The Call for Entries for the
2024 Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art was recently published.
In the past I've written really long blog posts about the call for entries for
the summer exhibition - but this one is shorter and is about the
- key things you need to know about the Call for Entries
- aspects worth bearing in mind if you're thinking about submitting
IMPORTANT Things You Need to Know
Entries are limited to 16,500
This year
entry is limited to the first 16,500 submissions and you can't purchase an entry form once that limit has been reached i.e.
16,500 got there before you.
In effect this means
the deadline for entries is not as stated,
the deadline for entries is when all entry forms have been
purchased!
It's unlikely that the RA will have a problem getting that many submissions -
however I'm guessing the RA and the Selectors have worked out that's the
number they're happy to review and select from.
HOWEVER the RA Summer Exhibition is the largest open exhibition in the UK -
with well over 1,000 exhibits - so you need to take the statistics around
selection into account before deciding whether or not enter.
Basically a LOT of people do NOT get selected for the Summer Exhibition.
I can't remember where I came across this next image - and it relates to the
exhibition in 2017, but the stats are pretty similar year on year. As you can
see, in 2017:
-
c.90% of entries submitted via the open entry are rejected
-
the number of exhibits are broadly speaking split between Royal Academicians
and the open entry
(although the current page suggests two thirds - but I'd very much like
to see the statistics for that! There are NONE published.)
-
which means something like 500-600 artworks from the open entry will be
selected for the exhibition
However,
as the space allocated to the exhibition has got bigger, more exhibits have
been selected from the open entry
By way of contrast, last year, the BBC reported that
It presents an unparalleled opportunity for amateur artists to have their
work publicly displayed and then purchased, although entries are capped at
16,500 and competition is fierce - this year, more than 11,000 people
submitted work but less than 10% were successful. Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: Who makes the cut?
and
This year 11,204 entries came from the public, with 998 artists making
the cut
which is 9% of those who entered.
Of those who enter, around 4,000 will make the first cut - and are asked to
send their work to the RA for further consideration by the Judges and, last
year, around 25% of this number will be selected.
So, bottom line, it seems likely that your chances of getting selected
are between 3-9%.
At the bottom end of the range this is slightly better than the chance of
getting selected for what used to be called the
BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery!
AND IMPORTANTLY - the main purpose of the Summer Exhibition is to generate
funds for the bursaries for those who are selected to study at the Royal
Academy Schools.
So if complaining about the expense of the entry, just take a moment to
think about the expense of an art education.
Who gets selected
The RA's Selection and Hanging Committee changes every year so just
because your work has been rejected in the past does not mean it will be
rejected this year.
Lots of professional artists still yearn to be selected - because of the
kudos of being able to say you have been selected by the Summer Exhibition
At the same time lots of people for whom art is a hobby while working full
time in other occupations DO get selected.
So there is no qualification for getting selected - your art does the
talking for you.
What you can submit
On behalf of the Summer Exhibition Committee I would like to say send
in your best work whatever its medium or category and we will
endeavour to give it space.'
So basically you can submit paintings, drawings, original fine art prints,
sculpture, photographs and videos - and artwork for architecture proposals.
How the open submission works
The is an online art competition.
-
only YOU or a gallery authorised on your behalf can enter your work
-
your initial entry is ONLINE ONLY - and the quality of your digital
images does count for a lot
(see Video Tutorial: How To Photograph Your Work
and How to Photograph Your Work for advice)
-
your artwork will only be submitted to the Royal Academy if you get
through the first stage of selection. Basically this means you save
the transport costs of getting the work to and from London if it's one
of those which does not progress.
Timeline
