Republic Bank Ltd has launched a new competition which is targeted at upcoming artists.

It is called the Art of Banking and the idea behind the concept, according to the bank’s general manager of corporate and investment banking Richard Sammy, is to allow emerging artists to share their perspectives on various Republic Bank products and services.

He told Business Day, “It is an inaugural competition and we do believe that it will be an impacting and lasting competition. We are hoping that this is the kick-off of years to come.

“The idea came about from a discussion to refresh our billboards and our campaigns. So, we decided to take things a step further and use this as an opportunity to engage young artists from across the region and all of the territories we operate, to give them the opportunities to showcase their talents.”

Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) is the registered owner of all the banks in the Republic group. It operates in TT, Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, Suriname, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, St Marteen, British Virgin Islands and Ghana.

Sammy said the focus was to expose the work of young artists who may not have the opportunity to get their work noticed.

“We have always had a strong focus on the youth, and we promote art, culture, and sport within communities. Certainly, we believe the Art of Banking will foster and showcase the talents and abilities of young artists and we also hope that this could be used as a springboard or a steppingstone for them to have an illustrious career at a regional and international level.”

He explained while they were still working out several details, the competition will be judged in different tiers to ensure that each candidate’s interpretation is recognised.

“There are different tiers but the focus is for anyone 18 years or older residing in Republic Bank’s operating territories, so certainly the Caribbean region plus Ghana.

“An emerging artist for us, is really defined as someone who is either in possession of an art degree or self-taught or someone striving to produce work or be recognised by art dealers or associations and galleries.”

[caption id="attachment_943841" align="alignnone" width="400"] Richard Sammy, Republic Bank's general manager of corporate and investment banking. -[/caption]

Sammy said the winning artwork will be used to create billboards and other creative pieces throughout all Republic Bank territories.

“We really wanted to harness indigenous home-grown talent that exists as a true group initiative that not only involves all our banks but all the artist in those territories. It is really meant to be engaging and impactful and any artist can submit any amount of work under any theme.”

There will be one regional winner in each category, and each will receive a prize of US$2,000 and there will also be a regional people’s choice award of US$1,000.

“We are really excited about the people’s choice award and that prize is going to be determined by the number of votes that artist receives on the official competiti