New Light Art Prize now open for entries - Northern Artists ONLY

The New Light Prize Exhibition is now open for entries

• How to Enter
• Rules and Guidelines
• Key Dates - DEADLINE for entries is 30th April 2023
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A montage of some of the artworks
which have won the £10K New Light Art Prize in the past

One of the features of this blog is that over the years I've only featured Art Competitions with EITHER prestigious reputations and/OR a first prize of £10,000 or more (sometimes a lot more!).

I've also - as many of you will be aware - lamented over the disappearance of many long-running art competitions.

But new art competitions also surface and in 2021, I highlighted one of these for the first time in my post about The New Light Prize run by New Light Art, a charity dedicated to encouraging passion about the visual arts in the North.

This post looks at:

• the nature of the New Light Art Prize: History / Prizes / Exhibition
• Call for Entries
• what you can exhibit
• who can exhibit
• submission 
• selection and Judges

About the New Light Prize

The New Light Prize is a biennial art exhibition:

• It was established in 2011 to celebrate and promote Northern Art - and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2020
• It offers some of the region’s best awards and opportunities for aspiring and established artists.
• In the last decade it's become one of the UK's largest open exhibitions of contemporary art, showcasing well-known and emerging artists.
• The exhibition tours art galleries in the UK - with a focus on the north

Prizes

Prize winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 29th September 2023 at The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead where their artwork will feature in a prestigious launch exhibition. 

The full list of prizes include:

• The £10,000 New Light Valeria Sykes Award – open to all artists over 18 with a connection to the North of England, whether through birth, degree level study or residence 
• The £2,500 New Light Patron’s Choice Award – presented on the night of the private view where all exhibited works are considered 
• The New Light Emerging Artists Prize sponsored by The Saul Hay Gallery – offering mentoring, professional advice and exhibition opportunities including a solo show 
• The New Light Printmakers’ Prize sponsored by Zillah Bell Gallery – all forms of original printmaking are eligible; the winner will be offered a solo exhibition at the Zillah Bell gallery in North Yorkshire, host to some of the UK’s very best printmakers’ shows
•  The New Light Visitors’ Choice Award – visitors are asked to vote for their favourite work at each venue 
• New Light Purchase Prize – the winner’s work is purchased by the charity to add to its Collection 

Exhibition Dates

Exhibitions (and PVs) are being held around the North and in London - at:

• The Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead: 29 Sept 2023 Prize Exhibition Launch & Prize-Giving - closes 22 Dec 2023.
• Bankside Gallery, London: opens (+ PV) - 27 Feb 2024 - closes 3 Mar 2024 
• Rheged Gallery, Penrith: opens 14 Mar 2024 - closes 2 Jun 2024 
• The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle: opens 21 Jun 2024 (also includes the launch of the New Light Sculpture Prize-Giving & Exhibition); closes Early Sept 2024 
• The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate: opens 12 Sept 2024 - closes 21 Dec 2024 

“This is a wonderful opportunity for new and established artists to get their work seen by thousands of people in some of the finest galleries in the UK. Those shortlisted will exhibit their work across the UK, from Cheshire to Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumbria and London.
Our aim is to support Northern artists; whether that’s artists who grew up in the North, studied or currently live in the North – it is an area that breeds so much talent. At this time of financial uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to support artists by providing opportunities to exhibit their work. We are delighted to be working with The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum to create a fabulous launch and awards ceremony and the following tour is our biggest yet, spanning 14 months.” Rebekah Tadd, Development Director of New Light Art. 

A number of these who have entered in the past already had successful careers prior to this prize being established - but it is very notable that RAs enter this competition!

Past New Light shortlisted artists who have had huge success with exhibitions across the UK and further afield include Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Anne Desmet RA, Maxwell Doig, Mark Demsteader, Christopher Cook, Mandy Payne, James Naughton and Jo Taylor. 

You can view past prizewinners on the website. 

Call for Entries for The New Light Prize

What you can enter

The Prize is open to all artworks

• static and capable of being wall-hung (using mirror-plates) without requiring any power source.
• produced within the last 3 years
• no bigger than 
• 175cm for the largest dimension of a 2D artwork
• three-dimensional work cannot exceed a depth of 25cm from the wall.
• All forms of original printmaking are acceptable.
• Digital processes are allowed but have to be declared on the entry form.

This year sculpture can be entered for the first time.

A Botanical Art Bonaza - in England, Scotland and Ireland

Making A Mark has been quiet for the past week because I've been diligently writing blog posts about juried open botanical art exhibitions opening in England, Scotland and Ireland - at the same time(!) - on my Botanical Art and Artists News blog

Here's a summary - with some pics - of what's going on in London, Edinburgh and Dublin right now!

ENGLAND: Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA)

the end wall display in the Main Gallery at the Mall Galleries

To date I've written the following posts about "Plantae" the 2019 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists which is an international exhibition with 431 artworks by c.190 botanical artists

It's on at the Mall Galleries until 1pm on Sunday 9th June - with demonstrations of botanical artwork in coloured pencil (today) and painting on vellum (tomorrow).

It's the SBA's first time at the Mall Galleries. Everybody participating and regular visitors are very impressed with the environment and wonderful lighting and how good the artwork looks. Plus the Manager of the Mall Galleries told me on Tuesday night that he knew it was going to be good but it's actually much better!

• Plantae: SBA Annual Exhibition 2019 - Selected Artists profiles most of the c.190 botanical artists whose work was selected for the exhibition - with links to their websites are embedded in their names. (If you're wondering why it's circa it's because it comes out as a different number every time I counted and have up after the third count!)
• Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2019 - includes information and images of the artwork receiving awards and more information about the artists who created them

Winner of the Joyce Cuming Presentation Plate
The Secret World of Potatoes by Lidiya Doukhnevitch (watercolour £1,500)

Coming up next is

• a post about those artists who were awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit - which was judged by Lucy T Smith, who illustrates plants for Kew Gardens.  (These are artists who get judged on science as well as art!)
• finally, the fourth post will be a review of the exhibition as a whole and a commentary on its move to the Mall Galleries. I've been asking people what they think about the new environment.

Incidentally, the SBA raised the bar considerably by putting their exhibition catalogue online and including images of ALL the artwork in the show.

SCOTLAND: Annual Exhibition of Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT)

BISCOT is an acronym for "Botanical Images Scotia". It's annual exhibition of contemporary botanical illustration which

• promotes excellence in botanical painting and illustration.
• gives both national and international artists an opportunity to exhibit in Edinburgh and presents new and original botanical work.

Each exhibitor creates a display of SIX artworks - and the exhibition is open to and attracts international entrants. In this respect BISCOT is the Scottish equivalent of the RHS Botanical Art Show in London - and is regarded as the top show in Scotland in terms of awards and prestige.

The BISCOT Exhibition is held annually at

• Gardening Scotland (sponsored by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society) (31 May - 2 June)
• the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) - John Hope Gateway (5-20 June 2019)​

Sansanee Deekrajang (Thailand) won a BISCOT Gold Medal and Best in Show for her Exhibit of Tropical Palms

BISCOT Medal Winners 2019 is about those artists who won their medals a week ago at the Annual BISCOT Exhibition at the Gardening Scotland show at the Ingliston Showground in Edinburgh

This week the exhibition transferred to the John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) where it continues until the 20th June.

I'll be writing another post about this exhibition as it contains a new category - which is the newly launched RBGE Florilegium (see below)

IRELAND: Annual Botanical and Floral Exhibition at Bloom

Iris “Red Rum”” by Siobhan Larkin
Gold Medal and BEST IN SHOW (BOTANICAL)

Last week Ireland's premier juried botanical art exhibition, the 7th Annual ​​Exhibition of Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom opened at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre in Phoenix Park, Dublin - where it remains until the end of June 2019.

Bloom 2019 - Botanical Art Medal Winners is about the award winners in the botanical art side of the Bloom show. Medals for this show are awarded just for one work.

I'm really hoping that at some point Bloom will upgrade to the same type and standard of exhibition as the RHS and BISCOT which both require exhibits of six paintings by each exhibiting artist - and medal judgements are made about the six paintings as a whole.

But maybe that needs to be a different show - linked to and partnered with a Horticultural Society or Botanic Garden. It will almost certainly need to be in a different venue

Hockney adds another way of making art to his portfolio

Westminster Abbey has a new stained glass window designed by David Hockney RA - and the artist has added a new but traditional method of making art to his already eclectic portfolio of methods for creating art.

The window was commissioned to celebrate the reign of Her Majesty The Queen and was unveiled this week.

The new window is located in the Abbey’s north transept, which was previously just plain glass. It will in future be known formally as 'The Queen's Window'.

It's located in an Abbey that was founded in 960AD and has been the church in which the monarch is crowned since 1066. It is also the final resting place of 17 monarchs.  It's a very special place for new public art.

The Queens Window - a new stained glass window in a building which 

This post is about the process used to produce it and finishes with a video of David Hockney speaking about his very first stained glass window and possibly his very last artwork involving a tree.

About David Hockney

The reason for commissioning David Hockney was essentially that

• he has been one of the most influential artists of The Queen's reign 
• his contribution has been recognised to date with an Order of Merit and as a Companion of Honour
• he has a reputation as an artist who works with a =wide range of media and has always been prepared to try new media - or, as in this case, a very traditional method of portraying a visual image

This is his first work in stained glass 

It must feel like a tremendous honour not only to be given the opportunity of celebrating the life of the Queen but also to be able to do so in a building where the artwork will last for centuries.

About the Commission

The artists's brief to provide something symbolic or representational of the subject, rather than a heraldic or figurative design, and for it to be recognisable as his work.

Hockney's response was to develop an image which reflects the The Queen's well known deep affection and connection to the countryside and her identity as a countrywoman.

He designed a country scene, set within his beloved Yorkshire. It features one of his favourite trees at the point in the year that he finds it most attractive - when the hawthorn blossom bursts forth in frothy clouds. He regards that as the celebratory aspect - akin to champagne bubbles!

Unsurprisingly, especially as the design was intended to be representative of his work, it also uses his distinct and vivid colour palette of yellow, red, blue, pink, orange and greens which he has used in the past for paintings of spring in the Yorkshire Wolds.

About the making of the window

Although David Hockney designed the window, its making was not his responsibility.

Barley Studio - a leading stained glass studio of over forty years based in York (which has a rather large Minster with rather a lot of stained glass!) - were commissioned to create the window using traditional techniques

The stained glass artists and craftspeople worked with David Hockney to translate his vision for the window into a reality in stained glass. 

The first task was to get the precise measurements of the window so as to create stencils of the different parts of the window. This was done in May 2017 - and I'm guessing they were at the top of some scaffolding or in a cherry picker for quite a lot of the time.

Barley Studio staff - Keith Marley and Helen Whittaker - take precise measurements 

The next stage involved creating the different sections of the window using lead and stained glass matching the palette determined by Hockney.

Helen Whitaker works on the window at the Barley Studio

When all parts of the window had been made they then needed to be assembled within the window void so as to create the stained glass window. Needless to say this is a job requiring some experience and expertise!

The installation of the Queen's Window

The stained glass window is a piece of art - and as with every piece of art created by Hockney it contains the artist's signature.

David Hockney's signature

Below is a video of David Hockney speaking about the whole process.



The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said:

I’m very pleased that David Hockney accepted my invitation to design this window which is a celebration of the reign of Her Majesty The Queen. What he has produced is directly accessible with wonderful colours. It is a country scene to honour a woman who loves her country.

Dedication of the Window

The window will be dedicated formally by the Dean in the presence of the artist, his family, friends and invited guests on Tuesday 2nd October at 11:30am.

More about David Hockney

I've written about David Hockney on a number of occasions on this blog. You can READ my posts BELOW - they're organised backwards by years.

Those in 2006 and 2016 contain references to his artwork about the Yorkshire landscape - including the major exhibition he had at the Royal Academy of Art - which I will never ever forget

• 2017: About David Hockney and Watercolour
• 2016: A biography of Hockney on iPlayer first shown by the BBC in 2015 (and repeated in 2016)
• 2014
• Hockney, Printmaker (Review #2) - The Etchings - about Hockney Printmaker at Dulwich Picture Gallery
• The Arrival of Spring - David Hockney's latest exhibition - 85% of the digital drawings in The Arrival of Spring had been sold before this exhibition opened at Annely Juda Fine Art.
• Hockney is bigger than Van Gogh!- about my final and fourth visit to A Bigger Picture on the final night
• 2012
• David Hockney on sitting for Lucian Freud
• Review: David Hockney RA - A Bigger Picture
• 22nd January 2012 - Who's made a mark this week? "This post this week has rather a slant towards Hockney, digital art on an iPad and pastels - which pretty much reflects my week."
• 15th January 2012 - Who's made a mark this week? This has a lot of references to the publicity overdrive for the A Bigger Picture exhibition at the RA and includes references to interesting articles
• 2009 
• David Hockney - recent exhibitions - about various recent exhibitions in various countries
• Review: David Hockney - A Bigger Picture - about Bruno Wollheim's film David Hockney - A Bigger Picture
• David Hockney "15 sketchbooks" DVD - a further update
• 2007
• Turner Watercolours with Hockney and Shirley - about Hockney's curation of BP Summer Exhibition: Hockney on Turner Watercolours (11 June 2007 – 3 February 2008).
• Drawing, tea and DVDs at the National Portrait Gallery - another long slow look at the at the David Hockney Portraits exhibition before it closed
• 2006
• David Hockney: Fifteen Sketchbooks 2002-2003 - Update on DVD availability
• David Hockney and Shirley - sharing art and sketchbooks - about the David Hockney Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and his Fifteen Sketchbooks completed in 2002-3003
• Two London exhibitions for David Hockney about "David Hockney Portraits - Life Love Art" at the NPG and "A Year in Yorkshire" in at the Annely Juda Gallery

The Arts Council and Future Funding

On Tuesday, The Arts Council went to Leicester to:

• announce its funding decisions for the National Portfolio organisations in relation to Arts and Culture in England for 2018-22
• changed its strategy for what it funds in future

This post covers videos explaining how it all works and references links to further and more detailed explanations on the Arts Council website

The Arts Council Funding Ecology 2018-22

The National Portfolio

This video was livestreamed about the announcement for how the National Portfolio works going forward in the next four years. It lasts 46 minutes.

There are 183 newcomers within the National Portfolio and the Arts Council intends to invest £170 million (4.6%) MORE outside London.

This fulfils the promises to

• spend more outside London
• reach places which hitherto have received very little funding from the Arts Council
• bring museums and libraries into the portfolio
• fund more diverse arts organisations

Get Funding

The Arts Council website explains:

• how to Get Funding.
• National Portfolio funding decisions - namely
• key facts and figures
• The full National Portfolio dataset
• Grants for the Arts 
• awards from £1,000 to £100,000 to support a wide variety of arts-related activities
• for individuals, art organisations and other people who use the arts in their work
• Grantium - the new portal for applying for grants

Plus there's a video which explains how the Grants for Arts application portal and process works