Do you love Jersey’s traditional rural landscapes and timeless seascapes?
Are you an artist or a photographer?
If so, please support RURAL Magazine’s Jersey Landscape and Seascape Competition, which for the fourth year is being held as an integral part of the Jersey Summer Exhibition at CCA Galleries International.
For the competition, all the works of art that have been selected as entrants to the Summer Exhibition, and which illustrate the competition’s ‘rural’ theme, are automatically entered into the Rural Competition and judged separately with prizes offered to the winning entrants.
This year, the pictures and photos will also be reproduced in RURAL magazine’s 40th issue, to be published in October.
The competition sponsors are BCR Law, which sponsors the first prize (£500) to the winning artist and the third prize (£150). The second prize is sponsored by the National Trust for Jersey, and consists of a free weekend at its self-catering Le Catel Fort, Grève de Lecq.
The judges will be, for the art section, the managing partner of BCR Law, David Benest; the marketing and events manager of the National Trust for Jersey, Donna Le Marrec; manager of CCA Galleries International Tom Parker and the publisher/editor of RURAL magazine, Alasdair Crosby.
This year, an additional classification is being introduced: photographs that illustrate rural Jersey, its landscape, agriculture, natural environment, flora and fauna. The main sponsor for this is The Insurance Emporium, which offers a first prize worth £500 and a third prize of £150 to photographers. The second prize is donated by Fotosound Ltd and will be a £300 voucher for printing services.
The judges will be the photographic editor of RURAL magazine, Gary Grimshaw; marketing manager in Jersey of The Insurance Emporium, Kasia Guzik; owner of Fotosound Mark Fisher and Tom Parker of CCA Galleries International.
All works representing traditional Jersey landscapes that have been selected for the Jersey Summer Exhibition are automatically entered to the competition
Alasdair Crosby has urged all those who love Jersey’s traditional rural landscape and have an interest and talent in painting or photography, to submit works to the Summer Exhibition so that the successful works can also enter the competition.
He said: ‘A competition like this reminds us of the corners of the Island that are still “rural”, and so it is really a “celebration” of rural Jersey. But it could equally be titled a “recessional”: a reminder of what Jersey has been in the past, the areas of the Island and its coastline that define Jersey as a place; a necessary remembrance of the Island’s essential characteristics, its history and traditional character as a place and as a community.
‘At a time when the threat to Jersey’s rural landscape from re-zoning and building development seem to be increasing, it is increasingly important to remind ourselves that until comparatively recently, Jersey has always been predominantly a rural Island and farming has always been a huge component of its heritage.
Tom Parker added: ‘Last year saw 30% more entries than any other year – over 270 artworks in the initial round of submissions. Of those, a large number were artists entering the exhibition for the first time. The Summer Prize winning piece was a photograph and the standard of the photographic entries was notable across the board. We’ve added this award to further recognise the quality of work being made on the island.
‘The Summer Exhibition judges, yet to be announced, will join us at the gallery in July to present the Summer Prize, meet the artists and celebrate this year’s show. We are eternally grateful for the support of our sponsors Sancus and BCR Law with partners National Trust for Jersey, RURAL Magazine, Solutions Group and Fotosound.’
The Jersey Summer Exhibition is open to the public from Friday, 17 June, 12.00 – 18.00, Mon – Fri and 11.00 – 16.00, Saturday, 18 June. There will be an online catalogue as well as film of the exhibition and its evolution. The gallery is pleased to be making the exhibition available online and the work accessible to an audience who may be unable to visit the gallery.
The final selection of artists will be announced at the end of May. Entries open on 4th February via the website : Home – CCA Galleries International (ccai-jse.co.uk)
