The Cass Art Prize 2024

This post is all about the new £10,000 Cass Art Prize - which has decent prizes and decent Judges. 

The deadline for entries is Noon on 20th May 224

After a LOT of art competitions have "died a death" in recent years, it's a very great pleasure to be able to announce a new one! Especially with a backer as reputable as Cass Art - who have a long tradition of supporting artists.

Below you can find a summary of the facts.  This means it does not include everything - and you MUST READ the following:

• Frequently Asked Questions - which are very well written! (It makes a change!)
• Main Entry Page This includes the entry forms for:
• The Main Prize
• The Students Award - for students you must be enrolled on a course in a recognised educational institution (UK or Republic of Ireland) with a minimum length of one year.
• The Art Educators Award - for people who are Art & Design Teacher, Tutor or Technician at a school, college or university in the UK or Republic of Ireland, or a registered Art Therapist.
• Submission Fees - are detailed on every Entry Page

The Cass Art Prize 2024

The Cass Art Prize has a dedicated webpage on the Cass Art website - https://www.cassart.co.uk/thecassartprize/

Purpose of the £10,000 Cash Prize

• to champion contemporary art from across the UK and Ireland
• to continue Cass Art long standing commitment and mission to support artists and encourage them to realise their creative talents

What's on Offer?

The First Prize: The overall winner of the competition will receive:

• Cash Prize: £10,000
• a free stand at The Other Art Fair in spring 2025

Other Prizes (Value £5,000)

• Contemporary Art Academy Development Award £900 of online courses + £100 art supplies
• a Student Award (£500 of art supplies)
• an Art Educators Award (£500 of art supplies)
• Category Prizes specifically for:
• oil (i.e. Oil paint, water mixable oil paint, oil sticks & encaustic)- Michael Harding Award for Oil Painting £500 of art supplies
• watercolour (i.e. Watercolour paint, watercolour pencils (used wet), watercolour markers, gouache and tempura) - Winsor & Newton Award for Watercolour £500 of art supplies
• acrylic (i.e. Acrylic paint and acrylic spray paint.)- Liquitex Award for Acrylic £500 of art supplies
• drawing and sketching (i.e. Pencil, pen, ink, charcoal, oil pastels or soft pastels) - Caran D'Ache Award for Drawing & Sketching £500 of art supplies 
• 3D artwork (i.e. Clay, wood, metal and other sculpting materials, fabrics and yarn. Installation works) - DAS Award for 3D artwork £500 cash
• mixed media and printmaking (i.e. Artwork containing 2 or more types of media. Original prints including linocut, woodcut, block printing, monoprints, screenprinting, etching, collagraphy, lithography, and cyanotype. ) - Canson Award for Mixed Media & Printmaking £500 of art supplies
• A Group Exhibition at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham (November 2024)
• The People’s Choice Award £1,000 of art supplies

Timeline

• 12th March 2024: Call for Entries - submissions open
• 20th May 2024: Deadline for all entries - noon
• 9th-11th July 2024: All entrants, Longlist & Shortlist notified
• 7th November 2024: Prize Winners announced at Private View at Copeland Gallery
• 8th-16th November 2024: Copeland Gallery Show
• 25th November 2024:People's Choice winner notified
• March 2025: Winner's stand at The Other Art Fair

Who Can Enter

The prize is open to 

• all artists of all abilities 
• based in the UK & the Republic of Ireland 
• aged 18+.

You CANNOT enter IF:

• you want create an enter on someone's behalf. ALL entries MUST be BY the person who is entering
• you want to enter as a group or a collaborative effort
• you work for Cass Art

What Can You Enter?

• all forms of 2D & 3D artworks made using analogue materials. 
• ONLY Artworks created since 1st March 2021. 
• All works MUST be 
• the Intellectual Property of the artist, 
• or displayed with the consent of any other relevant creators, and 
• free of any copyright issues.

The following will NOT be accepted for entry

• Artworks which have previously won prizes or awards (TIP: People have a habit of outing those who don't play by the rules, so you may think nobody will notice - but somebody will. They will probably tell the organisers. I know I've done it before now because I think this is cheating artists who follow the rules. Normal procedure is then to extract the work remove the artwork from a show (if selected) and prizes)
• photography and/or videography, 
• sound art, 
• architectural designs, 
• NFTs, 
• fully digital and AI artworks.  Artworks which have previously won prizes or awards may not be submitted.

There are limits to some aspects - but they might be flexible

• Size limits: 300cm (width) x 200cm (height) x 60cm (depth)
• Weight Limit: Cass Art suggest a limit of 25kg - but there is no weight limit as such. There's a maximum of two handlers per artwork. 

Artworks do NOT need to be "for sale"

• there will be no sales at the exhibition

Judging

What are the judging criteria?

It's so nice to see an art competition which is transparent about the art criteria - which is how ALL art competitions should operate.

The judging criteria are:

• Intent & concept: How well does the artist achieve what they set out to do?
• Creativity & originality: Does the artist display an interesting approach to the work, or an innovative style?
• Technical ability & execution: How well has the work been produced?
• Viewer response: Does the work capture and hold the viewer's attention & interest? For example, emotionally, visually or intellectually etc.

Who are the Judges?

The Judges are:

• Curtis Holder - a London-based artist known for his large-scale portraits and figurative works created primarily in graphite and coloured pencil on paper.
• Justin Mortimer is a highly esteemed figurative painter based in London, recognized as a pivotal influence for younger artists  (Justin has not yet got the message that all websites now need security certificates!)
• Kathleen Soriano is an independent curator, strategic consultant and broadcaster.
• Pippy Houldsworth is the founder of Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London.
• Robert Diamant is Partner at Carl Freedman Gallery and Counter Editions, a company that produces prints and multiples by leading contemporary artists
• Ryan Stanier, founder of The Other Art Fair, spearheads an international movement dedicated to showcasing emerging artists and providing them with a direct platform to connect with buyers.  
• Sinta Tantra is a British artist of Balinese descent, Tantra spent her childhood in Indonesia, America and the UK where she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Royal Academy Schools.

You can see what they look like and find out more about them on The Judges Page on the website

(TIP: It's always worth studying the background of the Judges as this tend to be informative in terms of the type of the artwork they may well like - or dislike! Check out the bios of the Judges on the website and also look at their own websites. (Links are embedded in their names)

How does Judging work?

The judging takes place in multiple rounds.

• All works will be judged by The Cass Art Prize committee in the first instance.  TIP: This is code for removing all the "no hopers" so that Judges do not have to wade through lots of artwork which is not up to standard.  It's the first thing I do when I Judge i.e. split the serious contenders from the "also rans".
• The Guest Judges will then select:
• the Longlisted entries - who will be invited to exhibit in The Cass Art Prize Exhibition 2024 at Copeland Gallery.
• the Shortlisted entries - will be invited to exhibit and may win a prize; and 
• the Award Winners

Please note that not all Shortlisted artists will be prize winners. Shortlisted artists will be expected to attend the Private View & Prize Giving on 7th November 2024 at Copeland Gallery, London where prize winners will be announced

PLEASE NOTE: The following is completely normal - but you need to be aware of the permission you give to use your image by entering.

By entering the Cass Art Prize you give permission for The Cass Group and Copeland Gallery to use images of your work for marketing purposes, including but not limited to, their respective websites, social media and newsletters. Your artwork images may also be used by the press for promotional purposes and/or by third party partners to promote this exhibition and future iterations of The Cass Art Prize.

Additional Information

The FAQs include additional information for:

• For Selected artworks: Exhibition and delivery of Artwork (to an address in Newark in Nottinghamshire)
• Return of Exhibited Work
• Award Winners