Deadline: 14 March 2025
Nominations are now open for the Fourth Plinth Schools Award competition for schools to get creative and produce a work of art inspired by the contemporary art commissions for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth.
The Fourth Plinth Programme is UK’s most talked about contemporary sculpture prize. Funded by the Mayor of London and supported by Arts Council England, it invites world class artists to create new works for display in Trafalgar Square.
Each year, London schools are invited to enter the Fourth Plinth Schools Awards. The awards give children a chance to get involved with public art and offer new views of London.
Benefits
- All winners will receive a prize, which will consist of art materials allocated according to the age group of the winners. Different prizes may be awarded for groups winners. There are a minimum of 39 prizes available. There will be no alternative to the prizes.
- The winners from each category will be given the opportunity to exhibit their work later in the year at the Fourth Plinth School Awards Exhibition.
Eligibility Criteria
- Entry to the competition is only open to children at school in Greater London aged between 5 and 15 on 6 January 2025. The competition is divided into three age categories: 5-7 years; 8-11 years; and 12-15 years.
- Entry to the competition must be made by a teacher on behalf of a child or group of children from the school at which that teacher is employed and the teacher must ensure that they have the necessary parent/guardian authority before making the entries.
Judging Criteria
- Entries will be judged on their artistic merits (taking into consideration the age categories) and creative responses to the requirement to design an artwork inspired by the Fourth Plinth. The judge will pick a minimum of 39 winners, one winner and one runner up in each of the age categories across all of Greater London, and one winning entry per London borough from all the entries in that borough. Winners will be chosen at the sole opinion of the judge. Entries will be anonymous for judging purposes.
Application Requirements
- Teachers can upload as many entries as they wish. However, for each entry only one image may be submitted.
- Original artwork can be produced in any material and may be 2D (including digital images) or 3D. However, entries must be in digital form only, in full colour and saved as JPG, GIF or TIF files to a high resolution but must not exceed 5MB. This may be a digital photograph of a 2D or 3D artwork, a scan of a photograph of the work, a scan of 2D work, or a digital drawing/painting.
For more information, visit Greater London Authority.
