An update from Scarborough Art Gallery on the New Light Prize Exhibition which opens on 19th September 2020.
It’s ‘business as usual’ for the prestigious New Light Prize Exhibition, an open exhibition that shines a light on Northern art. The exhibition is going ahead as planned despite the current coronavirus crisis, which has forced many arts organisations into temporary closure.
Rebekah Tadd, Development Director at New Light, says:
“We’re very fortunate that the way the New Light Prize Exhibition is organised means that we are able to go ahead as planned. The submissions process all takes place online – artists are invited to submit their works via our website by the end of May – and the judging process takes place online during the summer. The physical exhibition, which launches at Scarborough Art Gallery before going on tour to Carlisle, Newcastle and London, isn’t until mid-September, so we hope that by then, we can go ahead without any changes.”
Andrew Clay, chief executive of Scarborough Museums Trust, which runs Scarborough Art Gallery, says:
“We’re really looking forward to welcoming the New Light Prize Exhibition. Its policy of shining new light on Northern artists is one we firmly believe in, so we’re thrilled to be involved and to able to support in this way.”
Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2020, the high-profile exhibition will, for the first time, start at Scarborough Art Gallery with an exhibition from Saturday 19 September 2020 to Sunday 10 January 2021.
Artists who were born, live, or have studied in one of the historic counties of the North of England (Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Westmorland, County Durham and Northumbria) can submit their work online at: https://newlight-art.org.uk/prize-exhibition/all-you-need-to-know/
Judging will take place on over the summer with a judging panel comprising printmaker and artist Anne Desmet RA; the editor of RA Magazine, Sam Phillips; the curator of Huddersfield Art Gallery, Grant Scanlan, and the chair of New Light, Annette Petchey.
The winners of the competition will be announced at a private view at Scarborough Art Gallery on Friday 18 September.
The prizes are:
The £10,000 Valeria Sykes Award: open to all artists over 18 with a connection to the North of England, whether through birth, degree level study or residence.
The £2,500 Patron’s Choice Award: presented on the night of the private view: all exhibited works are considered.
The Saul Hay Gallery Emerging Artists Prize: offering mentoring, professional advice and exhibition opportunities including a solo show.
The Zillah Bell Printmakers’ Prize: all forms of original printmaking are eligible; the winner will be offered a solo exhibition in the Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk, host to some of the UK’s best printmakers’ shows.
The Visitors’ Choice Award: visitors are asked to vote for their favourite work.
New Light Purchase Prize: the selected work is purchased by the charity to add to its Collection.
The New Light Prize Exhibition will be at Scarborough Art Gallery before moving on to Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle, The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle, and culminating in London at The Bankside Gallery.
Established in 2010, New Light celebrates and promotes both well-known and emerging artists by offering some of the region’s best awards and opportunities with the biennial new Light Prize Exhibition, fast becoming one of the UK’s largest and most talked-about open exhibitions.
It also runs New Light Art for All, an education programme which includes talks, workshops and school projects, and the New Light Collection, which will be launched this spring and which aims to make the best in Northern visual arts available to more people, by loaning pieces free of charge to public bodies and charities.
The common thread through everything New Light does is a deep belief that the visual arts matter and the North of England deserves to be celebrated.
New Light is run by a dedicated group of people who are passionate about the visual arts in the North of England. It relies entirely on donations and sponsorship.
