A record entry for the Mote Park art competition: 40 shortlisted works are on show free at the park's Learning Space, 10.30am to 3.30pm daily until 8 November.

Forty pieces of art inspired by Mote Park are on show in the park itself, free, until Sunday 8 November. They were picked from a record entry to this year’s Mote Park art competition.

The exhibition is in the Mote Park Learning Space, next to the café. It is open every day from 10.30am to 3.30pm (Maidstone Borough Council, 27 October).

What is on the walls

The council runs the competition every year. This year’s theme was “Park Life”. Judges chose 40 works for display from more than 100 entries, which the council says is a record.

The artists worked in ink, watercolour, textiles, sculpture and 3D models. The two category winners:

  • Over 18: Keely Dunnil’s A Walk in the Park, a charcoal drawing two metres long
  • Under 18: a diorama of the Mote Park waterfall, which the young winner chose as his favourite spot

The runners-up in both categories took the boathouse and the play equipment as their subjects.

The head judge was the local artist Cas Holmes. Councillor Stephen Thompson, the council’s cabinet member for healthier stronger communities, said selecting the shortlist “was no easy task”. “It is so heartwarming to see what people love about our park,” he said.

Vote for your favourite

Visitors are asked to vote for their favourite piece while they are there. The artist with the most votes wins a £50 art supplies voucher, given by the competition’s sponsor, Marathon Wealth Management.

What it means for you

  • When: daily until Sunday 8 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm
  • Where: the Learning Space beside the café in Mote Park
  • Cost: free, with no booking mentioned
  • Parking: our parking guide covers Mote Park and the town-centre car parks

It makes an easy add-on to a half-term walk round the lake. For more ideas this week, see what’s on in Maidstone.