The Bank of England wants the public to nominate their favourite designer, photographer or arts icon – who gets your pick?
Feel like your graduate art show went pretty well and want to get your name out there? Why not submit yourself as the next person to grace Britain's £20 note? The Bank of England has announced plans for an artist to grace the new note, and it's throwing ideas open to the public.
The Bank is calling on people to nominate artists of "historical significance" for consideration. A committee of historians and art experts will decide on a final shortlist, with governor Mark Carney making the final call. The decision will be announced in spring 2016 and the new banknote will come out by 2020.
"There are a wealth of individuals within the field of visual arts whose work shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values, and society and who continue to inspire people today," said Carney. "I greatly look forward to hearing from the public who they would like to celebrate."
Anybody from the arts can be fielded as a potential choice, with Carney urging people to go beyond the "most famous and the most obvious". That means that painters, sculptors, fashion designers, film directors and architects can all be nominated.
Unfortunately, the guidelines stipulate that the nomination has to be deceased, which kind of rules out picking yourself or your best mate. Some critics have warned that this rule makes it unlikely that a woman will end up on the bill.
Patricia De Montfort, lecturer in art history at the University of Glasgow, told the Guardian: "Women visual artists of the past centuries just simply don’t have the visibility of people like Jane Austen. It was easier for women authors, they could publish anonymously or under different names, but it was very hard for women artists to exhibit."
After calls for better representation on banknotes, the Bank of England put Jane Austen on the £10 note from 2017 – but that still brings the total tally of women on the notes to measly two.
Want to see that change? You have two months to submit your nomination. Bonus: you can pick as many people as you want. Who do you want to see on the £20 note?
Check out more details here.
