Six arts organisations have been shortlisted for the inaugural £100,000 Freelands Award which aims to raise the profile of mid-career women artists while supporting the work of visual arts organisations outside London.
The organisations selected are: Arnolfini (Bristol); Baltic (Gateshead); The Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh); Ikon (Birmingham); Turner Contemporary (Margate); and The Whitworth (Manchester).
One organisation will be selected as the winner in autumn 2016. They will then choose an artist to exhibit, who will also directly receive £25,000 of the award.
Elisabeth Murdoch, founder of the Freelands Foundation, said: “The award reflects the wider approach of the Foundation to fund partnerships between artists, galleries, curators and education programmes.
“This will encourage these institutions and individuals to work together on an ongoing basis, creating ecosystems that live on in communities way beyond any initial activity.”
The selection panel for the Freelands Award is: Elisabeth Murdoch (chair), artist Phyllida Barlow, Martin Clark (director, Bergen Kunsthall, Norway), Teresa Gleadowe (curator) and Jenni Lomax (director, Camden Arts Centre, London).
The award was launched in response to the report, Representation of Women Artists, commissioned by the Foundation in 2015. It found that although female art and design graduates outnumber men, women are not adequately represented at, and beyond, a mid-career point.
The Freelands Foundation was established in 2015 with a mission to support artists and cultural institutions, while investing in art education. It is particularly focused on the support and training of teachers.
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