IT is one of Scotland’s most iconic hotels, a temporary home for Presidents and pop icons, Hollywood stars and Prime Ministers.
Now the starry history of Glasgow’s Central Hotel is to be captured in oil and pastel, pencil, print and paint, as the hotel, in tandem with The Herald, launch unique competition for artists to adorn a new central gallery space.
The hotel, since its first opening in 1883, as been the host to a historic guestlist of stars, politicians, and celebrities.
The Grand Central is opening a competition, asking artists of all kinds and levels of experience, to create a portrait of one of its famous residents - the winning dozen or so images will then have the opportunity to be displayed as part of a new gallery wallspace inside the hotel.
The hotel, a key landmark in Glasgow right next to Central Station, has played host to some remarkable names over the years: Gene Kelly and Laurel and Hardy, Sir Winston Churchill and President John F Kennedy.
Frank Sinatra was there, as was Nat King Cole, Danny Kaye, Sammy Davis Jnr, and The Beatles.
Cary Grant brought his Hollywood elegance to the hotel, as did Vivien Leigh and Jean Simmons.
Roy Rogers and Trigger spent time there - with both silver screen cowboy and his horse ‘signing in’ at the front desk - as well as Bob Hope, Mick Jagger and Billy Connolly.
Crowds would gather outside the hotel when stars came to stay in the 1950s, with thousands screaming for Abbott and Costello when they stayed.
President Kennedy was at the hotel as a young man: he was at the hotel in 1939, with his father, Joseph Kennedy, US Ambassador to the UK, and Churchill stayed at the hotel in 1949 and 1951.
Artists are being invited to paint, sketch, draw, and otherwise create images of one of these figures, chosen from the list below, for the Grand Central Hotel Portrait competition.
Once artists have completed their portrait or portraits - on canvas or paper, or wood or other material - they can email an image of them to the address below, with a deadline of June 30.
A judging panel, including the art critic and writer Jan Patience, and Paul Bray, general manager of the Grand Central, will whittle the entries down to a short list in July.
The top placed picture will be awarded with a prize worth £1000.
The second placed image will have an award worth £500.
The hotel will also stage a winners exhibition, allowing members of the public to buy their work.
The short-listed art works will then be judged at the hotel in the summer.
By September, the final winning portraits will be chosen and unveiled: the finished works will then be displayed long-term on a wall in the central stairwell of the hotel.
Mr Bray, whose hotel will become part of the Voco brand of hotels in 2020, said he is open to all kinds of art style or material - as long as it is long lasting and can be hung on the wall - for the competition, which is open to all artists: amateur, enthusiast, student or professional.
Tens of thousands of guests at, and visitors to, the hotel will pass by and have a chance to view the gallery display.
He said: “Everybody who visits the hotel stops to look at the photographs in the corridor: there’s Gene Kelly, and the images of people queuing outside the hotel during the Glasgow Fair about to go on their holidays, and this struck us as an opportunity to dig into its history.
“Let’s look at the superstars of the silver screen, from its early days in the 1950s and 1960s-and more recently in the 1970s and 80s and who also frequented the hotel- and let’s showcase them.
“It is a great opportunity for artists.
“It doesn’t have to be an immaculate piece, they can be in any style that they want to do: it could be charcoal, it could be oil, it could be pastel, it could be watercolour, whatever somebody wants to do, as long as it fits the criteria of the quality we are looking for, we will display it up there for the world to see.”
Mr Bray added: “You are talking about hundreds of thousands of people passing through our doors, we sell over 100,000 bedrooms a year, and then you have people coming to the Champagne Bar, and there are upwards of 50,000 people a week passing through those doors.
“It is fantastic prominent place for people to show their artwork and for us to create an artistic feature for people to enjoy when they visit.”
The winning entries will be framed at the cost of the hotel, and artists will retain copyright of their works.
Ms Patience said: “I can’t wait to see how a new generation of artists responds to this history and finds a contemporary way to depict the famous faces which have passed through this grand old hotel.”
Donald Martin, editor-in-chief of Newsquest Scotland and Editor of The Herald, said: “We are delighted to be part of this exciting competition in partnership with the Grand Central Hotel.
“The Herald greatly values the arts and our arts coverage, and we are eager to see how the nation’s artists will respond to this unique competition.”
Mr Bray added: “I am the custodian of this hotel for this period of time, and I take that role very seriously.
“In terms of that history, you cannot take that lightly: we are passing through this hotel, it will be here when we have left, but the time we are here we have got to make sure we do it justice.
“This competition is about leaving a bit of a legacy for the future, so that people can help feel that connection.”
TERMS & CONDITIONS – GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL ART COMPETITION
1. The competition is open to artists worldwide, aged 16 and over, both amateur and professional.
2. Only original artwork completed within the period of the competition (April 3 to June 30 at 5pm) will be considered.
3. No entry should be larger than 91.44cm x 91.44cm (3ft by 3ft). Entries do not need to be framed. All materials (paint, pencil, pastels, oils, charcoal etc) are acceptable for your painting or drawing.
4. The artwork subject(s) will be selected from a list of “famous faces” who have stayed at the Grand Central Hotel during the course of its history. No other subjects outside the list will be allowed. The list is as below:
Winston Churchill
Mae West
John F Kennedy
Princess Margaret
Nat King Cole
Charlie Chaplin
Abbott & Costello
Frank Sinatra
Bing Crosby
Fred Astaire
Danny Kaye
Sammy Davis Junior
Jean Simmons
Roy Rogers & Trigger
Billy Connolly
The Beatles
Cary Grant
Vivien Leigh
Mick Jagger
Bob Hope
Gene Kelly
5. To enter, enter digital files of your images to marketing@theherald.co.uk. Closing date for entries is 5pm Sunday, June 30th 2019.
6.. When submitting your competition entry, you must provide your name, address, email and contact telephone number. We will only use this information in relation to the competition and will not use it for any other purposes whatsoever. We will not keep this information for longer than is necessary for the operation of the Competition.
7.Entries will be judged after June 30 and selected works called for a judging exhibition in mid-July. All artworks entered must be available for judging exhibition if selected.
8.. All care will be taken with entries but no responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage in transit, incoming or outgoing, whilst on the Grand Central Hotel premises or during the judging exhibition. Original artwork selected and submitted for the final judging exhibition will be insured by the artist.
9. Original artworks must be left with the organisers throughout the judging exhibition.
10. All entries must be original artworks by the submitting artist. Submission of entry in this competition automatically constitutes acceptance of all the competition rules and agreement to allow the competition organisers (Grand Central Hotel, Newsquest and Hollicom Ltd) to publish and repurpose entries in print and digital formats including but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, promotional materials, websites, postcards, databases and as part of downloadable digital products.
11. Submissions must be the artists’ own work, please do not enter copyrighted art. Copyright infringement will be breached by the artist who submits the work and not by the competition organisers.
12. The judges’ decisions will be final and binding. We will not correspond or communicate on winning entries.
13. Twelve to 15 winners will be selected from the published list of subjects (“famous faces”). The winners’ artwork will be displayed permanently in the Grand Central Hotel.
14. Artist entrants retain the copyright of their original artworks but grant to the Grand Central Hotel a perpetual non- exclusive royalty-free licence to display their artwork across all media, including online platforms, and to display the artworks in the hotel. For the avoidance of doubt, no fees or expenses will be paid for the creation of any part of the entry.
15. By submitting a piece of artwork the entrant is deemed to have understood and accepted these terms and conditions.
16. Judging Criteria:
Fitting with the overall theme of the competition
Creative impact
Originality
17. Judges
Phil Miller – Arts Correspondent – Herald & Times
Jan Patience – Art Critic and Journalist
Paul Bray – General Manager – Grand Central Hotel
Mark Hollinshead – CEO – Hollicom Ltd
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