Do you have a creative idea just waiting to be carved into history? A major new public art project in Newmarket is offering three lucky residents the chance to have their designs turned into permanent public sculptures and the search for talent is now officially underway.

In support of the National Horseracing Museum’s current interaction exhibition “Horseplay”, Discover Newmarket, Newmarket Town Council and Love Newmarket have commissioned artist Neith Art & Sculpture to develop an exciting new sculpture trail around the game of Chess. A public competition has now been launched to design three of the eight featured pieces — the Pawns. Open to everyone, regardless of age or artistic experience, the competition invites local people to submit original designs that tell their story through motifs on a Pawn in bold and meaningful ways.

Whether it’s a drawing, a digital design, or a small clay sculpture, entries should reflect creativity, local identity, and the spirit of Newmarket. The winning designs will be transformed by professional artists Neith Art & Sculpture into large-scale wooden sculptures, to be installed permanently in public spaces as part of the “Horseplay” trail running this summer.

What you need to do?: The finished trail will be of large scale chess pieces adorned with motifs, in an heraldic style, that each tell a story. What we want you to do is tell us the story of “you” and how you connect to Newmarket using symbols and imagery that you might find on a coat of arms or in heraldry. You don’t have to confine them to a shield shape however as the chosen motifs will be carved around a Pawn.

How you need to do it?: You can sculpt a Pawn out of clay and add the motifs by engraving them or creating little clay reliefs that you can attach to the Pawn. You could also just design the motifs, either using pencils and paper or digitally. You could also use paints or collage. As long as the motifs are recognisable and tell your story then you can use any media.

When you need to do it by: Entries need to be submitted by 16th June 2025. Please submit entries by sending a photo in an email to [email protected] (use subject title “Horseplay Design Competition) or by sharing them to Neith Art and Sculpture’s Facebook page and using the #HorseplayComp

Winners will be announced 20th June 2025 with the trail launch in July.