Terms & Conditions

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Please read our Terms & Conditions before making your application. By submitting your portrait to The Sussex Portrait Artist of the Year Competition (Sussex PAOTY), you are agreeing to accept these Terms & Conditions and you acknowledge that the Terms & Conditions may be changed (whether verbally, in writing or otherwise) by the Organiser at any time at their sole discretion.

The Sussex Portrait Artist of the Year will be an exciting afternoon of live portraiture.

This event will see nine finalists painting for four hours in a bid to win the acclaimed title of Sussex Portrait Artist of the year 2026. The finalists will will each produce a portrait of one of 3 sitters over the course of the afternoon. The event will be open to the public. Sitters will be announced in due course.

This must-see event welcomes everyone. The public can watch artists in action as they create portraits right before their eyes. Our invited judges will select a winner and two runners-up.

 For the winner and runners up, the prizes are to be announced.  

Three esteemed figures from the art world will consider each art work. Their decision is final and will be made at the event shortly after painting stops. The names of the winning artist and runners up, will also be announced live on social media and on our website.

These will be recognisable figures/local celebs, sure to create a buzz. 

The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over living in Sussex. Participants must submit a portrait they have created in the last three years . The original submission or alternative if sold, must be available  to be displayed throughout the event on Saturday. 

The event will run for 5 hours on the 28th March 2026 in Worthing. 

- Submissions to arrive no later than midnight Saturday 1st Nov 2025

- Your chosen piece of work must have been created within the last 3 years and be your own work

- The image should be in JPEG format, less than 1GB labelled with your name, (artist name if different) 

- You must be available on Saturday 28th March 2026 from 12.30pm.

- You are asked to supply all your own materials, including an easel 

- A chair, table, tea, coffee and water will be supplied

- Entry is not confirmed until the £15 entry fee has been received. 

- Your full name & address 

- A mobile and/or landline number

- Confirmation of your email address

IMPORTANT DATES

Saturday 1st November 2025  -Midnight  Deadline for applications

12th Dec 2025  - All applicants will be notified via email

28nd March 2026  - Portrait of the Year event Timing TBC

Please make sure that the image you provide to the Sussex portrait artist of the year is owned by yourself. Any material submitted by you must not infringe any applicable laws or contain inappropriate content (such as indecent, offensive, defamatory or threatening material). 

Entries received after the date and time outlined above will not be considered nor will entries received from out of area. Entries submitted without the £15 entry fee will not be put forward. The Organiser reserves the right in their absolute discretion to extend the Closing Date for a reasonable period of time where an insufficient number of the entries received have satisfied the entry and judging criteria, and in these circumstances, the date on which they elect to close the Competition shall be the Closing Date.

Please note confirmation of emailing an entry does not necessarily mean that we have received it due to circumstances out of our control, i.e. IT issues, wrong email address, etc.

We reserve the right to disqualify your entry if:

a. Your entry is incomplete.

b. You do not meet the entry criteria.

c. You are not eligible to enter the Competition.

d. You cannot be contacted

e. You do not pay the entry fee

The finalists’ submissions will be used for marketing and will be exhibited on the website and social media prior to the event. The originals will be on display at the event after which they can be taken home.

We encourage your own promotion about the event and will repost where we can and we will work hard highlighting each of the finalists on our social media and website.

To help with the promotion, we ask you to include our logo which will be emailed to each finalist along with sponsors details.

Artists/participants agree to their images being used in selected promotional materials (including website, social networks and other media) unless agreed otherwise. The Sussex Portrait artists of the year reserve the right to use selected images and copy for promotional activities other than the leaflet and website in order to promote the Event as appropriate to the medium that the promotional activity is due to be published.

Please make sure that any text, graphics, photos or other media that you provide to The Venue, Worthing, and any third party is owned by yourself.

The 9 successful finalists will be required to bring their portraits to The Venue, Worthing on 28th  March 2026 time TBC via the Richmond Road Entrance. 

NB: The portraits must be clearly labelled and ready to hang. Any work not ready to hang will automatically incur a £5 fee on delivery to cover time and costs on the part of the Organiser.  

We will invite at least one other artist to be a Reserve Artist in case any Finalist is no longer able to take part. Please make sure you notify us 48 hours in advance if you are unable to participate. 

To manage appropriate numbers attending, the event will be ticketed. Tickets will be available to purchase online and will be announced on social media. Each finalist may be accompanied by one adult free of charge. Any other friends/family must purchase a ticket. No food or drink to be brought into the venue . 

The Organiser reserves the right to make changes to these Terms & Conditions. All changes will be posted on social media, and where appropriate, all artists will be notified by email. This version is dated 21/08/202

We are committed to Privacy and Data Protection.

We collect personal contact information (including name, address, telephone number and email address), which you provide on a voluntary basis.

Contact details are used to follow up on your requests and keep you posted on keys dates for the event, you can opt out anytime by sending an email to louise@sussexpaoty.com

We will not share your personal information with third parties for any other purpose without your consent, unless required by law. Any personal information we collect will never be sold to any companies or individuals.