The Liverpool Art Fair fills the ground floor of the Royal Liver Building on The Strand until 26 July, and a good share of what's on the walls takes the river just outside as its subject.
Now in its 12th year and run by the Liverpool arts organisation dot-art, the fair has a record 245 artists this time, every one based within 35 miles of the city. Everything is for sale and prices start at £25 — less a gallery than a room full of local work you can actually take home.
One of the waterfront pieces pairs a photoreal Three Graces skyline with a collaged foreground built from old newspaper front pages — a "Pier Head evacuated" splash, Beatles "Yeah Yeah Yeah" clippings, headlines layered along the riverside railing. Next to the straight cityscape paintings, it's the one that makes people stop.
Visitors vote for a People's Choice Award through the run, and the winner is announced after the fair closes — so to have a say you'll need to get in before 26 July.
Getting there and taking work home
By train. The Liver Building is about a 5-minute walk from James Street station, or 15 minutes from Lime Street.
By car. Parking on The Strand is metered and spaces go quickly; the nearest reliable car park is on James Street.
Buying. You can take many of the smaller prints and unframed pieces away on the day. For larger framed paintings, the front desk arranges collection or delivery.
Entry is free, open 12–5pm daily. The fair closes on 26 July, after which the work goes back to the artists' own studios.
