Who can enter

The World Gallery welcomes original artwork from schools, home educators, families and independent entrants worldwide, up to and including age 25. The age groups are 5 and under, 6–8, 9–12, 13–17 and 18–25. The submitter must be at least 18 and authorised to share the work and its chosen public details. A teacher or parent/guardian submits for an entrant under 18; entrants aged 18–25 may submit their own work.

Choose the project that inspired it

Each work must respond to a Last Chance to Paint expedition chapter or a named live or recorded webinar. Choose the relevant project on each artwork card. If unsure, choose “Not sure” and tell us the subject or session so the team can check its album. Submit one artwork per artist to each chapter or named webinar gallery; the artist may also take part in other relevant galleries.

Make it your own

We encourage each artist’s individual response to our expeditions. Shared class teaching is welcome, but please give each artist room to observe, imagine and make their own marks, rather than producing the same template or near-identical results. A personal response builds a stronger bond with the subject. Displayed at home or in the World Gallery, it can bear witness to what we all risk losing. Similar-looking class work alone is not proof of copying or an automatic reason for exclusion.

Enter the artist’s own work

Original paintings, drawings, mixed media, collage and human-created digital art are welcome, including the participant’s own response to an official teaching reference. Original artist-created printmaking is welcome, including linocuts, original etchings, collagraphs and other printmaking. Pieces of the entrant’s own original prints may be included in collage or mixed media. We do not accept any AI-generated imagery, including AI-created, replaced, redrawn or repainted artwork or elements. Photography entered as artwork, photomontage and photographic or photo collage are not eligible, even if the entrant took the photographs. Copied or pasted third-party characters, logos, templates or artwork are not eligible. Every pictorial element must be the entrant’s own original artwork. Photocopies or printed reproductions of existing pictures added to the work are not eligible, even when the entrant created the source image. This restriction does not exclude original artist-created printmaking or pieces of the entrant’s own original prints used in collage or mixed media. Human-created digital painting and drawing, including Procreate artwork made on an iPad, are welcome. Original collage assembled from paper or other art materials is welcome: plain coloured or textured materials may be bought, but its pictorial elements must be the entrant’s own original artwork, without photographic or copied picture elements. Photographs or scans of the finished original artwork are welcome.

Celebrate developing artists

Expressive marks and emerging subjects are welcome in the five-and-under group. From age six, the work should normally include a recognisable subject, such as an animal, person, plant or place. The team considers individual circumstances; drawing style or realism alone does not establish age, ability or originality. Unsuitable or explicit sexual content is held for review. A painted cultural scene is considered in context.

Send clear images and check each card

Upload JPEG, PNG or WebP images under 15 MB each. A batch may contain up to 41 artworks from different age groups. Each card needs a title, authorised public credit or anonymous label, age group and project. Add medium and size if known; school/group is optional. Shared defaults can be changed on each card. Check the full summary before sending. There is no need to rename files. Keep private contact or personal circumstances out of public captions and images.

Faithful photographic preparation

Send a sharp, evenly lit photograph or scan of the complete artwork. We may use non-generative technical preparation to remove photographed background, straighten or rotate the image and make restrained photographic corrections while preserving proportions, painted marks and intentional borders. Conventional enlargement does not recreate missing detail. The original upload is retained separately during preparation. Uncertain changes are checked; a poor photograph may need replacing, rather than the artwork being made again.

Display and permission

You authorise Last Chance to Paint, The John Dyer Gallery and the project’s working partners to reproduce the artwork and its agreed public details online, supply them to the media, include them in broadcasts and, where appropriate, print them for the project. This permission concerns the artwork and agreed public details; it does not give partners access to private contact details or entry records. Check that you have authority to give this permission. Entries are reviewed before display. The team may ask questions, request a clearer image, decline unsuitable work or select from eligible entries when not all can be shown.

Keep the same entry together

Keep your submission reference. A saved receipt records an entry, not gallery acceptance or publication. If a replacement photograph or more information is needed, reply or contact the team with that reference so it stays with the same artwork. Do not submit the same work again just because it is not visible yet. Contact the team about corrections or withdrawal; no fixed publication deadline is promised.

Postal entries

You can post us your artwork and we will then scan it and upload it for you, however, please be aware you are responsible for any postage costs and we will be unable to return your work to you.  If you would like to post your artwork the address is: The John Dyer Gallery, P.O Box 285, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 9AD. United Kingdom.