The Society is based in Arnold, 4 miles north of Nottingham, U.K. It was founded in 1967 and is a non-profit making organisation that has around 100 members. Two exhibitions are held each year where over a hundred original paintings are displayed by our members. Meetings are held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the Autumn and Winter period and there is a full programme of demonstrations and workshops by professional artists. In the Summer months, sketching days and excursions are organised; we also meet twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday.

The Society is justly proud to have links with the famous English painter Richard Parkes Bonington, who was born in High Street, Arnold in 1802. His father, also an artist, helped him with his studies whilst his mother, a teacher, kept a school to assist with the household expenses. In 1817 his father moved to Calais and then on to Paris where Richard became a student of Ecole des Beaux Arts. At the age of 20 Richard went to Italy where he learned much and produced his fine paintings. Unfortunately he died at the age of 26 in London due to over work and tuberculosis. Despite his short career, he is regarded as one of the great masters of the English School.

----------------------------------------------------------------