SUBMISSIONS are now being accepted for the prestigious Open art competition at Black Swan Arts in Frome. Over 100 works will be selected by a distinguished judging panel to go on show at the arts centre in November.
The Black Swan Arts Open is an annual competition for original artwork by both established practitioners and emerging artists. Over the past 15 years, the Open has built an impressive reputation for attracting some of the best established practitioners and emerging artists from the South West, selecting diverse and innovative pieces and championing artistic excellence. In 2016, the Open attracted over 700 entries from 350 artists.
The competition welcomes original works from artists of all professions and disciplines, who can submit work in any medium and in any size – from painting, drawing and printmaking to photography, sculpture and ceramics. The event offers artists the chance to have their work viewed by a panel of highly respected judges and to exhibit at a regionally important gallery where it will be seen by hundreds of visitors. The successful entries will be displayed at Black Swan Arts from 2nd–29th November.
The panel of invited panel of judges for 2017 includes Mariella Frostrup, journalist and broadcaster; Gary Sangster, trustee from the Arnolfini, Bristol; Stephen Snoddy, director of the New Art Gallery, Walsall; Dea Vanagan, director of Hauser & Wirth Somerset; and Seamus Nicolson, artist and 2015 winner of the Black Swan Arts Open.
Fantastic prizes for this year’s show include the Hauser & Wirth first prize of £750; the Black Swan Arts prize of a solo show; the Frome Town Council/People’s Choice Award of £200 (voted for by the public over the course of the show); the Mount Art prize of £150 for artists in full-time education; the Postscript 3D prize of art materials to the value of £100; the Sam’s Kitchen prize for local art; the Babington House prize and the Friends of Black Swan Arts prize.
Entries can be submitted online and submissions close on 8th September. Entries cost £12 per image. For further information or to submit an entry, please visit www.blackswan. org.uk/artsopen2017.
Above: Journalist and broadcaster, Mariella Frostrup, who is one of the judges.
