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Peer nomination and judging: exploring Awards for Artists

Published: 5 November 2025 
Reception for Awards for Artists 2024. Photo credit: Emile Holba.

Each year, our Awards for Artists recognise exceptional visual artists and composers. How these artists are selected is based on several factors, ultimately decided by peer nominators and judges. 

How an Award is made

As a recipient, I felt very much part of something that is not only generative personally, but is generative in a wider societal way, that speaks to a community. It’s really nice to recognise so many people who’ve got it as peers or people I look up to.

Angela de la Cruz, 2010 Awards for Artists Recipient 

Each year, we select ten recipients across composing and visual arts to receive an Award, based on a range of criteria. This is narrowed down from a longlist of artists nominated by their peers. We identify and appoint these nominators, as well judges, to help us make the Awards effectively. 

Nominators are generally new each year, experts in their field, and with a breadth of knowledge in the composing or visual arts fields. Each nominator puts forward the names of up to five artists they would like to invite to apply for the Award. 

Between nominations and judging, each nominated artist is invited to submit an application form, including details about themselves, their practice, and examples of their works, which is then shared with judges to review, in the lead up to the judging panels. Judges will then take the nominations supplied by the peer nominators and decide who ultimately receives an Award. 

Across both, we aim for a representative mix across geographies, artistic practice, and identities, as well as a mixture of new and experienced voices. 

Receiving the Award was, of course, a great honour. But already being nominated by my peers was an honour and a challenge in itself. At the time, my work had already achieved a modest critical recognition, I increasingly worked with commercial galleries and about a third of my income came from sales of work. Without winning the Award, however, I would have had to rely on my day-time teaching job to sustain my practice.

Pavel Büchler, 2012 Awards for Artists recipient 
Pavel Büchler, Eclipse, 2009 (installation detail). Photo credit: Pavel Büchler

Art chosen by artists

It’s experts to experts – artists nominating and judging artists – so suddenly people notice you a bit more, it’s easier to get promotions, to open doors.

Recipient 

The quality of Awards for Artists rests heavily on this choice of nominators and judges. Crucially, they are often artists themselves. By having peers significantly involved in who receives the Awards, decision-making stays in the hands of artists. 

Beyond the monetary gain, the Award also therefore signifies recognition from a community of artists. In some cases, these are artists who have won the Award in the past themselves. From their unique vantage point, they have the depth and breadth of expertise to nominate others, as well as the knowledge of what receiving an Award could mean to the artist receiving it. 

[Awards for Artists] has always been about respecting and protecting artists’ practice.

Judge 

What is Awards for Artists?

We established Awards for Artists in 1994, recognising artists with a financial award to give them freedom to develop their practice. To date, the scheme has benefitted 357 artists with awards totalling £11.29 million. 

Find out more about the Awards