[2][3][4][5] The group's initial conception was a response to the Royal Cambrian Academy's relatively weak representation from south Wales at that time.
[6] In the foreword to the South Wales Group’s first exhibition catalogue, David Bell wrote "It is the purpose of the Group to establish a new link between the artists of South Wales and their public".
The exhibition, Mapping The Welsh Group at 60, included work by current and past members spanning a period from soon after the second world war to work completed in the twenty-first century, just after Welsh devolution.
[12] Full membership is made up of approximately 40 Welsh or Wales-based artists,[3][5] including:[13] The chair is Paul Edwards, the secretary Neil Stone and the treasurer Heather Eastes.
[6] Former members have included major names from the field of modern Welsh art including Peter Bailey,[3] William Brown,[16] Brenda Chamberlain,[1] Mary Fogg,[17] Arthur Giardelli,[18] Tony Goble,[19] Bert Isaac,[20] John Petts,[1] David Tinker,[21] Islwyn Watkins,[22] Laurie Williams[3] and Ernest Zobole.