Thank you very much indeed to all of you who so kindly emailed, wrote and phoned with suggestions for venues. We have added another 50 venues to our ongoing database, and followed up each lead you sent us. Some we were very sorry to pass over, and will arrange to visit, as possibilities for future years.
But we are delighted with our final choice of venue for the 2010-11 EAC Art Awards - the RBSA (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists) Gallery in St Paul’s Square, Birmingham, where the Finalists Exhibition will be held over two weeks, from 9th to 21st May 2011. The deadline for 2010-11 entries to the EAC Art Awards has therefore been set at 4th March 2011.
So, for the first time in their 17 year history, the EAC Art Awards are going to move out of London! Please look at the RBSA website at www.rbsa.org.uk and we are sure you will agree that it offers a most welcoming gallery space with a long and impressive history. Furthermore, situated as it is at the corner of St Paul’s Square, next to Birmingham’s famous jewellery quarter, it is a most interesting short walk or taxi-ride from Birmingham New Street Station.
The two week exhibition also gives visitors more time to plan a visit to Birmingham, perhaps taking in an overnight stay and/or meal out. Certainly the area around historic St Paul’s Square is well served with tempting eating places, and surprisingly easy car parking. It also gives the organisers opportunities to re-instate the popular artist workshops, which were a feature of earlier Art Awards.
Holding the exhibition in May 2011 will return EAC Art Awards to their traditional early Summer schedule, and has the added advantage of allowing artists a long lead-in time in preparation for entry. It also gives us additional time in which to make improvements to the website and to publicise the Awards more widely.
This year, we are holding the entry fees at the same rates as for the last three years; ie £9 per entry, up to a maximum of five entries, with a special offer of 4 entries for the price of 3 (£27) and 5 entries for the price of 4 (£36). We are sorry not to be able to offer further reductions, but the Art Awards have never been a profit-making endeavour for EAC, and the uncertainties of sponsorship make 2010-11 a particularly tight year financially. Thank you to those who wrote enquiring as to whether we had been a casualty of the economic downturn, but no, there’s plenty of life in us yet!
Speaking of which, this year’s Photography Award, a new venture for EAC, has taken off really well. Please see the link from the website Homepage for details, but remember that the deadline for this Award is 31st October 2010, so less than eight weeks to go. We would particularly welcome entries that show older people in a positive light and entries from residents of sheltered and extra-care housing. So, why not get out there with your camera while the weather’s still good? There is no entry fee for this competition, and your work could well feature on the Art Awards website and/or in publicity for EAC’s National Housing for Older People Awards 2011 (see www.housingcare.org) as well as winning a £100 prize.
Angela Maloney, "Repetition".Entrant 2009
