Tom Kerridge, The Bull & Bear, Stock Exchange Hotel and West Contemporary have teamed up to create the unique opportunity in the hope of using their venue and standing within hospitality and art to boost the already burgeoning Manchester fine art scene.
West Contemporary will work with the artist for a period of at least one year with a management relationship that may see the artist’s work feature in a host of international projects, art fairs, private and public collections and buoyed by the guidance and experience of the two-decade art industry veterans.
The prize also includes an opportunity to permanently exhibit within The Bull & Bear and therefore means the potential to be surrounded by global artists of serious acclaim, sourced from West Contemporary’s roster of artists, a position of which would normally be nearly impossible to come by for an emerging talent.
The winner will receive a £500 cash prize, The MCR Fine Art Award trophy itself, and on top of the initial opportunity – the potential to work on future hospitality and art events, exhibitions and opportunities with the competition partners.
To enter, artists may submit examples of work via appropriate files to competition@west-contemporary.com by Monday July 18th 2022 at 12pm, showing up to 10 images of their work to date for consideration, alongside explaining their link to Manchester. The competition is open to those born, raised or linked to the city.
As the artwork may be picked for exhibition, artists are advised to include works already available or creatable for immediate installation.
Submissions will then be judged by the West Contemporary team and Tom Kerridge with a winner produced shortly after and their work installed in the beautiful hotel and restaurant venue on Norfolk Street within a few weeks.
Liam West FRSA Founder, West Contemporary said: ‘We are thrilled to announce The MCR Fine Art Award, a genuinely glorious opportunity for someone out there to kick start their professional art career in a remarkable way. Even if you’ve never sold an artwork before, we want to hear from you. Opportunities like this are sadly few and far between, and we’d hope that the local art community embraces the project and joins us in finding a worthy winner’.
Chef Tom Kerridge said: ‘Within each of our venues we try to create a unique atmosphere, combining what has been successful for us elsewhere with a mindful respect and admiration of the areas in which we are located. Manchester is a beautiful, vibrant, artistic and creative city and we want our guests to feel pride at a local artist taking such important space within our restaurant. Hopefully we can be the first big step on the journey for an artist looking to build a successful art career’
