There will be plenty of Sea to see at The Northern School of Art as it opens its regular international art prize ‘The Northern Illustration Prize”
The Northern School of Art in collaboration with project partner the Association of Illustrators announces the call out for ‘The Northern Illustration Prize 2023’. This will be the third Prize competition as part of the biennial Northern Festival of Illustration. In past years this has attracted hundreds of entries from six continents. The Prize aims to celebrate the very best in illustration across the globe and is open for entries from Friday 12 May from emerging illustrators and professional illustrators.
The Prize heralds the start of the countdown to the award-winning biennial ‘The Northern Festival of Illustration’ which will return to Hartlepool this summer. This year the Northern School of Art’s hometown of Hartlepool hosts the Tall Ships race and so the Prize will be themed around ‘The Sea’ asking illustrators to interpret how the sea connects us all and our stories or how it has helped to create the places we live in now. Illustrators might also choose to reflect the Tall Ships race itself.
The Northern Illustration Prize will be shortlisted by staff from The Northern School of Art and the AOI. All shortlisted entries will be exhibited in public and the two winners will be announced in late September. This year we are asking everyone who visits the Festival to join a public vote to choose the winners who will each win £1,000.
Pat Chapman, Vice Principal at The Northern School of Art, said “We’re delighted to announce the launch of this major international art prize to celebrate the contribution of illustrators to the creative arts and to our own enjoyment throughout our everyday lives. The purpose of the Prize is to celebrate the diverse world of illustration and provide a platform to celebrate the many different careers for illustrators – from product design through comics, cartoons, gaming, literature and the movie industry.
We are very excited to see how our illustrators interpret our theme ‘The Sea’. The sea has helped to form Hartlepool through history and in this year of hosting the Tall Ships Race we wanted to link the prize to have a relevant nautical theme.“
“The Northern School of Art holds a special position in the illustration community and we are delighted to host the competition for a third time.” Rachel Hill, CEO at the Association of Illustrators.
The Northern Festival of Illustration runs from 23rd June until the end of September with a programme of exhibitions, live events and opportunities for the community to get involved in making art. All events and experiences are free.
Full details and the entry form for ‘The Northern Illustration Prize’ can be found at https://theaoi.com/northern-illustration-prize-2023/ where there is full guidance on how to enter and the terms and conditions.
The deadline to enter is Sunday 11th June 2023.