Following the judging of artwork entered for the first ever RBSA Young Artists Prize, the RBSA Gallery is delighted to announce a new collaboration with Stryx Gallery in the Jewellery Quarter.
Judges Ed Isaacs, RBSA President, Ruth Millington, art critic, writer, and children’s author, and Karolina Korupczynska, Director of Stryx, were enormously impressed with the standard of the work submitted for the exhibition and selected almost 100 artworks to be exhibited in the RBSA Gallery at the end of August. However, following the judging, it was felt that the quality of the work not selected to be shown at the RBSA Gallery was so high that it deserved to be exhibited. We are therefore delighted to announce that Stryx Gallery have generously given us their space to show these works from 27 – 30 August, in a sister exhibition.
Stryx is a female artist led residency, with studios and exhibition spaces in Digbeth, and the Jewellery Quarter. Founded in 2012, Stryx focuses on supporting artists through residencies and artist development programmes. The organisation seeks to initiate and develop regional and national artistic collaborations and this link with the RBSA Gallery offers both one of the oldest art societies in the country and a relatively new arts community to work together to foster engagement with the arts.
Known for its prestigious prize exhibitions, heritage shows, and exhibitions from professional artists and bodies, the RBSA Gallery also holds around five exhibitions each year which are open to artists from around the world. The Young Artists Prize is a brand-new initiative, designed to demonstrate that art and art galleries are inclusive and for people of all ages. Being aware that the art world can seem inaccessible and intimidating, Society Members and Gallery staff hope that this exhibition will encourage young creatives to get involved and realise that there are opportunities out there for them.
The free to enter exhibition was open to children aged between 4 and 17 years from across the city of Birmingham, Sandwell District, Solihull, Wolverhampton, and Dudley. Artists were split into four age categories; 4 – 6 years, 7 – 10 years, 11 – 14 years, and 15 – 17 years, and prize winners will be selected from each of these groups. Every exhibiting artist will also receive a certificate to celebrate their involvement which will be awarded, alongside the prizes, at a prize giving event on Saturday 30 August. Prizes have kindly been sponsored by Cass Art.
Following the success of this first show, it is hoped that the RBSA Young Artists Prize will become an annual event with Stryx in support as a second exhibition venue.
The exhibition runs from Tuesday 26 August to Saturday 30 August at the RBSA Gallery and from Wednesday 27 August to Saturday 30 August at Stryx Gallery on Vyse Street in the Jewellery Quarter.