About
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists is one of the oldest and most respected artists' societies in Britain, founded in 1814 and granted its Royal prefix in 1868, making it a year older than many of the national institutions that define the cultural landscape of Victorian Britain. Based in the heart of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, the RBSA Gallery presents a year-round programme of exhibitions showcasing the work of its elected members alongside open competitions that welcome submissions from artists at all stages of their careers.
The RBSA emerged from the same cultural ferment that produced the Birmingham School of Art, a tradition of artistic ambition and patronage that has marked Birmingham's cultural life across two centuries. The founding members drew inspiration from the Royal Academy in London while maintaining a distinctively regional identity, committed to supporting the visual arts in the Midlands at a time when London dominated cultural life to an almost total degree. The Royal prefix, granted after Queen Victoria visited the Society's exhibition in 1868, confirmed its status as an institution of national significance.
The gallery occupies a handsome Victorian building in Brook Street, within easy walking distance of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Birmingham Hippodrome, and the many craft workshops of the Jewellery Quarter. The exhibition spaces are well proportioned and professionally lit, providing an excellent setting for works in a wide range of media including oils, acrylics, watercolours, sculpture, prints, and applied art.
The RBSA's membership comprises elected artists who have demonstrated commitment and skill across a range of disciplines. Member exhibitions throughout the year showcase the breadth of practice within this diverse community, from traditional landscape and portrait painting through to experimental sculpture and printmaking. Open exhibitions welcome submissions from non-members, providing an important showcase for emerging and mid-career artists across the region and beyond.
A modest admission charge applies for some exhibitions; others are free to enter. The gallery shop offers original artworks and prints at accessible prices.
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Annual Visitors (2019)
25,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday
💡 Weekday afternoons during a member exhibition for the most contemplative gallery experience
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check the RBSA website before visiting to see what exhibitions are current — the programme changes regularly and knowing what to expect adds to the experience.
- The gallery shop is excellent for finding affordable original artworks; prints and cards by RBSA members start at very accessible prices.
- Combine your RBSA visit with the nearby Museum of the Jewellery Quarter — just a few minutes' walk away — for a full and satisfying morning or afternoon in this historic part of Birmingham.
- Birmingham Snow Hill station is the most convenient rail arrival point, just 7 minutes' walk from the gallery; New Street is also walkable but slightly further.
- Open exhibitions accept work from artists across the UK and are worth attending for the sheer variety and quality of contemporary British art they bring together.
- The gallery is active on social media and announces previews, artist talks, and special events there — following the RBSA online is the best way to plan around highlights of the programme.
- Works in the open exhibitions are for sale; prices range from very accessible prints and drawings to larger paintings by established artists.
- Evening private views for new exhibitions are usually open to the public and listed on the RBSA website — attending a private view is a particularly enjoyable way to experience the gallery.
Highlights
RBSA Member Exhibitions
The core of the RBSA Gallery's programme, member exhibitions bring together works by the Society's elected members — painters, sculptors, printmakers, and applied artists of demonstrated achievement across a wide range of styles and approaches. Member shows reflect the full breadth of contemporary fine art practice from traditional figuration and landscape through to abstract work and mixed media, providing Birmingham audiences with access to a consistently high standard of original art across the year.
RBSA Open Exhibitions
The RBSA's open competitions — held at intervals throughout the year for paintings, prints, and applied art — are among the most prestigious regional open exhibitions in Britain, attracting thousands of submissions from artists nationwide. The selected works demonstrate the remarkable range of talent that continues to flourish in British art, from highly accomplished traditionalists to challenging experimental practitioners.
Works in the open shows are generally for sale, and purchases from these exhibitions have a long tradition in Birmingham collecting circles.
The Jewellery Quarter Setting
The RBSA Gallery's location in Birmingham's historic Jewellery Quarter adds a distinctive dimension to any visit. The Quarter retains much of its Victorian character with small workshops, family businesses, and specialist shops occupying the red-brick terraces that have housed craftspeople here for generations.
Walking through the Quarter before or after a gallery visit — past the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, the working jewellers' studios, and the elegant Victorian streets — gives the RBSA experience a pleasingly artisanal context quite different from visiting a large civic gallery.
RBSA Historical Legacy
As one of Britain's oldest artists' societies, the RBSA carries a significant historical legacy that is reflected in its archives, which document over two centuries of artistic activity in the Midlands. Lists of elected members, exhibition catalogues, correspondence, and financial records document the evolution of artistic taste and professional practice across the period.
Early members included artists of considerable national significance, and the RBSA's role in supporting art education and the development of the Birmingham School of Art is a chapter in the wider history of British art.
Collections
The RBSA does not hold a permanent collection in the conventional museum sense; its mission is to present and sell the work of living artists through its exhibition programme. The archive, however, represents a significant historical collection documenting over two centuries of artistic activity in Birmingham and the Midlands, with exhibition catalogues, member records, and correspondence from 1814 to the present.
Works sold from RBSA exhibitions are held in private and public collections throughout the country.
RBSA Members' Gallery
Rotating display of works by elected RBSA members across all media
📍 Ground floor gallery
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.