THIS annual exhibition is one of the most popular in the area and possibly the most democratic with works chosen on a first-come basis rather than through selection.

This year, in response to feedback from artists, the number of works has been restricted to 50 on the mezzanine floor and 50 on the ground floor, with craft works in glass cases.

Photography, once in the also-ran category at fine art exhibitions, nowadays has a distinguished place alongside paintings due to technology. Guy Carpenter's works are highly evocative. One gives an eerie quality to a night-time view of Richmond, mostly monochrome except for a splurge of pale yellow projecting from an archway, while another photograph, Redcar Steel Mills, is a visual explosion of flame colours.

Other notable photographers are Ian Thomas, who captures a perfect mirroring of hills and buildings on the flat surface of a lake, a tour de force of observation and patience rewarded; David Parnaby, whose Catch Lights is like an abstract etching of zig-zag light against a black background; and Gary Clark for the delicate golden glow of a Tasmanian harbour at dawn.

Paintings range across all styles and are mainly figurative. At opposite ends of the botanical spectrum are energetic impressionist roses by Deborah Selby Wills and Pamela Crawford's accurate watercolour drawing of British wildflowers.

Aileen Harvey's compelling image in Stargazing is the expressive brown eyes in the upturned face of a chimpanzee. Sandra Parker's A Misty Dawn over Wensleydale offers sheep against a beautifully painted landscape and soft toned sky.

Victoria Vinader's stylised pastel portraits of a dreamy-faced young woman and Wendy Jones' filigree trees in luminous silvery blues are also worth seeking out, if still there – as another feature of this exhibition is that works achieving a red dot can be immediately taken away and the spot filled by others.

The exhibition runs until September 2.

Pru Farrier