ARTICLE
Prizes & awards
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Peter Ainsworth, ‘Stuffed Bird’.
Stuffed Bird found on a bank of the Thames at Crayford Ness, 2007. Ainsworth was selected for the Pavilion Commissions Programme 2008.
The UK boasts literally hundreds of visual arts competitions annually. a-n’s research reveals that art competitions make up around 36% of all openly offered opportunities for visual artists, and have an average value of £14,000.1
Although prizes and awards are important because they provide artists with ‘no strings’ cash, they also offer a seal of approval from curators and other influential people and are one of the ways in which emerging talent is validated and its quality defined.
Winning a prize can have the function of easing an artist’s transition from one position to another within the art world – from commercial gallery, teaching positions, publicly-funded exhibition, research fellowships, museum shows, international recognition, public grants, scholarships and back again to prizes.
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