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  • 13 Nov 2019

Meet the recipients of Awards for Artists 2019

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Awards for Artists. 300 guests from across the arts and cultural sector joined us for a celebration at LSO St. Luke’s, and to hear Jane Hamlyn and Joanna MacGregor reveal the 2019 recipients of Awards for Artists:

Recipients of Awards for Artists 2019. Left to right: Larry Achiampong, Laura Jurd, Ingrid Pollard, Mark Lockheart, Harold Offeh, Adam Christensen‎, Phoebe Boswell, Shiori Usui, Nathaniel Mann (Eleanor Alberga on tour in China). Photo Credit: Emile Holba.

Visual Artists
Larry Achiampong, Phoebe Boswell, Adam Christensen, Harold Offeh, Ingrid Pollard

Composers
Eleanor Alberga, Laura Jurd, Mark Lockheart, Nathaniel Mann, Shiori Usui

Launched in 1994, the awards support visual artists and composers with financial assistance at a pivotal moment in their careers. Since the inception of the awards, 175 artists have received a total of £7.2 million.

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 of its kind 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.

Jane Hamlyn, Chair, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Chair of the Visual Arts judging panel commented: “A lot has changed since we set up Awards for Artists 25 years ago, but one thing hasn’t changed – the environment for artists is tough. The PHF awards give exceptional artists and composers an invaluable space to concentrate on their work and imagine how it can find its place in the world.”

Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive of Paul Hamlyn Foundation, said: “The visual artists and composers announced this year join a pool of exceptionally talented recipients that we have supported over the last 25 years. We are grateful for the contributions of all our nominators and judges who have helped shape the programme, and we intend for the awards to continue as an unequivocal commitment to the vital contribution artists and musicians make to our culture.”

To commemorate the anniversary of the awards, we commissioned composer and 2017 recipient Byron Wallen to write an original work, Unicorn Suite, which premiered with his band Four Corners.

We would like to thank all the recipients and everyone who has made the awards possible over the years, particularly the judges and nominators.

Full biographies and examples of the 2019 recipients’ work can be found here.