NSP 2021 – Call for entries: “Outthinking the future”

The National Sculpture Prize (NSP) for emerging outdoor artists was founded by Rinus and Aniet Van de Sande in 2009 to inspire, motivate and support emerging artists living in the UK.

Eleven years on the prize continues to represent the UK’s premier platform for emerging sculptors to showcase their talents by having their work publicly displayed alongside established artists at the Broomhill Sculpture Gardens in North Devon. Now under new ownership the Broomhill Estate is entering a new chapter and will build on the reputation honed over the past 24 years by continuing and expanding its mission to support the arts. The NSP has established itself as a cornerstone of the fine arts movement, supporting and elevating emerging outdoor artists by providing a platform for new talent. Broomhill Estate's new owners, Frictionless Fine Arts Limited, will continue to host the competition annually to encourage and commend new and emerging artists.

Frictionless founder and CEO Alex F. Kleiner III explains: “We have a bold and innovative vision to evolve Broomhill Estate as a preeminent sanctuary for fine arts, broadly defined. The first signal of our commitment to this vision is in affirming our annual sponsorship of the NSP and immediately tripling the purse to a whopping £45,000. It is also our sincere pleasure to name the judge’s prize after its creators, Rinus and Aniet Van de Sande. The future of fine arts in the UK is frictionless!”

This year’s theme is ‘Outthinking the Future’.

Aniet van Hoof Award

The Peoples’ Choice winner will be awarded a £5,000 cash prize. This prize is awarded to the sculpture that receives the most public votes during the exhibition period. Voting will take place online and in person at the Sculpture Gardens (June – October).

The National Sculpture Prize – is honoured to confirm the judging cohort for 2021. The art experts who will be overseeing the competition process are as follows

• Adrian Locke, chief curator, Royal Academy Of Arts

• Gavin Turk, artist

• Dianne Harris, curator, Kinetica Museum

• Alastair Smart, arts editor and art critic, The Telegraph

• Deborah Curtis, founder and creative director, House of Fairy Tales

• Andrew Logan, artist

• Sophie Parkin, artist, writer, owner of Vout-o-Reenees / The Stash Gallery

• Helen Buckley, curator, ArtFinder

• Michelle Charles, artist

• Molly Parkin, artist, novelist, fashion editor, broadcaster

• Jessica Wetherly, artist, historic NSP winner

• Polly Morgan, artist, taxidermist

The National Sculpture Prize 2021 received over 300 applications, the highest number of applications in the 11 year history of the NSP.

The first phase of the competition is now completed and the 10 shortlisted artists are confirmed below. Each artist below will be awarded £2,500 to create the artwork submitted in their proposal which will be housed alongside the permanent collection at the estate during summer 2021 (July – October). The judges will then get a chance to select the £15,000 prize winner, while the public will select a ‘People’s Choice’ winner of £5,000.

1.   Emma Louise Moore – A level closer to time

2.   Emily Woolley – A small ocean swallowed

3.   Lucy Gregory – Rose tinted

4.   Jonathan Michael Ray – Large boulder the size of a small boulder

5.   Gus Skottowe – Rituals of the technium

6.   Thomas Merrett – Listener

7.   Tom Waugh – I am not a robot

8.   Richard Paton – On the brink

9.   Henrietta Armstrong – Throwing bones

10. Laura Such – Plane sight

These proposals were selected based on:

• Alignment with this years’ theme; “Out-thinking the future”
• Originality of concept
• Creativity, durability, material selection, production process, range of techniques, clarity, methodology, theory, critical analysis, engineering techniques, structural integrity, consideration of environment and surroundings.