Ruth Ewan has been awarded the 2016 Arts Foundation Art in Urban Space Award of £10,000, supporting the research and development of new work over the coming year. Runners up Henry Coleman, Bobby Niven and Aaron Williamson each receive £1,000.
Ewan, who has also been shortlisted for the 6th edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, is currently artist in residence for North West Cambridge Development where she is planning to transform a disused field into a non-mechanical clock.
Matthew Slotover, trustee of the Arts Foundation and co-founder and publisher of Frieze, said: “Through performances, sculptures and interactive works, Ruth Ewan mines social history in a playful and often humorous style. Her work is socially engaged without being didactic, often reminding us of truths we didn’t know we knew. She is one of the country’s most promising artists and a deserved winner of this award.”
The Arts Foundation Award was first set up in 1993 and has since distributed over £1.6m to artists. Previous award winners for fine art include painter Lynette Yiadom Boake (2006), photographer Hannah Starkey (2000) and Simon Fujiwara (2009).
Applicants are shortlisted from a longlist of UK-based artists nominated by experts across the country.
