National Open Art Competition

The National Open Art Competition was founded by The Duke of Richmond twelve years ago as the Chichester Open Art Competition, reflecting his vision that Chichester should be "The City of the Arts" by 2012.

This year the competition has gone National. Aiming for 5000 artists' submissions by 2010, it is a fantastic forum for both emerging and established artists to gain wider recognition for their work.
The National Open Art Competition 2008 has £26,000 prize money on offer, thanks to our generous sponsors, Towry Law, RK Harrison Insurance, New British Artists, DeLonghi, and Seaward Properties just to mention a few.
The overall winner will receive £10,000, second prize £5,000, the very popular Visitor's Choice Prize £1000, gives the visiting public an opportunity to vote for their favourite art work. There will be five regional prizes of £1000 and a Young Artists Prize Fund of £5000. You must be under 25 years old to qualify as young!!!
With an eminent panel of judges, each one of them at the forefront of the visual arts world today: Prof Maurice Cockrill RA (chairman of the judges), Keeper of the Royal Academy schools and a contemporary artist; Richard Cork, art critic, historian, broadcaster and exhibition curator; and Gavin Turk, part of the Young British Artist movement alongside Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Rachel Whiteread .
The judges' task is to select their favourite 150 or so works, be they abstract or figurative, traditional or contemporary, creating an exhibition that reflects the energy and variety of the visual arts in Great Britain today.
The competition will be judged at the famous Goodwood Racecourse, designed by Sir Philip Dowson, former President of the Royal Academy. Successful entrants will have their work showcased at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester. Last year the five prize winners plus the 21 highly commended art works were exhibited at the prestigious Arts Club in Dover Street, London. This year there will be a Private View followed by a champagne reception and an auction of paintings by leading British artists.
The deadline for entries is Wednesday 22nd October at Goodwood, with regional collections from as far North as Edinburgh starting on October 11th in Newcastle on Tyne. Each artist may submit up to 3 works, all of which must never have been exhibited before, the maximum size should be 183 x 183 x 10 cm (6ft x 6ft x4") including the frame. All submissions must be for sale, and the Chichester Arts Trust will take 30% of the selling price. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be posted on the website on Saturday 25th October.
For further details, downloadable PDFs updates and an entry form please go to the website: www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com