83 Hyde Park Road, Plymouth PL3 4JN Hyde Park, Plymouth
01752 255020 Mon to Fri, 9 to 5 · Sat 10 to 2
Peirson & Peirson Contemporary Gallery · Framing · Art Prize · Plymouth Enter the Art Prize  →
Hyde Park · Plymouth · since 1985

A Plymouth contemporary gallery and framing centre, now in its twentieth year on Hyde Park Road.

Isabell Peirson has been a central figure in the Plymouth art scene since 1985. The Hyde Park Road gallery and framing centre opened in 2006, and today the studio is run by Isabell with her co-director Clare Holmes and framing principal Gary Albon. In its twentieth year at the address, the studio relaunches as Peirson and Peirson Contemporary, and announces the first national edition of the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize.

Enter the Art Prize  → Visit the gallery · Hyde Park
1985Isabell in Plymouth
2006Gallery at Hyde Park
2026Peirson and Peirson
£1,500Art Prize, first edition
The Peirson and Peirson Contemporary gallery interior on Hyde Park Road, Plymouth
The gallery · 83 Hyde Park Road Plymouth PL3 4JN

Framing for the civic shelf of Plymouth.

From the bench at Hyde Park, over four decades.

Plymouth ArgyleTheatre Royal PlymouthPlymouth GinRockfishUniversity of PlymouthArts University PlymouthUniversity Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
First edition, 2026 · Open call to UK artists 18+

The Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize, in its first national edition.

A national open call to UK-based artists 18 and over in drawing, painting, printmaking and collage. Selected works are exhibited at the gallery from 5 June to 17 July 2026, with a Friday-evening private view on Friday 12 June, 4 to 7pm.

Work delivery deadline · Friday 22 May 2026 Entry fee · £20 for one submission, £40 for up to three Maximum work · Maximum 800 by 600mm framed Exhibition · 5 June to 17 July 2026
First prize £1,500 Sponsored by Flexihose
Second prize £500 Sponsored by Prof. Stephan Strobel
Emerging Young Artist Award £250 The Kinterbury Prize
The Legacy Award £250 Re:Test Group, in memory of Tom Peirson

The selecting panel

  • Victoria Pomery OBE Former director, The Box Plymouth
  • Richard Kenton Webb MA (RCA) Painter and lecturer
  • Dr Sarah Chapman Artistic Director, the Arts Institute, University of Plymouth
Submit work to the prize  → Or visit the gallery in Hyde Park
The four sides of the studio

A gallery, a framing centre, an Art Prize, and a sculpture courtyard, on a single Hyde Park site.

Four lines, all run from the same Hyde Park Road premises. The gallery and the framing centre share the front-of-house; the Art Prize and the sculpture courtyard sit alongside them.

The gallery

A South West contemporary gallery, curating since 2006.

Twenty years on Hyde Park Road. A diverse roster of represented artists, from emerging painters to internationally established names, shown in a monthly exhibition programme with Friday-evening private views. The current season includes WATER/MARK by David Smart and the spring two-hander Connections, by Carol Douglas and Maureen Brigden.

  • Represented stable across the South West
  • Monthly exhibition programme
  • Private views, Friday evenings
  • Indoor space + sculpture courtyard
Bespoke and conservation framing

On-site workshop. Over a thousand mouldings, in stock.

A working framing centre on the same site as the gallery, run by Gary Albon. Bespoke and conservation framing, tapestry and needlework, 3D and memorabilia displays, custom mounts, commercial and corporate. Over a thousand frame mouldings on the shelves. Most framers source from a catalogue and wait three weeks.

  • 1,000+ mouldings on site
  • Tapestry and needlework framing
  • 3D and memorabilia displays
  • Commercial and corporate
The Art Prize

A national open call, first edition 2026.

The Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize, a national open call to UK-based artists working in drawing, painting, printmaking and collage. £1,500 first prize and three sponsored sub-prizes, including the Legacy Award named for Tom Peirson. Selected works are exhibited at the gallery 5 June to 17 July 2026.

  • £1,500 first prize
  • Three sponsored sub-prizes
  • National open call, UK artists 18+
  • Exhibition Jun to Jul 2026
The sculpture courtyard

An outdoor platform for three-dimensional work.

A dedicated outdoor exhibition space at the rear of the Hyde Park Road site, currently showing work by five represented South West sculptors. A quiet retreat within the gallery, where visitors are invited to sit, reflect, and walk around the pieces. The only dedicated outdoor sculpture space at a contemporary gallery in Plymouth.

  • Frana Favata
  • William Young Cramer
  • Joseph Hillier
  • Chris Buck and Anne-Marie Moss
Recent work · gallery, framing, sculpture yard

Three scenes from the studio, this season.

WATER/MARK, an exhibition by David Smart at Peirson and Peirson Contemporary, May 2026
Current exhibition · the gallery WATER/MARK by David Smart, May 2026 · private view Friday evening.
Hayle II by Niamh Collins, a 60 by 60cm painting in the Art Prize feed
From the gallery feed Hayle II by Niamh Collins, oil on canvas, 60 by 60cm, £950.
A sculpture in the dedicated outdoor sculpture courtyard at the rear of the gallery
The sculpture courtyard From the dedicated outdoor exhibition platform at the rear of Hyde Park Road.
Since 1985 in Plymouth · at this address since 2006 · the rebrand 2026

1985. Isabell Peirson is a central figure in the Plymouth art scene. Four decades later, the same hand is on the gallery.

The Hyde Park gallery and framing centre opened in 2006 at 83 Hyde Park Road, in the leafy Peverell-and-Mutley side of Plymouth, a short walk from Mutley Plain and the University of Plymouth. The limited company was incorporated on the same date with Isabell at the helm.

Today the studio is run by Isabell Peirson with director Clare Holmes, who brings thirty-plus years of bespoke framing and exhibition curation, and framing principal Gary Albon, who brings a forty-year framing CV that previously took in The Shard, The Dorchester, The Savoy, and the Ritz Paris. The framing arm has framed for Plymouth Argyle, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth Gin, Rockfish, the University of Plymouth, Arts University Plymouth, and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

On the twentieth anniversary at the address, the studio relaunches as Peirson and Peirson Contemporary, and announces the first national edition of the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize. The prize\u2019s Legacy Award is named in memory of Tom Peirson.

In Hyde Park, a well-established gallery has entered a new chapter, relaunching as Peirson and Peirson Contemporary. Plymouth Chronicle · February 2026
Connections, the spring two-hander by Carol Douglas and Maureen Brigden, at the gallery
Connections · Douglas + Brigden · spring 2026
1985

Isabell Peirson in Plymouth

Isabell Peirson becomes a central figure in the Plymouth art scene. Forty years later, the same hand is on the gallery.

2006

The Hyde Park gallery opens

M & I Peirson Limited is incorporated on 27 April 2006 with Isabell and Mark Peirson as founding officers. The Hyde Park Road gallery and framing centre opens at 83 Hyde Park Road, PL3 4JN.

2018

Plymouth Society of Artists, tenth show

The Plymouth Society of Artists hosts its tenth consecutive annual exhibition at the gallery. The studio is the established home for the city’s painters, potters and sculptors.

2023

Clare Holmes joins the board

Clare Holmes is appointed Director on 4 March 2023, bringing thirty-plus years of bespoke framing and exhibition curation, with a specialism in 3D and conservation work.

2025

Gary Albon at the framing bench

Gary Albon is established as framing principal, bringing a forty-year framing CV that previously took in The Shard, The Dorchester, The Savoy, and the Ritz Paris.

2026

Peirson and Peirson Contemporary

On the twentieth anniversary at the address, the gallery relaunches as Peirson and Peirson Contemporary, and announces the first national edition of the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize.

UV GLASS MOULDING BRONZE GILT MOUNT BOARD ACID FREE THE WORK MITRED 45 DEGREES
Frame corner, cross-section Moulding · mount · glass
The framing specialism · Gary Albon at the bench

Bespoke and conservation framing, on the same bench that has done the Ritz Paris.

Gary Albon brings forty years of framing experience to the Hyde Park workshop. Before relocating to Devon, he ran a Bedfordshire framing studio whose client list took in The Shard, The Dorchester, The Savoy, and the Ritz Paris. The same hand now works the bench at 83 Hyde Park Road. Co-director Clare Holmes specialises in 3D and conservation framing, the kind of work that protects fragile textiles, medals, and memorabilia from the acid in cheap mount board.

  • 1,000

    Mouldings on site, in stockMost framers source from a catalogue and wait three weeks. The Hyde Park workshop carries over a thousand frame mouldings on the shelves, so a customer choosing a frame for a piece can hold the moulding next to the work at the counter.

  • 3D

    Memorabilia and object displaysFootball shirts and boxing gloves, a son\u2019s medal collection, an army cap-badge frame, a wedding bouquet preserved under glass. Conservation-grade mounting throughout. The kind of brief most chain framers decline to take.

  • 40

    Years at the bench, Gary AlbonThe framing principal\u2019s CV took in The Shard, The Dorchester, The Savoy, and the Ritz Paris before he relocated to Devon. The same standard at the Hyde Park workshop, set against a Plymouth price.

  • 20+

    Civic clients on the Plymouth shelfPlymouth Argyle, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth Gin, Rockfish, the University of Plymouth, Arts University Plymouth, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, and a longer list of corporate accounts. Effectively the civic framer of Plymouth.

Commission, enquire, or submit work

Visit the gallery on Hyde Park, or send a note to the studio.

For framing enquiries, gallery questions, exhibition proposals, or to ask about submitting work to the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize, send a short note from the form. We come back within the working week, by email or phone.

For the fastest answer, phone the studio on 01752 255020, Monday to Friday between 9 and 5, or Saturday morning between 10 and 2. Walk-in framing consultations are welcome at the same hours.

Thanks. The note is on its way to the studio. We come back within the working week, by email or phone.

Visit the studio · Hyde Park, Plymouth

83 Hyde Park Road, Plymouth PL3 4JN.

83 Hyde Park Road
Plymouth
PL3 4JN

Hyde Park is a Plymouth suburb on the Peverell and Mutley side of the city centre, a short walk from Mutley Plain and the University of Plymouth campus. The gallery and framing centre share the front-of-house, with the sculpture courtyard at the rear. Plymouth Argyle\u2019s Home Park is twenty minutes on foot. Park on Hyde Park Road or the adjacent residential streets.

Mon 09:00 to 17:00
Tue 09:00 to 17:00
Wed 09:00 to 17:00
Thu 09:00 to 17:00
Fri 09:00 to 17:00
Sat 10:00 to 14:00 Walk-in framing consultations
Sun Closed And bank holidays
83 Hyde Park Road, Plymouth PL3 4JN. Leafy Peverell-and-Mutley side of the city. Open in Google Maps ↗
FAQ · from the gallery counter

Five questions visitors ask at the bench, most weeks.

How do I submit work to the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize?

Submissions are handled through Curatorspace. The first edition is a national open call to UK-based artists 18 and over working in drawing, painting, printmaking and collage. Entry is £20 for one submission, £40 for up to three, with a maximum framed size of 800 by 600mm. The work-delivery deadline is Friday 22 May 2026. Selected works are exhibited at the gallery from 5 June to 17 July, with the private view on Friday 12 June from 4 to 7pm. £1,500 first prize, with three sponsored sub-prizes including the Legacy Award for an emerging artist, named in memory of Tom Peirson.

Do you frame textiles, medals, football shirts and three-dimensional pieces, or only fine art?

Yes to all of it. The framing centre at Hyde Park Road carries over a thousand mouldings on the shelves and runs four core lines: bespoke and conservation framing of pictures and prints, tapestry and needlework framing under conservation glass, three-dimensional and memorabilia displays (football shirts, boxing gloves, medal sets, christening gowns, wedding bouquets), and commercial or corporate framing. Co-director Clare Holmes specialises in the 3D and conservation work. Bring the piece into the bench at Hyde Park, Monday to Friday 9 to 5 or Saturday 10 to 2, and one of the team will talk through frame, mount and glass options against the piece itself.

Is the gallery intimidating to walk into if I am not a serious collector?

Not at all. We have always been a working studio first, with the gallery, the framing bench and the sculpture courtyard sharing the same front-of-house at Hyde Park. Visitors are welcome at any of the four sides of the studio, whether they are buying a £30 print, commissioning a £900 contemporary painting, framing a child’s drawing, or asking about the Art Prize. The Friday-evening private views are open to the public, and the sculpture courtyard at the rear of the building is a quiet retreat that anyone can sit in for as long as they would like.

Which exhibitions are running now, and when is the next private view?

The current spring two-hander Connections, by Carol Douglas and Maureen Brigden, ran from 20 March to 25 April 2026. The May show is WATER/MARK by David Smart, with a Friday-evening private view on Friday 1 May from 5 to 7pm. The June to July programme is the first edition of the Peirson and Peirson Contemporary Art Prize, with selected works on show from 5 June to 17 July and the private view on Friday 12 June from 4 to 7pm. The exhibition calendar is updated monthly. Email or phone the studio to be added to the private-view mailing list.

Where exactly are you, and what is around?

83 Hyde Park Road, Plymouth PL3 4JN. The gallery sits in the leafy Peverell-and-Mutley side of Plymouth, a short walk from Mutley Plain shops and the University of Plymouth campus. Home Park, the Plymouth Argyle ground, is twenty minutes on foot. The studio shares the street with a row of independent boutiques, cafés and beauticians. Park on Hyde Park Road or the adjacent residential streets. The framing centre and the gallery share the front-of-house, the sculpture courtyard sits at the rear of the building, and the kettle is always on.