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The Montserrat-born British sculptor Veronica Ryan has had a lively year marked by an important residency in St Ives, a first trip to the Caribbean since she was a child, and in November being announced as the third recipient of the annual Freelands Award for women artists.

The 10th Berlin Biennale, titled ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’, sees curator Gabi Ngcobo and her team presenting a finely balanced exhibition that allows individual works to speak and collective ideas to be explored. Cathy Wade, one of 10 a-n Artist members who attended the Biennale preview, reports from the German capital.

With the recent announcement by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland that both QSS and Paragon Studios in Belfast have lost all their annual funding, Damian Magee addresses the impact of the decision on the city’s artist community and argues that it is indicative of a general lack of support for artists living and working in Northern Ireland.

With reference to Edmund Clark’s current Ikon Gallery exhibition ‘In Place of Hate’ – the result of three years as artist in residence at the therapeutic prison HMP Grendon – a recent symposium in Birmingham explored the role of art and its use as a rehabilitative tool. After a day of talks and presentations, Carrie Foulkes finds her belief in socially-engaged practice reaffirmed.

For the latest in our series providing a snapshot of visual arts scenes across the UK, Amelia Crouch reports from Bradford.

Being a mother of young children and continuing your art practice is incredibly difficult. Inspired by a recent symposium exploring the challenges of being a ‘mother artist’, Frances Bossom – who presents a ‘Proposal for a Guide for Art Parents’ at June’s a-n Assembly event in Bristol – calls for an approach that values the complex reality of motherhood.

Yesterday’s announcement of the 2017 Turner Prize shortlist saw two artists over 50 nominated – Hurvin Anderson and Lubaina Himid – reflecting the recent decision to drop its longstanding under-50 rule. Fisun Güner welcomes the change, arguing that it better reflects the reality of many artists’ careers while also ensuring a particularly strong line-up for this year’s prize.

Ferens Art Gallery in Hull has reopened after a £5.2 million refurbishment largely funded by Hull City Council. But while the local authority should be commended for its commitment to culture, Sheila McGregor argues that the blame for council cuts in towns and cities across the UK needs to be forcefully directed at Westminster politicians rather than hapless local representatives.

At IAA Europe’s recent annual two-day general meeting in Berlin, a key workshop discussed the issue of social security and the mobility of visual artists within Europe. Pippa Koszerek reports that, despite Brexit, such discussions remain important to UK artists.

Newcastle-based artist Kathryn Hodgkinson believes that the city council’s planning decisions are having a detrimental effect on the area’s creative community. In the wake of the recent decision to demolish the creative space Uptin House to make way for ‘yet another block of student flats’, she argues that local authorities need to embrace the true value of artists.

The New Art Gallery Walsall remains under threat of closure but gallery director Stephen Snoddy has vowed to fight hard to keep it open. Chris Sharratt argues it’s a battle that can’t be lost.

Hot on the heels of the closure of Inverleith House gallery in Edinburgh comes the news that Glasgow Sculpture Studios is to end its exhibition programme. Chris Sharratt sees worrying signs for the resilience of the visual arts sector in Scotland.

Written in response to the Alias annual gathering event, Moving Forward and Staying the Same: Artist Led Evolutions, AirSpace Gallery co-director Glen Stoker considers the continued importance of artist-led activity to the UK’s visual arts ecology.

Good things are happening in Cardiff’s visual arts scene, with an energy and momentum that can be seen in the current Cardiff Contemporary festival. But, argues former Artes Mundi director Ben Borthwick, there is much that needs to be done if the biennial event – and Wales’ contemporary art scene generally – is to really fulfil its potential.

Is Frieze Art Fair useful in any way to artists and is it good for artists and art? Filmmaker, artist and Frieze first-timer Gillian McIver roams the gallery booths and curated projects at the fair’s vast Regent’s Park marquee and finds the experience useful, enlightening and at times troubling.

In Joshua Sofaer’s latest Artist as leader interview for a-n, artist Richard Layzell and businessman Richard Hicks discuss Layzell’s seven-year tenure as ‘Visionaire’ at AIT software company. Here, Layzell writes about what came next and the continued relevance of his experience in industry a decade on.