Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year
Entry details and requirements can be found at www.sky.com/portrait
(5x60mins series, 1x90 final, starts autumn on Sky Arts)
28/03/2013 Sky Arts announces a search across the UK and Ireland for an inspiring and talented artist who can be crowned Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. Working with prestigious organisations including the National Portrait Gallery and The British Library and presented by Joan Bakewell and Frank Skinner, the competition will be filmed for a series to be broadcast in the autumn on Sky Arts.
Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year will aim to discover and nurture artists of all capabilities including enthusiastic amateurs and professionals who want the chance to develop and showcase their skills. Participants will be able to seek advice from some of the top names in the art world and the series finalists will see their work displayed in the National Portrait Gallery. The winner will join a select group of distinguished artists who may be considered for a future project by the Gallery, and will be awarded a £10,000 commission to paint double-Booker and Costa Award-winning author Hilary Mantel for The British Library. The painting of Mantel will be displayed at The British Library and become part of its permanent art collection. They will also receive a year’s supply of art materials courtesy of leading fine art supplier Cass Art.
Artists of all abilities, aged 16 and over, are invited to apply to participate at Sky.com/Portrait. Four heats will take place at free art festivals in London, Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff over summer 2013. At these festivals, participants will be challenged to produce a portrait of one of three sitters. Sitters will include at least one public figure. They will receive help and advice from a panel of expert judges and at the end of each heat the judges will choose the artist they believe to be the most talented to go through to the final. The Judges will be Kathleen Soriano, Director of Exhibitions of the Royal Academy of Arts, Portrait artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg and Kate Bryan, Head of Contemporary at The Fine Art Society.
The four winners from the heats will then take part in two more extraordinary portrait challenges including producing a portrait of a public figure or famous person over an extended period of time.In the grand finale, work by the finalists will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. The overall winner will be chosen by the series’ judges together with Sandy Nairne, the Director of the National Portrait Gallery.
As well as celebrating portraiture, Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year will explore the stories, commitment and passion of the artists who take part. Visitors to the free festivals will be able to celebrate portraiture in all its guises with masterclasses and showcases from some of the UK’s most interesting artists.
In a complementary series, art historian Tim Marlow will meet and interview some of the biggest names in portraiture. These talks will be filmed in front of an audience at the festivals and will illuminate aspects of portraiture featured through the series Sky Arts Portrait Artists of the Year, including the muse, political portraits in the modern age, satire and painting nudes.
Joan Bakewell comments "This is a wonderful idea. I hope it inspires everyone to tap into their creative spirit and perhaps we'll find the next Rembrandt.”
Frank Skinner adds “I love the idea of rolling into town with our portrait roadshow and seeing who's got the guts and talent to step up to the easel. I'm preparing myself for some beautiful surprises.”
“Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year is a hugely exciting and special project for the channel. It seeks to discover and engage with established and undiscovered talent, both on and off screen, and aims to inspire artists of all capabilities across the UK and Ireland,” comments James Hunt, Channel Director of Sky Arts. “We are thrilled to be working with The National Portrait Gallery and The British Library on such an exciting project.”
Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery adds, “The National Portrait Gallery is very pleased that Sky Arts are promoting an interest in portraiture in Britain and Ireland and we look forward to hosting the final stage of this nationwide celebration of artistic talent.”
Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library, said “Artists, designers, film-makers and other creative practitioners regularly use the British Library’s collections for inspiration, information and practical support. We are delighted to be working with Sky Arts on the Portrait Artist of the Year competition, and look forward to displaying the winning portrait in 2014.”
The series will be produced for Sky Arts by StoryVault Films. Stuart Prebble, Chairman of StoryVault, adds: “How utterly fantastic it is to make a series which really could change lives for talented artists, and to give a national showcase to amazing work which might otherwise be confined to the local village hall.”
Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year marks a further development for Sky Arts which champions innovative and original art series, and which underlines Sky’s promise to deliver high-quality, exclusive content to customers, supported by a commitment to increase investment in home-grown programming to £600 million by 2014.
For details in how to participate in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year please visit Sky.com/Portrait The closing date for application to enter is midday on Thursday 2nd May.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Katherine Solomon PR Manager, Sky Press Office
T: 0207 032 0599
E:
Dominic Collett Sky Arts Publicist, Sky Press Office
T: 0207 032 4892
E:
NOTES TO EDITOR
Notes to Editors:
About Sky Arts
Sky Arts offers an eclectic mix of the best music, arts, biographies, chat shows, film, drama and comedy. Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Sky Arts now reaches more than 6 million viewers every month.
Recent highlights include Playhouse Presents… a series of one-off comedies and dramas starring renowned talent including Jon Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Thompson, Sir Tom Jones, Brenda Blethyn, David Tennant and Alison Steadman. The channel was also responsible for resurrecting the much-loved South Bank Show and The South Bank Show Awards. Sky Arts also encourages new formats and methods for accessing the arts, working with the ENO and National Gallery to beam the world’s first live opera and first live opening night of an exhibition in 3D to cinemas across the UK and Ireland.
Sky Arts also seeks to connect with culture on the ground; creating and collaborating with the best of the arts in the UK and Ireland to bring new experiences to life. Sky Arts has collaborated with a number of arts organisations including the English National Ballet and has supported the Hay Festival as broadcast partner since 2006. The Sky Arts Ignition Series launched in in 2011 to invest in the arts landscape of the UK. The Series will seek to collaborate with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of brand new works; Sky Arts Ignition Series: Futures Fund will support five young artists with a bursary of £30,000 each, enabling Sky Arts to back the creation of new works of art as well as nurture emerging talent.
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About Storyvault Films
Storyvault Films brings together the talents of a number of highly-experienced and award winning producers and directors with a track record of delivering high-quality programmes for all the terrestrial channels and the best of the digital channels. The teams credits include THE BOOK SHOW with Mariella Frostrup for SKY ARTS HD, PRINCE PHILIP AT 90 and INSIDE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS for ITV1, 3MEN IN A BOAT, and THE ALASTAIR CAMPBELL DIARIES for BBC2, WILLIE’S WONKY CHOCOLATE FACTORY FOR CHANNEL 4, and BLACKPOOL LIGHTS (soon to be shown on) CHANNEL 5