Black Swan Arts in Frome is one of the South West’s most popular art galleries and the annual Arts Open is the most visited exhibitions of the year.
They are inviting submissions for 2019 from all artists – professional, emerging, student or amateur – and work created in any type of media (up to 2m³ in size) can be entered. It must be original, produced within the past three years and gallery ready. Entries should be made online via the BSA user-friendly submissions programme; the fee is £13 per picture and up to 4 works per artist can be entered.
Prizes of nearly £4,000 will be awarded, including the £1,000 prize supported by Hauser and Wirth Somerset; the Sue Conrad Prize of £1,000 for work on paper; the Lynda Pelly £500 prize for an artist under the age of 30; the Black Swan Arts Prize of a solo show; the People’s Choice Award; the Mount Art Award; the Postscript Prize; the Kobi & Teal exhibition and others.
There is an experienced panel of esteemed judges including Robert Devereux, art collector and entrepreneur; Katharine Fry, winner of the Hauser and Wirth Somerset Prize 2017; the multidisciplinary artist of the Museum of the Moon Luke Jerram; artist and curator, Sandra Porter RWA and Elly Hawley, a director of Hauser & Wirth Somerset. The digital submissions are assessed by the panel and up to 100 works are selected. Prizes will be presented by the judges at the opening evening on Thursday 17 October.
The Black Swan Arts Open is an open submission exhibition celebrating the best of original contemporary art by established and emerging artists. Works selected will be exhibited at the Long Gallery, Black Swan Arts Centre from Friday 18th October to Saturday 16th November. Black Swan Arts is situated between Frome Library and Frome Museum, next to a large public car park.
The Black Swan Arts Centre demonstrates the on-going major commitment of the Frome-based gallery to the development of artistic talent and to the building of strong links with the community, locally and regionally, supporting excellence in the South West.
For further information, go to www.blackswanarts. org.uk/ artsopen2019 or contact Morag Stuart on exhibitions@blackswan arts.org.uk or on 01373 473980. Black Swan Arts, 2 Bridge Street, Frome, BA11 1BB
