Contemporary Printmaking Prize Spring 2023
Submissions open Friday 13th January
Fen Ditton Gallery are delighted to announce the return of the Contemporary Printmaking Prize.
This free-to-enter prize is open to UK-based artists working in the field of printmaking and culminates in a selling exhibition at Fen Ditton Gallery, Cambridge in March.
Since the inaugural printmaking prize in 2021, the gallery has been building on the active, and acknowledged, relationship that the City and University of Cambridge have with historical and contemporary fine art printmaking and has established a collaborative relationship with Kip Gresham of The Print Studio, Cambridge.
Gallery manager Hannah Munby comments: "I'm really excited that the Contemporary Printmaking Prize is back! I learnt so much about printmaking throughout the process, guided by our wonderful judges, and I am really looking forward to seeing what this year brings. I am particularly interested in discovering young emerging artists in the field and giving them the opportunity to be exhibited alongside established artists in a gallery setting."
The overall winner of the Contemporary Printmaking Prize will be selected by the panel of distinguished judges: returning judge Elenor Ling (Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings at The Fitzwilliam Museum), Kip Gresham (Master-Printmaker and Founder of The Print Studio, Cambridge) and Sir Richard Heaton (Trustee of Koestler Arts, Warden of Robinson College, Cambridge, and art collector).
The winner will be awarded £500 and have the opportunity to be featured across the Fen Ditton Gallery networks, including an interview with Hannah for the popular gallery podcast.
Our media partner, leading industry magazine Pressing Matters Magazine, will also be awarding their own prize winner with a feature in July's issue and a year's subscription to the magazine.
Meet the Judges
Kip Gresham
Master-printmaker Kip Gresham (b. 1951, Cambridge) studied art at Manchester and Newcastle colleges of art before establishing his first print studio in Manchester in 1975. He has gone on to become one of the most influential printmakers of his generation and was previously director and master printer at both Curwen Chilford Prints (1989-1994) and Gresham studio (1994-2001). He established The Print Studio, Cambridge in 2002.
Sir Richard Heaton
Richard Heaton is Warden of Robinson College, Cambridge. He collects modern and contemporary art, and is chair of trustees at Koestler Arts, which facilitates access to the creative arts by those in prison or detention. Earlier in his career, Richard was a civil servant, and was permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice from 2015 to 2020.
Richard says: “I’m looking forward to being drawn into the rich and innovative world of print-making. I hope to be surprised, intrigued… maybe by colour, or balance, or line, or maybe by narrative. I’m open!”
Elenor Ling
Elenor Ling, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings at The Fitzwilliam Museum
Elenor Ling has curated numerous print exhibitions at the Fitzwilliam. The most recent, ‘Bearing Witness? Violence and trauma on paper’ (10 January – 2 April 2023), draws on contemporary and twentieth-century prints and drawings from collections at the Fitzwilliam and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Elenor comments: “I am looking forward to seeing submitted work; there are so many possibilities with printmaking and whether an artist uses old or new techniques, new voices are always exciting. I think it's fantastic that the Fen Ditton Gallery encourages new work in this way.”
How to enter the Contemporary Printmaking Prize:
Submissions will open on Friday 13th January. But in the meantime, get yourself ready by completing the checklist below:
Read the Terms of Entry
Choose ONE artwork to enter into the prize that follows all the guidelines for eligible entries (see terms of entry)
Photograph the artwork abiding by the upload requirements:
You must upload a primary image showing the work in its entirety including border. If you think it would help the judges, you can also enter up to two further images showing details of your work.
Files names must include your name and the title of the artwork you are submitting.
Photographs must be in JPEG, JPG or PNG format and must be no larger than 4mb.
Please upload high resolution images, low quality images may hinder your chances of success. The artwork must be photographed straight on in good, even light and the colours must be true to life. Make sure the work is the right way round before you upload it.
If you have any questions about the prize, please refer to our FAQs.
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