Past Greats Awards winner Alison Bartram, owner of the Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge – an independent outlet which supports designer/makers – is among three new category sponsors of the British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) Awards 2019. Heart Gallery will be the new sponsor of the Best Newcomer Award.
Commented Alison: “I would love to offer exhibition opportunities to newcomers and nurture them through the process as well. A jewellery designer, for example, would probably form part of a group exhibition in the gallery, while if an artist wins the category, then it could be possible to offer a solo show.”
Additionally, art and craft retailer Pyramid Gallery in York, is sponsoring the BCTF Award for Excellence. “As part of our sponsorship, we will be offering a gallery exhibition to the winner and runners-up,” confirmed owner Terry Brett.
The third new sponsor is ACID, which will be sponsoring the Post Newcomer Award. A representative of ACID will judge the award from around 30 post newcomers exhibiting at BCTF 2019, and the winner will receive complimentary ACID membership for a year.
The awards will be presented during the show on Monday April 8, 2019.
Existing BCTF Awards sponsors include The Giftware Association, NAJ (National Association of Jewellers) and DesignGap/ArtGap.
Sarah Ward, chief executive of The Giftware Association added: “With a more varied and accessible gift market than ever before, shows that promote strong design-led gifts, particularly those made in smaller studios, are vital. For the GA, learning more about these smaller businesses and the challenges they face allows us to better help the whole industry face those challenges and we are delighted to be sponsoring The Giftware Association Award for Excellence once again.”
Visit https://bctf.co.uk
Top: Alison Bartram, owner of Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge, is one of three new BCTF 2019 category sponsors.
