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Schools and community groups invited to get creative for brain art competition

One of the 2018 art competition winners from the primary school category

Avishae Jackson's entry from the 2018 Brain Art competition and one of the primary category winners Avishae Jackson

One of the 2018 art competition winners from the lower secondary school category

Sophie Hogg's entry from the 2018 Brain Art competition and one of the lower secondary category winners Sophie Hogg

Press release issued: 27 September 2022

Schools and community groups across Bristol and the surrounding area are invited to take part in the University of Bristol's brain art competition and have their work displayed in public.

The 2023 schools and community brain art competition, part of the 2023 Bristol Neuroscience Festival, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of Bristol Neuroscience, is being run by Bristol Neuroscience in partnership with the Royal West of England Academy (RWA).  

The festival, which will run from Thursday 2 to Saturday 4 March 2023, will be a celebration of neuroscience research and the organisers are looking for artwork that is brain related.  Judges will be hoping to see work inspired by 'Connections'!, the topic of next year's British Science Week.

Entries will be judged on originality and creativity, with judges looking for an imaginative response to the theme.

The culmination of the festival will be a public talk by Professors David Nutt, Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College, who set up Bristol Neuroscience in 2003, and Emma Robinson Professor of Psychopharmacology at Bristol.  They will discuss current research on psychedelics and their role in treating mental health disorders.  Details about how to book for the free talk will be announced in the coming months.

Professor Emma Robinson, from Bristol Neuroscience and one of the festival organisers, said: "It’s great to be running the festival and the brain art competition once again after not being able to host our 2020 Bristol Neuroscience Festival, due to the  pandemic.

"We hope as many local schools and community groups will take the opportunity to get creative and enter the art competition and we look forward to receiving everyone's entries."

There will be six prizes in total. First and runner up prizes will be awarded in three categories: primary school, secondary school and community groups.  Commendations will also be awarded for other strong submissions. First prize winners will receive a £100 Amazon voucher and runners-up will receive a £50 Amazon voucher.

All prize winning and commended pieces of work will be displayed in the lower ground floor gallery at the RWA from 6 March to 10 April 2023, where members of the public will be able to view the work for free during normal RWA opening hours.  

The deadline for receipt of entries is 13 February 2023. Any entries received after this date will not be considered.  

For more details about the competition and how to enter, visit 2023 schools and community brain art competition.

Further information

About Bristol Neuroscience
Bristol Neuroscience is a research network supported by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, one of the University of Bristol's five University Research Institutes.

We were founded at the University of Bristol in 2003 to ensure that all neuroscientists in Bristol could benefit from the wide cross-disciplinary expertise and facilities in the University and its partner hospitals.

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