Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2015
Sky Arts will search the UK and Ireland for a talented artist to be named Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2015. The series is an evolution of Portrait Artist of the Year, with the new Landscape competition being filmed in association with the National Trust.
Popular presenting duo Joan Bakewell and Frank Skinner will return to host Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2015. Teaming up with the National Trust to film in a number of the charity’s famous properties and locations, the presenters and expert judges Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano and Kate Bryan will embark on a search across the UK and Ireland for a new star of landscape painting.
Applications are now open and those who are successful will be initially invited to attend painting heats at stunning National Trust locations in Buckinghamshire, Cornwall and Cheshire. Further artistic challenges will take place across the UK and Ireland, with the winner being awarded a £10,000 commission which will be added to the Trust’s permanent art collection.
Joan Bakewell, presenter comments: “Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the year is a really exciting venture. We all had such a fantastic time making Portrait Artist of the Year that I knew I wanted to be part of this thrilling development of the idea: At once I thought of all the varied and much-loved English landscapes and how they had inspired Turner, Constable and Gainsborough. I jumped at the chance to present the series again: it’s such a pleasure to meet gifted artists and watch how their work grows. Once again we’ll be on the lookout for outstanding talent: and I’m sure we’ll find it.
Daniel Dodd, National Trust Director of Communications and Content, comments: “We’re delighted to be involved in Landscape Artist of the Year. People have a deep emotional connection with our beautiful countryside. The richness and the diversity of landscapes have inspired the extraordinary tradition of British landscape painting. We’re looking forward to seeing how today’s artists will respond to these stunning locations and the exciting new works they produce.”
Philip Edgar-Jones, Director, Sky Arts comments: “I can’t wait to turn the portrait canvas on its side and see a whole host of talented artists’ works of art come to life in this new Sky Arts series. As Portrait Artist of the Year showed, the UK and Ireland is brimming with artistic talent and I’m delighted that for this version of the show The National Trust are inviting us into their locations to show-off the best of the British and Irish countryside for our budding artists to capture on canvas.”
The competition will be filmed over the spring and summer 2015 and broadcast on Sky Arts later in the year. Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year will aim to discover and nurture talent of all capabilities who want to showcase their skills, whether amateur, professional or hobbyist. Anyone aged 16 and over is invited to apply.
Shortlisted artists will be invited to attend one of the series heats. Participants will be challenged to produce a timed landscape painting and at the end of each heat the judges will choose one artist to go through to the next round of the competition.
The heats will take place in:
- Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire -Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th April 2015
- Trelissick, Cornwall – Sunday 3rd & Monday 4th May 2015
- Lyme Park, Cheshire – Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th May 2015
Entry information can be found at www.sky.com/landscape