OUR TOWN 2
A National Postcard Competition

The theme Our Town can be a celebration or an observation of the places we live in or move to or leave behind.

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The competition affords those that take part an opportunity to share an aspect of their town that will definitely get seen by lots of people. North Yorks Art School has quite the following these days and even applicants that don't get selected for exhibition WILL get their work documented and made available to view on our website. From there, a Peoples' Choice winner will be chosen.

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Those that do get selected for exhibition - up to 20 entries - will have greeting cards and prints made of their entries and made available to buy in our shop. An overall winner will be invited to work with us on future projects.

Our categories:

Stained Glass Windows

They are beautiful and we want to draw attention to them whether abstract, floral or figurative etc. You may not immediately know of any stained glass windows of note, but look around and ask around and you'll find plenty. They'll have them in churches, no doubt - but where else might you find them? What's the oldest example you can find? The most elaborate? Can you find examples in totally unexpected places?

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Doors 

These small openings are everywhere. They let us in and out but do we really ever notice them? Why not have a concerted look next time you're in town? There are probably as many types of doors as there are personalities of people. There are open doors and closed doors and doors left ajar. There are doors that open by themselves and some that never open. There are doors that revolve and doors that slam. We love the doors made from trees that grew centuries ago. 

Doors are great. Let us see your doors. 

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Museum Artefacts 

Stored inside those buildings we rarely go in are our collected treasures. Treasures that hold our collective memories and tell us who we used to be. When was the last time you visited your local museum? Why not go back and use your competition entry to tell us something about what you find there?

Pub Signs (of Life) 

Pubs are disappearing and with them their function of bringing people together. This category is about the signs out front which are usually hand painted with those quirky names we love like The Hare & Hound, The Red Lion, The White Swan. Perhaps you've got a pub in your town you'd like to give a shout-out to? Maybe you'd like to reimagine and redesign their tatty old sign for them? Whatever you decide to do, don't forget to hurry up please, it's time to get started.   

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Material Changes

This year we want to explode the idea of a postcard competition, too. So, we don't mind what medium you use, so long as your entry is standard postcard size - that is 6 x 4 inches with a depth of no more than 1 inch. This means it could be a genuine piece of stained glass. It could be a mosaic or watercolour; it could be crocheted or stitched, sculpted or printed. How else might you want to approach it is up to you. The only thing we ask you to adhere to is the standard postcard size of 6 x 4 inches... and for those just wanting to keep to regular paper postcards, the more the merrier. Our heads won't simply be turned by flash materials. Traditional or novelty - make it great and we'll notice. 

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How Much?

The price to enter is £10 which includes VAT. Subsequent entries purchased at the same time are £5 each. £2 goes to the government so we can help pay for things like the NHS. Some of the money will go toward the exhibition we'll mount, provide an opening for and invigilate; and the rest goes toward the upkeep of our school and shop. With the exception of a recent bit of funding to help us put on free classes for Scarborough Streets, we are entirely unfunded and rather than ask for donations and handouts we do competitions like this.