A Newcastle art gallery has doubled its Young Artist Award prize money, with shortlisted entries also headlining its spring programme for the very first time.
The Contemporary Young Artist Award, created by The Biscuit Factory Foundation, the charitable arm of The Biscuit Factory – the UK’s largest independent art, craft and design gallery – provides artists aged 35 and under with a commercial platform to showcase their work.
Along with the opportunity for a solo show at the Newcastle gallery, the winner will now also be awarded £2000 within the overall prize package.
A group exhibition featuring work from all of the shortlisted entrants will headline the gallery’s spring season, taking up residency within its first-floor Cube Gallery space and running from 6 March to 24 May 2020.
Submissions are accepted before 26 January 2020 in fine art, photography, original handmade prints, sculpture, glass, ceramics and textiles.
The gallery’s in-house curatorial team will choose the overall winner, with the public also given the opportunity to vote for their favourite, who will be awarded a £500 cash prize.
All work in the exhibition will be for sale, with 10 per cent of proceeds going back to The Biscuit Factory Foundation to facilitate an engaging and varied programme of creative opportunities for artists in the North East of England.
Rachel Brown, General Manager of The Biscuit Factory explained: “We’re proud to announce the growth of this annual open call, which now in its fourth year, will be presented as our headline show for the spring season.
“It is a testament to the quality of entries and the fantastic public response the exhibition receives, that we have been able to develop this concept to be a significant part of our gallery programming. We humbly hope that for the artists involved, this evolution of the exhibition will provide even greater visibility to help launch or progress their careers.”
For more information on how to enter the Contemporary Young Artist Award, visit The Biscuit Factory website.