Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2023: Last Call for Entries

I missed the announcement of the Call for Entries for the £10,000 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2023 - hence why this is a "Last Call for Entries" as the deadline for all entries is Midnight on the 31st March 2023!

From the artworks submitted the 2023 prize judges will select 

• a winner of the £10,000 Ruth Borchard Prize and 
• a number of distinguished entries will be acquired for the Next Generation Collection.

Before you start reading you might want to know that 

• the fee for an entry is £38 and 
• this competition attracts artists from across the spectrum including professional and prize-winning portrait artists.

If you're interested, you can see examples of the works selected to hang in the exhibition of the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2019 at The Kings Place - in an album on my Facebook Page.

one wall in the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2019 Exhibition
at The Kings Place, Kings Cross, London

Who can enter?

All ages and abilities can enter. Individuals under the age of 16 wishing to enter are required to have consent from a parent or legal guardian.

Artists of all backgrounds, established and emerging, are invited to enter. Even if this is your first ever self-portrait or artistic creation we welcome your contribution.

What can you enter?

You can use any size and medium. I've seen some huge works in past exhibitions!

However these are the details in the T&Cs

• The artwork must be a self-portrait. 
• All variations of work – figurative or abstract, alone or in a group, from life or from memory – will be accepted.
• The artwork must have been created in the year of or after 2000.
• There are no restrictions of size of work.
• Multi-part works, i.e. works in the form of a diptych or triptych etc., are eligible and will be regarded as one work.

We welcome a wide variety of media, including but not restricted to; painting, drawing, digital art, photography, sculpture, tapestry and ceramics. 

an exhibitor in the 2019 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize Exhibition
(happy to give credits if anybody recognises the work)

How to enter

All works must be submitted online via the Self Portrait Prize Zealous portal. Access to the portal can be found at: https://ruthborchard.org.uk/self-portrait-prize/

You can enter more than once - but every entry requires a separate submission.

To enter you MUST:

• upload a high quality image of your self portrait
• provide all the details about the artwork
• complete the application form and agreement to T&Cs. This needs to include as supporting information:
• Artistic Statement – maximum 200 words – this is a space for you to tell the judges anything you feel is relevant to the application and/or about you or your artwork.
• CV (optional) - Whether you are a full time professional artist or have a completely alternative career the option to upload a CV allows the judges to find out more about the individual behind the artwork
• gallery representation (optional - not considered as part of the judging process - which suggest the above two are!)
• personal details and contact information
• pay the fee for entry

This is £38.00 from a UK based bank account and £48.00 if payment is being made from overseas.2 Ruth Borchard Collection and Self-Portrait Prize are funded by a charitable foundation and the submission fee goes a small way to covering the cost of running the Prize.

View of the 2015 Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2015 Exhibition at Piano Nobile

If selected, how your work will be exhibited

From the submissions 250 artists will be invited to participate in an exclusive online selling exhibition. Shared and promoted via 

• an exclusive Ruth Borchard Collection virtual gallery and 
• Artsy online viewing room 

this gives artists the opportunity to have their work seen by international collectors.

If you win your artwork will hang in a curated selection of distinguished and shortlisted artworks to be exhibited at The Atkinson Museum, Southport, from September - December 2023. The exhibition will coincide with the Liverpool Arts Biennial.

The last exhibition in 2021 was at Coventry Cathedral.

So far as I'm aware there's no plans to bring any sort of physical exhibition to London.

The Judges

 The judges include 

• Gabriele Finaldi (Director of the National Gallery), 
• Melanie Gerlis (Financial Times Art Market Columnist), 
• Andrea Rose (former Director of the British Council), 
• Stephen Whittle (Principal Manager The Atkinson Museum), 
• Lucy Jones (2021 Prize Winner) and 
• David Borchard (grandson of Ruth Borchard)

These are the Judges from 2021 talking about the artwork entered into the exhibition. It gives you an insight into how Judges can look at artwork and what their expectations are - albeit this year those views might all be different because it's a different set of Judges.

Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2021 film from Ruth Borchard Collection on Vimeo.