Last week was extremely busy for the Art Awards team. The closing date of 26^th October was followed two days later by the first round of judging. Our two judges, Sally Bulgin, editor of The Artist Magazine, and Tom Coates, artist, spent all day going through over 2150 entries. Such a high number of entrants was very pleasing, as was, once again, the quality and range of entries, from artists of 60 to 99 years of age. Of course, such high numbers made the competition all the tougher, with The Bankside Gallery only offering space for approximately 100 works of art to be exhibited. This dilemma has been addressed by the return of the once-popular Highly Commended section. Those artists who receive a Highly Commended will have images of their work  (rather than the works themselves) displayed within the gallery, thus offering the opportunity to celebrate the work and talent of an additional 60+ artists.

Parker-Harris, the consultancy which runs the Art Awards on EAC’s behalf, has already posted out letters, with e-mailings to follow tomorrow. Visit this blog tomorrow for a full listing of artists chosen for exhibition and artists awarded a Highly Commended.

Online Voting for the EAC People’s Choice Awards will begin as soon as possible, once the images and data have been imputed; at the latest…fingers crossed…by Monday 9^th November. Don’t forget to visit the website to cast your vote!