Created to empower, teach, and support artists from all walks of life. Prize fund worth £20,000.
Applications ClosedApplications Extended – NEW Categories Added
The Visual Artists Association has introduced an exhibition and scholarship worth £20,000. Created to support emerging artists to develop their arts businesses, The VAA International Exhibition & Scholarship Prize, launched in Summer 2022, aims to benefit emerging and re-emerging artists. This will be achieved by increasing artists’ international exposure, whilst raising funds for VAA artist education programmes. The Scholarship Award is the only prize in the UK aimed at Artists worldwide of all levels, that specifically includes a prize of a year-long scholarship journey using the tools of the VAA, the guidance of leading professionals and its Partners, to offer Visual Artists a sustainable career in the Arts.
Prize Details
- Winners Exhibition in central London. Showcase your artwork to a massive audience of over 100,000 art collectors and enthusiasts. Sell your pieces and connect with gallerists, agents, and art media. It’s the perfect platform to gain recognition and make valuable connections.
- Mentorship package. Immerse yourself in VAA’s four-week Artists Momentum course, featuring weekly online sessions. Learn from industry experts, receive personalized guidance, and unlock your full creative potential.
- Art Portfolio Review. Engage in an exclusive one-on-one session to discuss your current practice. Gain valuable insights, identify new opportunities, and overcome challenges in your artistic journey.
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Artist Profiling: Be featured in exclusive interviews with our marketing team, share your story on the VAA podcast, and enjoy special marketing opportunities.
- Monthly online group support drop-in sessions. Connect with like-minded artists in a supportive and collaborative environment. Share experiences, knowledge, and receive valuable support to fuel your artistic growth.
- Networking opportunities with fellow winners. Build lifelong connections with talented artists through exclusive networking events and activities. Inspire each other, collaborate, and propel your careers forward.
- Support of VAA Resources Vault. Gain unlimited access to a wealth of resources specifically curated for professional artists. Stay informed, inspired, and empowered every step of the way.
- Winners Certificate. Proudly display your certificate, symbolizing your remarkable achievement and the start of an incredible artistic journey.
- A copy of the VAA’s Book Securing Representation: Galleries, Agents & Artists
- ARTIST FUTURES FUND: The Artists Futures Fund award category is specifically tailored for emerging artists who are facing social, cultural or health challenges which act as barriers to establishing a sustainable career. This is an optional additional prize category, which can be accessed by anybody feeling they meet the criteria.
- US BASED ARTISTS EXCLUSIVE: For the VAA’s International Exhibition & Scholarship Prize, Artfinder would like to welcome the winner to their platform, with a prize comprising a free Homepage Placement and a free six months Professional Plan, which includes unlimited artworks upload, a reduced commission rate and many other features such as in-depth reports. They will also outreach selected participants who have entered the competition, with an offer to join the platform, to help them expand their sales potential to an international database of art collectors. They will provide help through a faster application process, support to get their shop live and promotion on site and email.
The VAA Scholarship Prize offers unparalleled opportunities to showcase your talent, gain valuable mentorship, connect with industry professionals, and access invaluable resources. Apply now and open doors to a world of artistic possibilities!
Cohort
The scholarship cohort will consist of a maximum of 6-8 artists, chosen from applications to this call for art.
Key Dates*
- Applications extended, deadline: 31st October 2024
- Shortlist announced January 2025.
- Winners announced February 2025.
Artist Momentum programme – 4 weeks – starts March 2025
*Dates are provisional and subject to slight change
The Curriculum
Delivered through group workshops as well as one on one support:
- Creating your artist’s strategy
- How to present your art confidently in a way that is authentic to you
- How to find your ideal art buyer
- Visibility and opportunities; how to claim opportunities and create multiple streams of income
- How to build an email list of loyal buyers
- Creating consistent sales with a proven system
- Pro-Artists mindset and habits – the foundations for your practice
How is the Prize Judged?
A judging panel comprised of world-class art experts will shortlist the top ten most accomplished artworks from the range of digital entries.
The shortlisted works will be exhibited firstly in London. Artworks will be for sale in the finalist’s London exhibition, proceeds will be split evenly between the artists and the VAA.
How does it work?
The winners of this prize will receive a three-month artist programme. The programme will be delivered online from March 2025 and includes the VAA Artists Momentum Programme; 4-Weeks Online Workshops. These will take the form of group sessions, that allow peer-to-peer feedback and a private chat community. This allows artists to share ideas and gain support.
Artists will then receive both group and individual support. Following the three-month Momentum Programme, the artists will participate in the VAA International Exhibition, held in London.
How much does it cost?
FREE for VAA Members*
Non-members: £20 for 1-5 entries.
*Those who join our Membership to apply to the prize must remain a member for the duration of the prize.
Who is it for?
Open to artists across the globe, the prize has been specifically tailored for artists who are not yet established in the art world. The VAA Scholarship Prize is designed to build your confidence to build a sustainable practice. Its unique format includes training for artists with leading art professionals delivering the Momentum Programme.
Artists Futures Fund
The Artists Futures Fund award category is specifically tailored for emerging artists who are facing social, cultural or health challenges which act as barriers to establishing a sustainable career. This is an optional additional prize category, which can be accessed by anybody feeling they meet the criteria.
US Based Artists
For the VAA’s International Exhibition & Scholarship Prize, Artfinder would like to welcome the winner to their platform, with a prize comprising a free Homepage Placement and a free six months Professional Plan, which includes unlimited artworks upload, a reduced commission rate and many other features such as in-depth reports. They will also outreach selected participants who have entered the competition, with an offer to join the platform, to help them expand their sales potential to an international database of art collectors. They will provide help through a faster application process, support to get their shop live and promotion on site and email.
Judges
Skinder Hundal MBE
Skinder Hundal is a leading cultural catalyst-leader from the UK. From transforming Nottingham’s New Art Exchange to spearheading the British Council’s global arts programmes for almost four years. Skinder’s journey showcases the power of creative vision in examining pertinent challenges of our time with a strong emphasis in championing the emergence, new generation thinking and place making.
As Director of Arts at British Council, he has championed, major international cultural exchanges, such as Venice Biennale becoming the first ever global ethnic majority Commissioner for the British Pavilion in 2024. He also helped widening grant investment into organisations working with British Council for the first time. He has also enabled key partnerships such as DAVOS World Economic Forum, World Cities Culture Forum, the UN’s COP climate conferences, SXSW, MIF, UK City of Culture and the Birmingham Common Wealth Games and more. Skinder has instituted new digital strategies, income generation business models and expanded global majority ethnic diversity representation within the UK teams, empowering younger cohorts.
Previously, as Director of New Art Exchange, Hundal worked on projects for La Biennale di Venezia, TED Global, Google Cultural Institute and 1418NOW. His flagship project “Here, There & Everywhere” fostered artistic development and cultural exchange between the UK and multiple continents. Skinder positioned NAE as the leading voice in UK on cultural diversity and the arts and the fifth largest visual arts investment from Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation.
Skinder has wider skills in organisational change management, marketing and communications, business development and fundraising, high level stakeholder management, curatorial and programme design, festivals and major international arts events production.
Recognized with an MBE in 2019, Skinder continues to push boundaries and forge global connections. A West Midlands native, he chairs the region’s Cultural Leadership Board, bridging local roots with global impact. Skinder also serves as a board trustee for the Artist Information Company (a_n), Trigger Stuff, Visual Arts Advisor for St Pauls Cathedral, a jury member of Earth Photo and co-curatr on guest projects for the Mariwai Project of Papua New Guinea.
Richard Kalman – owner and founder of the Crane Kalman Brighton gallery
Richard Kalman is the owner and founder of the Crane Kalman Brighton gallery. With a family background in the art world and in modern British painting in particular, Richard branched out and opened his own gallery in Brighton in 2005 specialising in contemporary photography.
The gallery has established a reputation for providing a platform to showcase the work of mostly up-and-coming, young British and some International artists. The gallery has held solo exhibitions by artists such as Polly Borland, Simon Roberts, Jane Hilton, Tim Flach and the late Michael Ormerod, as well as the work of international photographers such as Terry Richardson, Joseph Szabo, Karine Laval and Hans van der Meer.
Richard also continues to work with emerging young photographers through the annually held Cream Graduate Showcase exhibition. He also lectures at Universities giving advice to students on photography and careers in the art world.
Maggie Ayliffe – Programme Leader for Fine Art at Liverpool John Moores University.
Maggie Ayliffe is the Programme Leader for Fine Art at Liverpool John Moores University. She is a painter, educator and project manager with over 30 years experience of working across Higher Education and Arts and Culture projects. Maggie is currently co- chair of HEAD Trust and has contributed extensively to critical thinking around Art and Design education and Fine Art pedagogy. She has also exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Maggie’s practice as a painter is rooted in Feminist Art Practice in its relationship to abstraction.
Ash Hussain – The Telegraph’s Visuals Editor
Born and bred northerner from the red side of Manchester, from a working class family. Gaining a HND in graphic design from Amersham College and a BA(Hons) in photography from Nottingham Trent University. After moving to London in the late 90s, I have had the privilege of working for ITN, general assistant, The Independent, picture researcher, The Mail on Sunday, picture editor, The Daily Mail, picture editor. Currently working for The Telegraph as a visuals editor. With over 26 years of experience working across various media organisations and a wealth of knowledge across print and digital media.
Kate Enters – Founder and Director of ArtCan
Kate Enters is passionate about supporting artists and is the founder and director of ArtCan, an international arts organisation providing opportunities and fair payment for artists. She creates an annual exhibition programme at venues in the UK and overseas, honed through her background in events management for high end art museums, celebrity charity events and arts PR. Over the last decade she has developed this community of artists and art supporters across 26 countries, built international corporate partnerships and during the pandemic worked with a designer to create a bespoke virtual art gallery. ArtCan has been awarded Most Empowering Artist Opportunity Provider – UK for the past two years and is a member of Social Enterprise UK and the Global Climate Coalition.
Kate was a selector for the ING Discerning Eye exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London in 2022, featured on the Ministry of Arts podcast and, amongst others, in the Artists Responding To and Pratique des Arts magazines. In 2023 she was awarded a Women Entrepreneur Award for the Arts, and this year she is a finalist for a Great British Entrepreneur Award in the creative category.
Kate works at the prize-winning London architecture practice, Stanton Williams, is an experienced curator, a figurative artist and regularly writes about art.
@KateEnters @ArtCanOrg
Sana Nassari – Award-Winning Writer, Translator, and Art Historian
Sana Nassari is a British-Iranian award-winning writer, translator, and art historian based in London.
Sana holds an M.A. in the History of Art from SOAS, University of London. Since June 2021, she has been actively contributing to Writers Mosaic magazine, specialising in crafting insightful art and literature reviews. Her portfolio includes comprehensive analyses of prominent exhibitions such as “Epic Iran” at the V&A, Shirin Neshat’s showcase “The Fury” at the Goodman Gallery in London, and “The Cult of Beauty” at the Wellcome Collection in London.
She has published one novel of her own, as well as translations of three novels by the American writer Karen Joy Fowler and the novel “The Graveyard” by Polish writer Marek Hłasko. She also has a translation of a novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer under publication. A chapbook of her short stories, “These Two Roses,” was published by Exiled Writer Ink, London, in 2020.
Her poetry collection, “O Delilah,” won the second prize for an unpublished collection at the Journalists Poetry Award. Her poetry collection, “Departure,” has been recently published by the reputable publishing house Morvarid in Iran.
Owen de Visser – In-House Photographer and Curator at Lux
Owen de Visser, 1984, UK
Owen de Visser has been a keen photographer since a child, but finally made it his profession in 2013. Starting as a wedding photographer, Owen now shoots for a wide range of clients from corporate businesses and charities, to musicians, artists, events and families. He loves working with other creatives and collaborating on interesting projects.
Alongside his hired work, Owen also shoots experimental creative works and landscapes/cityscapes in his spare time. His photographs of Birmingham are hugely popular, and have been printed on billboards, in magazines and shown on BBC television.
Owen shoots digitally with a wide range of cameras, lenses and accessories, and edits for each project accordingly, giving a wide range of final styles depending on what is required.
Owen is also the in-house photographer and curator at Lux. He will be running photography courses in-house in due course.
Nick Wong – Development Manager for the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture
Nick Wong is the Development Manager for the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture (RSA) where he leads on the overall strategy and management of the organisation’s development, including grants, sponsorships, donations, regular giving, audience development and education as well as creating and testing new projects to increase supporter engagement and the sustainability of the RSA.
Originally from San Francisco, Nick is based in Edinburgh and has previously worked for the national funding agencies Museums Galleries Scotland and Creative Scotland, and as a Visual Theatre Producer delivering projects on a national and international scale that incorporated a myriad of artforms including puppetry, dance, animation and visual art. He holds a BA from the University of California San Diego, and an MSc. from the University of Edinburgh, both in Art History.
David Venon – Community Manager for Artfinder
Born in France and having moved to the UK over twenty years ago, David has a formal Visual Art Education and has obtained a Fashion Design Technical degree and a Creative Writing/English Linguistics BA. After over 15 years working in the service industry, for both start ups and larger international businesses such as LEGO and Microsoft, David’s more recent focus on Social Media, Content Creation and Community Management culminated in his appointment as Community Manager for Artfinder four years ago, a global Art Marketplace and B Corp, with a mission to help artists make a living out of their passion.
Anikó Boda – Award Winning Artist
Anikó Boda is an imaginary realist painter currently living in Hungary, Europe. She works exclusively in oils using mainly large and formats. Her paintings have won awards like the ’International Artist of the Year’ or the’International Exhibition and Scholarship Prize’ of the Visual Artists Association in London, or the BBA Artist Prize in Berlin.
Following her first group exhibitions at The Art Students League in New York, USA, or the prestigious MEAM (Museu Europeu d’Art Modern) in Barcelona, she also exhibited in the Kunsthalle Budapest. She had solo exhibitions with the German galleries ArtAffair in Regensburg and Tafelberg in Nürnberg. She exhibited widely throughout Europe with in Hungarian Cultural Institutes of capitals like London and Prague. She is also regularly selected to exhibit in juried shows like the BBA gallery’ BBA Art Prize in Berlin, in the Venice Arsenale with Modern Contemporary (MoCA) Museum Venice or in Hungary in the Museum of Modern Arts (MODEM) Debrecen. She is a finalist of important figurative competitions like New-York based Art Renewal Center Salon competition or the Modportrait of MEAM. She is a regular exhibitor in international artfairs in Karlsruhe, Volta Basel and Art Market Budapest.
She also received nation-wide recognition in 2014 for her work of helping to preserve the architectural heritage of her home country, being honoured by the prestigious Podmaniczky-prize by the „Hungaria Nostra”, the national branch of the organization „Europa Nostra” established for preserving the built treasures of Europe.
Anikó Boda first earned a medical degree from Albert Szent-Györgyi University, Medical School, then turned to studying painting at The Art Student’ s League (NY, NY, USA) with Frank Mason, Costa Vavagiakis, Michael Burban and Leonid Gervitz, and at the School of Visual Arts with Marvin Mattelson, then at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts and the Schatz Studio in Budapest.
2023 Winners
Last year’s inaugural Scholarship Cohort featured six spectacular artists, who’s works can be seen both above and via the 2023 Winners page.
FAQs
Who can enter?
What is the submission procedure?
The application form can be found on our website, here. You can also download the application form and email it to hello@visual-artists.org
Once you have submitted your application, your application will be processed within 5 working days. You will then be sent a confirmation email, to the email address provided in your application form.
If you have not received an email from us then please email hello@visual-artists.org
Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are only able to notify artists that have been successful in both stages. You will be notified by email, using the email address you have provided
Why are there two application phases?
Do I need to submit artwork that is for sale?
No, we can select an alternative artwork for the finalists’ exhibition
How do I submit an image?
Within the online application form, you can upload your images, if you have any trouble doing so please email us, at hello@visual-artists.org.
Will there be a private view for exhibitors?
How will my work be displayed?
The exhibition layout is determined by the jurors and the curators.
Will my artwork need framing?
If you have been shortlisted, you will be required to send your work framed in preparation for events where your artwork will be showcased (if applicable).
Can I learn the name of who purchases my work?
The name of the purchaser of artwork is shared with the artist of that work unless the purchaser has requested otherwise.