Is your secondary school wonderfully surreal? Farley's Arts Trust launches competition for art students

This time the theme is Strange but Familiar and the students are invited to draw inspiration from the artistic legacy of both Roland Penrose and Lee Miller. From 1947 they lived at Farley Farm House in Chiddingly and their visitors included many of the most innovative Surrealist and Modernist artists of the 20th century including Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore and Man Ray.

Due to success of the first Wonderfully Surreal the Trust has decided to offer it in alternate years with the well-established Farley Arts Trust Awards that have inspired and supported students in secondary schools across East Sussex for the last twenty years.

To take part in the new Wonderfully Surreal the young artists are invited to submit a photograph taken by themselves of an art work in any media which they have created in response to the theme Strange but Familiar. The student pack includes photographs of three iconic works by Roland Penrose and Lee Miller for which extended, explanatory captions have been written by their son, Antony Penrose.

The fifteen winning students will be awarded a career-defining opportunity to have their photograph printed in large format and exhibited at a local arts venue where there will be a private view for the exhibition Wonderfully Surreal – Strange but Familiar. A catalogue illustrating the winners’ art works and including their personal statements will provide a further introduction to being in a professional art exhibition. The winners will be offered a free, artist-led workshop and there will be another workshop for teachers whose pupils have participated.

‘We’ve been running the Farley Arts Awards and Exhibition for twenty years and this is the second Wonderfully Surreal Competition - every time we see a new batch of work we are thrilled and often moved by the submissions. We look forward to receiving entries this summer for Wonderfully Surreal – Strange but Familiar and expect once again to be intrigued by these young artists’ work responding to that surreal notion.’ Griselda Bear, Chair of Farley Arts Trust.

How to enter:

• If you would like your school to enter please contact Sam Martin, Farley Arts Trust Education Manager at [email protected] to sign up to our mailing list and request an education pack. These will be sent to all state secondary schools in East Sussex before the Easter holidays.
• Please be aware that all applications must be made by a secondary school teacher and not directly by the student or parent.
• If you are a student (or parent of a student) and would like to take part please share these details with your teacher to ensure that your school receives all the information for you to enter the competition.
• The deadline for digital entries is 28 June 2025.

We look forward to hearing from you and receiving your Wonderfully Surreal entries.

For further information about the Farley Arts Trust please visit: https://www.farleyartstrust.co.uk/