Explorers Against Extinction

Sketch for Survival

Lower Farm Barns

Happisburgh

Norfolk NR12 0QQ

UK

The next stage of selection takes place in-person in Norfolk – please ensure your work reaches us by 13 August 2023

We recommend recycling some stiff cardboard from a box or packet – the card should be slightly larger all around than your artwork.  Place your artwork in between two pieces of card to make a sandwich. This will protect the corners and stop it from being creased. You can use two pieces of tape (preferably paper tape if you have it) to secure the card at each side – this is all that is required. Place the whole thing in a (recycled) envelope or packet and send it to us using the appropriate postal service or courier.

Please think of the environment and try to avoid using single use plastics.

We recycle as much packaging as we can so please don’t get carried away with the tape – it just takes us longer to open the parcels and makes packaging challenging to recycle.

We open many parcels and we really enjoy all the amazing envelope art, notes and cards people include – thank you for taking the time to do this. We usually open parcels on one day a week and we share pictures on our Instagram Story. Once we have opened your parcel we send you an email to confirm its safe arrival.

Couriers can be expensive.

For that reason,  we usually give one month to send your artwork to us.  If you use the regular postal/mailing service in your country then the cost should not be too great. If you have friends taking part you can send your artworks together in one parcel and share the cost.

Please take care packaging your artwork – we recommend some stiff cardboard to prevent the edges from getting damaged – you can recycle cardboard from a box or packet and place your artwork between two pieces to protect it on its journey.

Please try and avoid using single-use plastics and if you do use plastic, please think of the environment and use it sparingly! Thank you.

Please list the contents of your parcel as a document.

Please see other notes below as needed:

Customs 

If you have listed your contents as a document then there will be no customs to pay and the process is very simple.

If you list your contents as an artwork it can be more complicated. Please specify ‘donation to charity’, and if asked to provide a value on the customs form, we recommend you provide a nominal value, purely to cover the material cost (up to $50USD is reasonable) otherwise we will be charged import tax/duty to receive your parcel. Last year some customs charges were very high and regrettably this year we will have to refuse the parcel.

ID and contact numbers

Our registered UK charity number is 1177505 (if you need it).

Our EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number is GB025052069000

Our address: Explorers Against Extinction, Sketch for Survival, Lower Farm Barns, Happisburgh, Norfolk NR12 0QQ UK

Our telephone number: +44 1692 218189

Charity contact name: Sara White, Trustee

Thank you.

You need to print your artwork in A3 or A4 size as per the competition guidelines. Please use good quality printing paper. Please hand-sign the front and print your name on the back. By printing your digital artwork, and hand-signing it you are validating the work as an original by you.

Regrettably we are unable to print digital entries for you. If the artwork does not comply to the size restrictions when printed,  it will unfortunately have to be discounted from selection. 

No you do not.

Your artwork should meet the size guidelines provided on the competition page (A3 or A4 size) so you do not need to do anything to it before you send it to us.

Please do protect your artwork in the post – we find a stiff piece of cardboard works very well, or rolled and sent in a tube.

Once selection is complete we mount/frame the artworks as required in our recyclable exhibition frames.

Unfortunately if your artwork does not comply then it will be discounted from selection.

Several artists contact us every year at this stage of the competition about the size of their artwork – the most common situation is that they have gone to send their artwork and realised it is not the right size! If that is you, don’t panic, please read on…

Here is a reminder of the size restrictions:

We accept artworks in the following two size categories (landscape or portrait orientation accepted):

A4: Minimum size and visible area – 21 cm by 29.7 cm. Maximum paper size 23cm by 31.7cm.

Your paper size can be anywhere in the range from 21cm – 23cm (short side) by 29.7 cm – 31.7cm (long side).

Please note this additional area will not be visible once mounted/framed in our reusable exhibition frames so please make sure anything important including your signature is within the visible area.

A3:Minimum size and visible area – 29.7cm by 42cm. Maximum paper size 31.7cm by 44cm.

Your paper size can be anywhere in the range from  29.7cm – 31.7cm (short side) by 42cm – 44 cm (long side). Please note this additional area will not be visible once mounted/framed in our reusable exhibition frames so please make sure anything important including your signature is within the visible area.

**If you are cutting down your artwork,  please ensure you leave a 5-10 mm margin all the way around over and above the minimum sizes given.**

Exceptions

For unusual mediums (materials such as wood, metal, scratchboard, slate) or two dimensional shapes such as circles and squares, artwork will be accepted so long as the pieces fall into the size range A4 to A3 (c20cm – 45cm permitted range) and will therefore fit into our frames. So for example, a square artwork of 30cm by 30cm would be acceptable. A round artwork with diameter 21cm would be acceptable.

Canvas box frames or unusual mediums which will not fit into our exhibition frames or are not intended for framing,  must be sent to us ready to hang. This means they must have a hook/hanging wire and be ready to put on the wall. If they are not ready to hang then unfortunately we will be unable to consider them for the exhibition.

Please sign your artwork on the front (usually the bottom right hand corner). Please print your name clearly on the back. Please use the same name you used on the submission form otherwise it can get very confusing!

Yes we do. We open parcels once a week. These are logged and checked against your submission form. We send a group email confirming safe receipt – this is sent to the registered email address (used on the original submission) usually once a week on a Thursday.Please do not email and phone chasing up your artwork until we have had a chance to send out the weekly round-robin confirmation email, thank you.

All the longlisted artworks will be kept safe at Explorer HQ.

The finalists’ art which is selected for the exhibition tour  (announced 7 September) will be included in our online fundraising auction which ends on Sunday November 12th.

The artwork of the runners-up will be offered for sale both online and at our UK exhibition venues and events. At exhibitions/events they will be mounted and displayed for visitors to browse/buy. Please note, depending on the venue and the space available we sometimes have to rotate the selection – it is not always possible to have every single piece out at every venue/event.

All proceeds from Sketch for Survival artwork supports our project Fund.