It’s not just the attraction of the beaches and seaside location of Teignmouth that render it special for visitors and residents alike.

The region is also home to a vibrant community of artists, represented and supported by the Teignmouth Art Society (TAS) through its various workshops and exhibitions.

Founded in 1948, TAS now has more than 160 members, many of whom are currently exhibiting their works at the TAS Summer Art Exhibition in Victoria Hall, Shaldon.

This exhibition is one of two exhibitions which run annually, the other exhibition being the TAS Spring exhibition in February.

Each exhibition has awards for the various categories of different artworks exhibited.

Visitors play a key and active role in the exhibition, by contributing to one of the awards.

Each visitor is asked to vote for their favourite exhibit, the most popular of which will receive the ‘People’s Choice Margaret Allenby Award’.

This award has a background going right back to the turn of last century.

Margaret Allenby was a long-standing early member of TAS, having joined soon after its formation.

After her death, her husband, Colonel Allenby informed TAS that his wife had bequeathed £500 to be used as TAS saw fit.

Eventually the committee decided, with the Colonel’s approval, to purchase a trophy to be awarded annually to the artist with the most votes from the visiting public.

Colonel Allenby was always invited to the exhibition previews and took a keen interest in the society’s activities, remaining in contact with members of TAS for several years until his recent death.

Over time TAS decided to purchase two more trophies so that the Margaret Allenby Award could be awarded at all of the TAS annual exhibitions.

The exhibit with the most votes will be the TAS Summer Exhibition recipient of the historic ‘Peoples’ Choice Margaret Allenby Award’.

The exhibition is open from 10am to 5pm each day, running through to August 29 at the Victoria Hall, Shaldon.

Local artist Diannah Lowry said: ‘The awards are usually given out by dignitaries and other established artists whereas the really nice thing about this one is that the viewers, the people that come along to the exhibition are the ones that have the voice to actually say which ones they like.

‘That is really important to the society because it it is a way of getting people actively involved, it gets them more engaged.’