OPPORTUNITIES & COMPETITIONS
Check out the latest competitions to enter and make a note of important deadlines
Sending-in days Derbyshire Open Art Competition
Details: Annual competition, now in its 38th year, open to both amateur and professional artists of all ages with a chance to compete for a range of prizes including a place in the museum’s collection. Accepted media includes watercolour, oils, acrylics, drawing, printing, collage, manipulated digital imagery and 3D work. Accepted work will go on show at the Buxton Museum & Art Gallery, from June 25 to September 2. When: The handing-in days are June 10 and 11.
Contact: For more information telephone 01629 533540 or email buxton. museum@derbyshire.gov.uk
Dorset Art Prize
Details: Rewarding and celebrating art from across Dorset, the exhibition is free to enter by both emerging and established artists. The exhibition takes place at Poole Museum in November, dates tbc.
When: Open now for entries, closing on July 15.
Contact: www.thecollege.co.uk/ artprize
Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2022
Details: Founded in 2017, the Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize is part of a wider project to assist and celebrate emerging women artists and is becoming one of the annual highlights for women painters. Winning artists are chosen for their potential to excel in the art world with cash prizes totalling over £6,000. Twenty-two finalists will take part in an exhibition at Lauderdale House, Highgate, London, from June 9 to July 4 – along with finalists from 2021.
When: Open now for entries, closing at midnight on May 1. Contact: www.hollybushpaintingprize.com
Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA)
Details: Submissions of painting and sculpture are invited relating to tidal waters. Topographical, historical, still life, and figure painting are all welcome; works relating to non-tidal rivers, inland lakes and waterways, etc. are not. Acceptable media are oils, acrylics, watercolour, original prints of any media, mixed media, drawing, pastels or sculpture. Any artist over the age of 18 may enter. An exhibition of selected work will go on show at the Mall Galleries in London, from September 22 to October 1. When: Opens for online entries on April 18; closes at 12 noon on July 8.
Contact: https://mallgalleries.org.uk/call-for-entries/openexhibitions
Sketch for Survival Introducing
Details: Sketch for Survival is a charitable initiative organised by the charity Explorers Against Extinction to help raise awareness about species extinction and habitat loss while also raising vital funds for nominated frontline conservation projects through the sale of artworks.
The exhibition is free to enter. Full guidelines are available online. One hundred artworks are selected from all submissions to join the Sketch for Survival exhibition tour. In 2021 the tour visited Norwich, London and COP26 in Glasgow.
When: The deadline for submissions for the 2022 exhibition is June 30.
Contact: Enter online at www.explorersagainstextinction.co.uk
Society of Wildlife Artists
Details: The Society of Wildlife Artists invites submissions of wildlife art for its annual The Natural Eye exhibition. Any work depicting wildlife is admissible, but not botanical and domestic animals. Artists over 18 may submit works in any medium. An exhibition of selected work will go on show at the Mall Galleries, London, from October 14 to 24. When: Open for entries from June 21 to August 20.
Contact: https://mallgalleries.org.uk/call-for-entries/openexhibitions
Society of Women Artists
Details: This year will be the society’s 161st Open Exhibition. Entries are invited from nonmembers. Up to four works may be submitted in any media, both wall-hung and threedimensional. This year the exhibition will be selected from digital submissions. An exhibition of selected work will take place at the Mall Galleries, London, from September 6 to 11.
When: Open now for entries, closing at noon on May 12. Contact: Enter online at https://societyofwomenartists.oess1.uk For information about the Society of Women Artists, go to www.society-womenartists.org.uk
Wells Art Contemporary
Details: Established in 2012 Wells Art Contemporary (WAC) is an annual open competition for visual art based in Wells, Somerset. An exhibition of selected work will go on show at Wells Cathedral, from July 16 to August 14. There will also be an online exhibition. Check the website for details.
When: Open now for entries, closing on April 25.
Contact: https://wac.artopps.co.uk/