Calling all artists! With the announcement by the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG) that entries are now invited for 2006 Bacardi Limited Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Bermuda Art, the countdown has begun.

The Biennial, which will run from April 21 to September 1 next year, will feature work completed by Bermudian and resident artists between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2005.

The exhibition is open to all Bermudian artists on the Island, or overseas and foreign nationals who have been resident in Bermuda for at least six months during the competition period.

Artists are invited to submit up to five pieces, and applications must be made by 4 p.m. on Friday, January 6, 2006. Works must be submitted for jury viewing by February 8. Full entry details and an application form are available on the BNG's website at www.bng.bm.

For the first time, there will be an application fee of $35 to cover the rising cost of administering the event. The 2004 Biennial attracted a record 413 pieces from 96 artists, of whom 42 were represented in the final exhibition of 82 works.

The BNG is delighted to announce that the distinguished international jurors for the 2006 Biennial will be Dr. Annette Blaugrund, Director, National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art, New York, and Professor Moe Brooker, former professor at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Dr. Blaugrund has been Director at National Academy/Museum and School of Fine Art since 1997.

She taught art history at Columbia University for six years, lectures and writes articles on American art, and serves on a number of advisory boards. Her numerous awards and honours have included being named Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government; awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities exhibition implementation grant; an award of Distinction for co-authorship of the Whitney Museum's "John Singer Sargent"; the New York State Historical Association; and the Victorian Society of America Award for the exhibition and book "The Tenth Street Studios: Artist-Entrepreneurs from the Hudson River School to the American Impressionists".

The National Academy Museum is an honorary association of professional artists, which maintains a museum and an art school.

Since its founding in 1825, the Academy has amassed a rich collection of American paintings, sculpture, prints, and architectural representations forming a permanent collection of over 8,000 works of 19th through 21st century art.

The School of Fine Arts provides instruction in painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking.

Professor Booker, who lives and works in his native Philadelphia, is presently department head of Basic Studies at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia.

He has been recipient of a number of fellowships, including the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship for Painting and the James Van Der Zee award from the Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, for lifetime achievement.

His paintings are in several museums across the United States, and his work can be found in many public and private collections.

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is America's oldest art museum and school of fine arts.

Many of the nation's most important artists were founders, teachers or students at the Academy, including Charles Willson Peale, William Rush, Thomas Sully, and Mary Cassatt, all of whom are represented in the Academy's collection of more than 12,000 works.

Dr. Blaugrund and Professor Brooker will be in Bermuda from February 6 to 10 to review submissions and meet with the artists.

Laura T. Gorham, Director of the BNG, said: "Since its inception in 1994, the Bermuda Biennial has grown in artistic scope and public appreciation.

"The exhibition has become truly representative of the best the Island has to offer in the contemporary arena, reflecting the achievements of Bermudians and resident artists of all ages, race and backgrounds.

"Since 1998, Bacardi Limited has generously been the event's signature sponsor, ensuring its continued high standard, and we thank them again for their wonderful support."