Calling young artists
NOW accepting entries for its fifth year, the Sovereign Art Foundation Guernsey Student Prize is adding an exciting extra dimension to this year’s competition.
SAF Guernsey, in partnership with Martel Maides Auctions, is enabling some talented students’ work to be auctioned.
When entering this year’s competition, students will have the option to put their work forward for auction. The online auction will take place during the public exhibitions of the competition’s shortlisted artworks. Students who opt to put their work under the hammer will keep 50% of the sale proceeds, with the other half going to the foundation’s bursary fund.
‘Each year we have people asking if they can buy the artwork we have on display, so we’re hopeful there’s a real appetite to encourage young artists to recognise the value of their talents by showing them they can literally profit from their artistic pursuits,’ said Stephen Hare, managing director of Sovereign’s Guernsey office.
SAF Guernsey is mirroring the model used by the foundation internationally to raise large amounts of money for art therapy projects, supporting youth in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
It’s a great way of helping artists just setting out on their careers by putting their work in front of a larger pool of buyers.
In Guernsey, the auction will help the artists to achieve a good price for their art while also giving them the opportunity to support young people in their own community through contributing to SAF Guernsey’s bursary scheme.
The online auction, which Martel Maides is administering at no cost to the foundation, will open on Monday 7 October, when the artworks are first displayed in the OSA Pop-Up Shop in Smith Street.
As well as being invited to vote for their favourite artwork, as in previous years, the public will also be able to place a bid on the artworks by following a link to the online auction.
‘We have been impressed with the quality of work which has been produced by entrants in previous years and are confident that this year’s artworks will look fantastic alongside the fine art we will be listing in our popular pre-Christmas catalogue,’ said James Bridges, managing director of Martel Maides Auctions.
The online auction will run throughout a six-week period when the artworks are on public display so people can bid when they come across them at any of the numerous locations on the exhibition tour. If they are subsequently outbid, they will be notified so they have a chance to raise their bid if they want to.
The expanded list of locations for the 2019 exhibitions will be confirmed shortly and will include Martel Maides’ own auction rooms, the Pop-Up Shop, Beau Sejour, the airport and the new George Crossan Gallery at the Inner Market Street.
u SAF Guernsey is accepting entries into the competition from 15- to 18-year-olds from now until Thursday 5 September. This gives artists their summer holidays to work on a fresh piece of artwork, or they can consider entering anything they’ve worked on this academic year and not entered into previous rounds of the competition, including their school coursework. Auctioning their artwork is optional and not mandatory, with students having the ultimate say about the reserve price set for their work.
The full terms and conditions of the competition and how to enter are online at artprize.gg. You can also keep up to date with SAF Guernsey on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter.
