We are proud to relaunch this prestigious biennial artist development, commissioning and national touring award in collaboration with Art Fund as Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open.
The award, now in its eighth edition, gives five outstanding early-career UK-based artists and makers the opportunity to develop ambitious new works, to be presented in London at Jerwood Space in June 2021 followed by a three-venue national tour through to 2022 including Aberdeen Art Gallery.
The selectors announced today are: Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts at Jerwood Arts; Yinka Ilori, artist and designer; Junko Mori, artist maker in metal; Dame Magdalene Odundo, potter; and Christine Rew, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Manager. The panel is chaired by Lilli Geissendorfer, Director of Jerwood Arts.
The award offers a supported, high profile national platform for artists and makers with between one and ten years of professional practice to take risks with their materials and processes. The five awardees will receive £8,000 each plus curatorial and production support from the Jerwood Arts team to enable the making of new work over a six month period.
The launch today marks a significant milestone in over two decades of support for material and making practices in the visual arts at Jerwood. With our current exhibition of Jerwood Makers Open 2019 set to re-open at Manchester Art Gallery on later this summer, we are delighted to be able to launch the next call for entries at this critical time for artists and the cultural sector.
Working closely with our new partners Art Fund and Aberdeen Art Gallery will allow us to strengthen the support available to artists and makers. Together, we will be able to deepen the curatorial expertise, networks and knowledge we know is vital to grow and sustain the next generation and bring their works to audiences across the UK.
Since 2010, these awards have championed outstanding early-career artists and makers across the UK at a pivotal point in their practice, and encouraged critical debate, visibility and dialogue around contemporary craft and applied arts within UK public collections. These new partnerships will strengthen the profile and importance of making, craft and applied arts presented within a visual arts context. For the first time, our lead regional museum partner – for this edition, Aberdeen Art Gallery – will create a new curatorial opportunity. The role will work with the team at Jerwood Arts on the curation and development of the award, working closely with the artists and national tour venues, and is based at Aberdeen Art Gallery with regular periods at Jerwood Arts. Aberdeen Art Gallery is a significant public collection with an important collection of craft and applied art, committed to acquiring, commissioning and exhibiting new works that challenge the traditional classifications of fine art and making practice.
Proposals are invited from individuals, collaborations and collectives, for bold new work(s) using all forms of making and material experimentation. Artists working in all materials and progressive practices including but not limited to: ceramics, glass, jewellery, metal, paper, textiles, wood, textiles, and sculpture are invited to apply. We are keen to see an increase in applications from artists whose background and/or identity is under-represented in the awards and is working with partners to take actions to encourage this. This includes additional access support for people to apply.
Application is free, and the deadline is 5pm, Wednesday 26th August.
Find out more and apply here.
This eighth edition launches a new collaboration with Art Fund and partnership with Aberdeen Art Gallery, who will host the exhibition of the new commissions in autumn 2022.
View the press release in full here.
