Paul Hamlyn Foundation celebrates 30 years of Awards for Artists

Florence Lockheart
Friday, November 15, 2024

The Foundation marks its 30th anniversary with increase in each award’s cash prize from £60,000 to £75,000

This year's Award winners: (Back row L-R) Anne Bean, Mikhail Karikis, Grace Ndiritu, Aidan O’Rourke, Andrew Hamilton, Auclair (Front L-R) Barry Anthony Finan, Rachel Musson, Sean Roy Parker ©Emile Holba
This year's Award winners: (Back row L-R) Anne Bean, Mikhail Karikis, Grace Ndiritu, Aidan O’Rourke, Andrew Hamilton, Auclair (Front L-R) Barry Anthony Finan, Rachel Musson, Sean Roy Parker ©Emile Holba

Grant-giving organisation the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) has announced the 10 recipients of its Awards for Artists at a ceremony held yesterday evening in the capital. The awards were given to five visual artists and five composers in the UK and are the largest individual awards of their kind, growing from £60,000 to £75,000 in this, the foundation’s 30th year.

Alongside visual artists Anne Bean, Barry Anthony Finan, Mikhail Kariki, Grace Ndiritu and Sean Roy Parker, the five composers honoured by the Foundation were: British-Rwandan music and sound artist Auclair; Dublin-born contemporary classical composer Andrew Hamilton; saxophonist, improviser and composer Rachel Musson; composer and fiddler Aidan O’Rourke and British-Belizean drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders.

PHF chair Jane Hamlyn said: ‘The visual artists and composers selected this year join an exceptional cohort, whose work throughout the 30 years of the Awards has continually reaffirmed our commitment to supporting artists. We hope this year’s Awards continue to offer artists crucial time, space and resource to explore their practice.’

Since 1994, the Awards for Artists scheme has benefited over 357 artists with awards totalling £11.29 million in a no-strings-attached funding model allowing recipients to use their award as they wish: creatively, to relieve financial pressures or to support personal and professional growth. Originally focused solely on visual artists, the Awards expanded in 2007 to support composers. A full list of past Awards for Artists recipients can be found here.

The composer category of this year’s awards was judged by a panel chaired by writer, broadcaster and journalist Kevin Le Gendre, and included composer and 2017 Award recipient Laurence Crane, Jazz promoter Tony Dudley-Evans, Sound UK associate Maija Handover and Kellie While, Folk singer, head of production company 7digital Creative and chair of talent development organisation Soundroots.