock. Seb said, 'I hope my art takes off somehow,' and expressed that he’d love to do more exhibitions or even stalls.
Donna Best is credited as this year’s exhibition organiser. She has no online presence, but is a University of Plymouth Design Arts graduate with a post graduate diploma in Theatre Design from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She has exhibited everything from photography to bread sculptures in London, Bristol, Exeter and Birmingham galleries.
The art displayed in the Cass Art gallery cannot be sold through the store. However, interested buyers can certainly message the artists and purchase independently.
‘You know we are not just blagging it. We use the stuff we sell’
Although they might show each other pictures of their work or snoop on their colleagues’ Instagram posts, Ellis, another Bristol Cass Art staff member, said, ‘It’s nice to see each other’s art in real life. We never get the chance to see it in the flesh.’ He said it was another way to ‘get to know each other’. Ellis also described the value of the exhibition for customers. ‘It’s nice to go to […] a shop as a customer and know the people you’re talking to are also interested in the stuff you’re interested in. You know we are not just blagging it. We use the stuff we sell.'
When pitching work to the exhibition, Ellis knew everyone would bring many pieces or a series of large works to display. 'I thought it would be funny to bring something small.' His contribution was a tiny self-portrait hung ever so slightly taller than he is.
Exhibitions like these are not just open to staff. In fact, they are usually open to the public to support the local art community, such as through the Cass Art OPENWALLS series.
Emma Coleman
The OPENWALLS Season 6 submissions have already closed on 9th November, but the pieces will be displayed from 1st December 2025 to 10th January 2026. Details of the Bristol Cass Art open submissions and OPENWALLS exhibitions can be found on their website. It is the place to watch to get your art displayed and to appreciate the amazing works of the Bristol art community.
Featured image: First wall of the Cass Art Staff Exhibition / Megan Oberholzer
Have you visited Cass Art?
