We are super excited to be able to announce not one, not two, but three prizes for the Sussex Contemporary 2022.

As I’m sure you know already, The Sussex is a major exhibition of contemporary art taking place in October this year at the British Airways i360 on Brighton beach. We’ve invited artists linked with Sussex to submit work to be included. Artists must have either been born in Sussex, were educated here or currently live in the county.

We are hoping to include up to 200 Sussex artworks from amateur and professional artists at all stages of their careers, all picked by our independent panel of selectors. The panel will be chaired by Gyr King, CEO of King & McGaw who are global leaders in fine art print and framing. Gyr is super well known in the art world and world-leading institutions – such as the V&A, Tate, and the National Gallery – endorse and stock their products. King & McGaw are also the proud guardians of prestigious licenses to produce iconic artworks from the likes of Warhol, Picasso, Lowry, Pollock and Matisse to name just a few. It’s fair to say that Gyr knows a thing or two about art.

The judges will not only select which artworks make it into the exhibition, but they will also have the difficult task of deciding who wins two of the three prizes on offer. The first is the Creative Pod Prize which is £1,000 payable to the winning artist and is sponsored by the multi-award-winning marketing agency Creative Pod based in Crawley.

“I’m delighted that creative Pod are sponsoring The Sussex Contemporary Prize. I love art and supporting artists is a real passion of mine. I hope many people come and see these wonderful Sussex-based artists’ work.” Said Matt Turner, CEO of The Creative Group.

Matt is also an avid collector of contemporary art and I’m sure he will be looking with interest at who the judges choose to win this prize.

The judges will also have to pick which Sussex artist gets The Seawhite Prize worth £500. This one has been sponsored by Seawhite of Brighton who manufacture and supply art and design materials. They have a manufacturing facility in Nottinghamshire but the main offices, warehouses and more importantly their well-stocked factory shop are actually based in Partridge Green in West Sussex.

The third prize we are announcing today is the People’s Choice Prize which has been kindly sponsored by creative agency, Whitespace. As the name suggests this prize will be chosen by visitors to the exhibition who will have the opportunity to vote on their favourite piece of art and the winning artist will receive a prize worth £250.

“As a creative agency we put design at the heart of everything we do. We draw huge inspiration from the arts scene and the beautiful surrounding landscape. We owe a lot to the area and are grateful to live and work in such a a vibrant city. said James Morrison, Creative Director at Whitespace.

The exhibition is already getting a lot of attention and we have been blown away by the reaction in the press and on social media channels too. If your work is chosen to be part of the final exhibition then you are already a winner. Winning one of the three prizes will be the icing on the cake and will also look pretty good on your artist CV (and £1,000 in the bank I’m sure will come in handy too). There is still plenty of time for artists to enter our open call but to be eligible you must either have been born in Sussex, educated here or currently live in the county.

There is also a broad theme to follow in that the judges will be particularly looking for artworks that celebrate Sussex produce and producers. This broad brief is open to artistic interpretation and covers everything from livestock and farms to chefs and restaurants. Artworks can be in any media and any size, although large sculptures and installations can only be accommodated on the top deck at the i360 and so need to be weatherproof. Still life, portraits, landscapes, abstracts, are all welcome as long as you feel they answer the brief.

The exhibition of the selected work will run from 8th to 22nd October 2022 and will be free to the public to visit. All the work will be available for sale. A percentage of each sale will be donated to Table Talk Foundation, a charity that supports food education and the hospitality sector in Sussex. Over the two weeks there will also be several additional fundraising events that combine visual art and culinary arts.

We are using Zealous as our platform to handle all submissions which I’m sure many of you will have had experience of. It is really simple to use and you can take a look before committing by visiting https://www.zealous.co/sussexcontemporaryltd/opportunity/Open-Call-for-Sussex-Artists/