Awards for Artists supports visual artists and composers at a pivotal moment in their careers. Each award offers recipients £60,000 over three years – with no obligations or conditions as to how the money is used. Not only the largest award in the UK, this‘no strings attached’ approach sets the awards apart from other schemes by giving artists the time and freedom to develop their creative ideas and to further their personal and professional growth.
The Awards reflect the Foundation’s strong belief in the value of artists to society, and the vital contribution that they make to our culture. This year’s recipients span a broad spectrum of visual arts practice and composition, including Mariam Rezaei’s pioneering turntablism; Sarathy Korwar’s heady mix of South Asian jazz and Indian classical music; Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye’s exploration of the intersections of writing, scenography and performance; and Vanley Burke’s intimate photographs documenting the lives of Black British people.
“Artists are facing enormous challenges right now. These awards give artists much-needed time, resources and headspace. There are no strings attached, but I’m sure they will give back in many different ways.”
“We believe that a healthy civic society is one where artists thrive – we want to support artists and composers to have the freedom to develop creatively, and to grow personally and professionally.”
Since the Awards began in 1994, PHF has recognised a total of 337 artists across a range of artforms with funding totalling £9.94 million. Previous recipients include visual artists Yinka Shonibare (1998), Jeremy Deller (2001), Phyllida Barlow (2007), Ed Atkins (2012), Michael Dean (2014), Sonia Boyce (2016), Charlotte Prodger (2017), Ingrid Pollard (2019) and Hetain Patel (2021). Composers include Sally Beamish (1994), Janek Schaefer (2008), Tansy Davies (2009), Eliza Carthy (2012), Shabaka Hutchings (2014), Daniel Kidane (2016), Serafina Steer (2017) and Abel Selaocoe (2021).
Each year, a panel of four new judges selects the recipients on the basis of talent, promise and need, as well as achievement. The awards might be made at any point in an artist’s career with no age restrictions unlike many other awards schemes; Gustav Metzger was 80 when he received the award in 2006. In selecting recipients, the panel always considers an artist’s potential for future development. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the recipients and thank everyone who made the awards possible, especially the judges and nominators.
On 8 November, our Chief Executive, Moira Sinclair welcomed artists, composers, friends and colleagues from across the arts to our offices in London to announce and celebrate the recipient of Awards for Artists 2023. This blog summarises her opening words to the 200 guests who came together to mark this special event.
We are delighted to announce the 10 recipients of Awards for Artists 2023 – the largest individual awards to visual artists and composers in the UK.
