Riga exhibition opens showcasing young artists' work from the Latvian State Forests art scholarship
The Latvian state forest company LVM has opened an exhibition at its Riga customer center featuring works by Art Academy of Latvia students created for an annual art scholarship competition on the theme "Oxygen." The show runs until October 30, when the competition winner will be announced.
An exhibition titled "Latvian State Forests Art Scholarship 2026" has opened at the customer center of AS Latvijas valsts meži (LVM), the state forestry company, located at Vaiņodes iela 1 in Riga. Now in its tenth year, the exhibition features works by first- and second-year painting students from the Art Academy of Latvia, exploring the relationship between art and the forest environment under this year's theme, "Oxygen."
Works created during a summer plein-air session
For the first time, this year's competition entries were created during a dedicated plein-air event held over the summer at an LVM nature park in Tērvete. Participants produced their pieces within a set timeframe on specially prepared birch plywood panels, and the exhibition's layout reflects the same free, informal spirit as the outdoor session itself.
Tomass Kotovičs, head of LVM's Communications Department, said the forest is a place where nature, people, and inspiration converge, noting that Latvia's diverse landscapes offer artists an inexhaustible source of ideas. He added that over its ten-year history, the scholarship has given young artists the chance to explore and develop that inspiration, with this year's anniversary marked specifically by the plein-air event in Tērvete.
Shared visual theme and prize
The exhibition presents 21 works by finalists of the scholarship competition. A new feature this year is that all the pieces were painted on plywood donated by AS Latvijas Finieris, giving the anniversary exhibition a unified visual identity and linking the artistic process to wood as a natural material sourced from Latvia's forests.
The exhibition at LVM's customer center on Vaiņodes iela 1 in Riga is open to the public until October 30, on weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00. The competition winner will be announced on that same date, October 30, and will receive a one-time scholarship of 1,500 euros. LVM has organized the scholarship competition in partnership with the Art Academy of Latvia since 2017.
