News: The Northern Illustration Prize 2023 – Open Call

The Northern School of Art in collaboration with project partner the Association of Illustrators (AOI) announces its open call out for The Northern Illustration Prize 2023.  

The prize celebrates the very best in illustration from all around the world and in previous years, the Prize has attracted hundreds of entries from all six continents. It also heralds the start of the countdown to the award-winning biennial The Northern Festival of Illustration, which will return to Hartlepool this summer.

With Tall Ships coming to Hartlepool the Prize will be themed around ‘The Sea’, asking illustrators to interpret how the sea connects us all and our stories or how it has helped to create the places we live in now.  Illustrators might also choose to reflect the Tall Ships race itself. 

The Northern Illustration Prize is open to emerging illustrators and professionals and will be shortlisted by staff from The Northern School of Art and the AOI. All shortlisted entries will be exhibited in public and the two winners will be announced in late September.  This year, the organisers are asking everyone who visits the Festival to join a public vote to choose the winners who will each win £1,000. 

Pat Chapman, Vice Principal at The Northern School of Art, adds: “We’re delighted to announce the launch of this major international art prize to celebrate the contribution of illustrators to the creative arts and to our own enjoyment throughout our everyday lives. 

“The purpose of the Prize is to celebrate the diverse world of illustration and provide a platform to celebrate the many different careers for illustrators – from product design through comics, cartoons, gaming, literature and the movie industry.  

“We are very excited to see how our illustrators interpret our theme ‘The Sea’.  The sea has helped to form Hartlepool through history and in this year of hosting the Tall Ships Race we wanted to link the prize to have a relevant nautical theme.” 

The Northern Festival of Illustration runs from 23rd June until the end of September with a programme of exhibitions, live events and opportunities for the community to get involved in making art. 

Full details of The Northern Illustration Prize can be found here.  Entry deadline is Sunday 11th June 2023.

2021 Emerging Illustrator winner Resilience – Julia Sarapata de Carvalho