Part of wider project to support and celebrate female artists, the The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2017 focuses on supporting and encouraging the careers of emerging female painters.

Any female artist over 18 may submit providing they are living and working in the UK

This prize is aimed at women painters who wish to extend their artistic practice and develop their artistic careers beyond the studio. Sponsored by The Holly Bush, Hampstead and Supported by Burgh House Hampstead and Cass Art Hampstead, the Emerging Women Painters Exhibition and Prize will select 21 female painters over 18 years of age living and working in the UK to form part of the Women in Art (2) project. Their work will be exhibited at Burgh House from 4th to 9th July 2017.

From these 21 artists, an award will be given to a female painter who has demonstrated exceptional potential to become an established professional artist. That potential should be illustrated through their painting skills, their creativity and their ambition. There is also a second prize for another artist who demonstrates exceptional talent. Open for entries now, the deadline is Friday 9th June 2017.

The entry fee is £14 for up to 3 works (there is a handling fee of £1.46). Those works should be no more than 60 cm wide or 130 cm high. They should be framed unless the work lends itself to being frameless. Artists are selected through open submission to the The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2017 via Ecclestone Art Agency.

Winners will be notified by 15th June. The winner will be publicly announced on Tuesday 27th June and the prize will be award at the Private View of Women in Art (1) on Wednesday 28th June 2017 at Burgh House, Hampstead, London.

The 1st Prize: The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2017 will receive the following: - A cheque for £750 from The Holly Bush Hampstead. The winning painting will be exhibited alongside the work of established female artists in Women in Art (1) from 28th June to 2nd July and form the centrepiece of the Women in Art (2) from 4th to 9th July 2017. Both exhibitions will take place in the Peggy Jay Gallery at Burgh House, Hampstead, London. A solo show at Cass Art Islington in 2018* Free place on the Women in Art Workshop on Friday 30th June. If the winner has no existing website a simple Wordpress site will be produced and maintained for them by Ecclestone Art Agency. A featured interview on Cass Art website.

The 2nd Prize: The Cass Art Runner-up Prize for Emerging Woman Painter 2017 ?Cass Art vouchers to the value of £150 The chance to have their work on show in Cass Art Hampstead            

20 Runner up prizes: -  20 artists will be chosen from the entries to be included in the exhibition Women in Art (2) from 5th to 9th July 2017.  

*The winner would be expected to demonstrate how they have used the prize money to further their artistic practice and their professional development. This may be in the form of producing a new body of work, exploring a new collaboration, expanding professional skills or a combination of these.  Ecclestone Art Agency will provide professional support and advice where needed.  

Selection for the exhibition will be made solely on the artwork submitted, but to be eligible for The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2017, the entrant must provide an artist’s statement that demonstrates how this award would impact on their opportunity to expand their practice, how they aim to develop and further their career. This statement should be no more than 300 words. Conditions for entry. 

Acceptable media: Paintings in watercolour, oil, pastel or acrylic. Work must have been completed in the last two years and must not have been previously exhibited in London. Maximum of three works submitted.

Only one work will be chosen. Works should not be larger than 60 cm wide or 130 cm high (including the frame). Paintings should be completely dry at the time of delivery. All work must be for sale: maximum price £600.

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