Call for entries for The Horton's Summer Exhibition 2025 for artists in Surrey. Exhibition dates 1st -26th August. The main competition prize is free exhibition space and promotion for three individual artists in 2026.

The Horton Arts Centre is delighted to announce an Open Call for our second Summer Exhibition, designed to provide artists in Surrey and South London borders with an opportunity to showcase new work in our stunning exhibition spaces.

The Horton Summer Exhibition will be held 1st – 26th  August 2025 and will showcase a variety of artwork selected by an expert panel'

Theme

We are delighted to announce the theme for this year's Summer Exhibition as 'The Music of Life' - paying tribute to The Horton's Legacy as Europe's first centre for music therapy.  Music therapy was pioneered at Horton Hospital in the 1950s.

Artists are encouraged to explore ideas such as healing, rhythm, sound, memory, emotion and their personal experiences of music's ability to capture a moment or to transform lives. 

The Horton Summer Exhibition 2025 is generously sponsored by PEACOCK & CO Solicitors.

Who can apply:

The Horton Summer Exhibition 2025 is open to professional and amateur artists living in Surrey, including the former historic Surrey boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Croydon.

Artists must be aged 16 years at the time of entry. Students in current education are eligible to apply. If you are under 18, you need a parent/legal guardian to register on CuratorSpace.

Your artwork:

• Your work must have been completed in the last five years.
• 2D – if selected this will need to be hangable using The Horton's hanging system - e.g. canvas or framed with D-ring fixings (no clip frames) and be a maximum size of 110cm wide x 110cm. Your work does not need to be be framed before it is submitted for entry.
• 3D – will be considered but there are fewer spaces available – at a maximum of 100cm wide.
• Artists submitting digital artwork must be able to provide a monitor or projector as required.
• All work for sale should be priced between £100 and £2,000. But you do not have to put your work up for sale.

Key dates:

• Submissions must be made ONLINE via the CuratorSpace Portal between Tuesday, 27th May and Monday, 9th June 2025.
• The first round of selection will be made from digital images of artworks.
• Final deadline for entries: Monday 9th June 2025 at midnight.
• If you are successful in the first round, we will notify you by email. In specific cases, where digital image is low quality or is hard to assess, we may ask you to deliver your artwork to The Horton for the final round of in-person judging. Date to be confirmed.
• Artists selected to exhibit will be notified in the week beginning 30th June 2025
• Private View Launch Event: Friday 1st August 2025 (Exhibiting artists and invited guests only)
• Exhibition Dates: 1st – 26th August 2025
• Drop-off dates for selected artwork - Saturday 26th July and Tuesday 29th July

Benefits of Entry

The selection panel hopes to see an eclectic mix of work by established artists alongside emerging talent and first-time exhibitors. If your work is selected for the Summer Exhibition, you will benefit from:

• A three-week exhibition at a beautiful venue with free parking and cafe-bar on-site.
• Artist’s name and link on our website.
• Outreach to press and media.
• Promotion of the exhibition on The Horton’s social media accounts.
• Printed exhibition leaflets/ posters and price lists.
• Promotional photography and video filmed in the exhibition space.
• Invitation to a Private View launch event.
• Opportunity to sell work – with a 20% + VAT commission (deposit) on sales taken by The Horton to raise funds for our charity.
  
  

Fees:

The cost of entry is being kept low to reduce barriers to participation. Artists will pay £5 per entry and can enter a maximum of three artworks. (£15)

If your work is selected for the Summer Exhibition, there will be an additional fee of £25 per artist (£10 for full-time students aged under 23) to participate.

This goes towards the costs of running and promoting the exhibition and provides you with all the benefits listed in the main description.

Please note that although you may enter up to three artworks for consideration, only one piece per artist can be exhibited as selected by the judges.

For full Terms and Conditions, please visit The Horton website.

After submitting your first artwork, you will then be directed to make a payment. Select the amount for the number of submissions you would like to make.

If this is more than one, you will then be able to make further submissions by submitting additional forms up to the number of artworks you have paid for.