The search is on to find tomorrow’s artists.

Emerging artists from across the area are invited to enter the Bentlif Art Prize.

The competition, sponsored by the Kent Messenger Group and with a £500 cash prize, runs every two years and aims to raise the profile of Kent artists.

Anyone aged over 16 may submit works for consideration for a two-month long exhibition at the Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery, opening in November.

It is expected the exhibition will feature approximately 50 works of art, chosen by a panel of judges selected by the Bentlif Trustees.

A winner will be selected at the end of the exhibition by a panel comprising the Bentlif Trustees, established Kent artists and the Kent Messenger. Votes from visitors to the exhibition will also be taken into account.

The exhibition runs from November 12 to January 27 in the Bentlif Art Gallery II, a late-Victorian purpose-built space on the first floor of Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery.

Successful entrants will be notified in late October. There is no entry fee.

Further information and entry forms are available to download from the Maidstone Museum website or send an SAE to The Exhibitions Officer, Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1LH.

Terms and conditions

• Open to emerging artists aged over 16. Each potential exhibitor may submit up to four recent works for selection for the exhibition. The closing date for the receipt of application forms is Friday, October 10. All framed and wall hung works selected for the exhibition must be marked with a this-way-up arrow and mirror plates or alternative hanging bars attached.
• All framed work and 3D work selected for the exhibition must be clearly labelled with the title, medium, name and address of the exhibitor and the selling price. A commission of 25 per cent, plus 17.5 per cent VAT, will be added to any work offered for sale. This commission fee is payable to the museum on sale of the piece. All work to be displayed in the exhibition will be insured to the values given on the entry form while on the museum premises. Works selected for the exhibition will need to be delivered to the museum between Monday and Wednesday, October 20-29. Museum opening hours are 10am-5.15pm, Monday to Saturday, and 11am-4pm on Sunday.
• All exhibited works will need to be collected from the museum, at the latest by Sunday, February 1, 2009.