Call for entries open: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Deadline for entries: Wednesday, 31 August 2022 (11:59pm)
Ten finalists announced: Monday, 3 October 2022
Exhibition and Prize-giving event in London: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Digital Gallery opens and public vote begins Friday 11 November 2022
Digital Gallery and public vote close Tuesday 10 January 2023
People's Choice winner announced Thursday 12 January 2023
For 2022, the award is interested in works which address the theme,‘The Unimagined Future.’
This year, the Robert Walters Group is proud to offer three prizes, for which each of our ten shortlisted artists will be eligible.
First Prize: £10,000 cash prize; the first-prize award winner's work will also be shown at the Robert Walters Group head office in London for a period of twelve months after the award is given.
Second Prize: £5,000 cash prize
People's Choice Award: The winner of the People's Choice Award will be decided by a public vote during the virtual exhibition, open from 11 November 2022 - 10 January 2023 and will be announced Thursday, 12 January 2023. The winner will have the opportunity to take part in one of UK New Artists' international presentations.
The Robert Walters Group and UK New Artists (UKNA), in collaboration with Saatchi Gallery, is proud to present the Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award. The award helps to discover and champion the work of exceptional young artists whose work and vision represent contemporary Britain.
From an open call across the UK, we provide a platform for ten finalists whose work demonstrates a strong and original voice and is of exceptional artistic quality. In the process, we look for artists who represent the UK's richly diverse population and embody the experiences of their respective communities — artists who create bold, unique pieces of art that reveal their own perspectives and experiences, and who represent original viewpoints that will start new conversations across the UK art scene. The selected shortlisted artists will be invited to the awards evening held on Thursday, 10 November at the Gallery where the winners of the award will be announced.
To be eligible for the award, you must be aged 18 or over, and within the first 10 years of your professional practice, and have the right to live, work or study in the UK. Upon application, we will ask you to define the start of your professional practice using one of the following:
Artists should be working within the following fields:
"Providing a steppingstone for ambitious individuals is what the foundation of Robert Walters Group is built on and seeing the careers of previous winners and entrants flourish post exhibiting at our awards night at Saatchi Gallery provides us with the fuel to keep this competition going.", Robert Walters, CEO of Robert Walters Group
"The 2019 and 2021 Awards discovered some of the most compelling new artists working today and I’m excited to see how a new generation has faced the extraordinary pressures and challenges of the last year and how this will inform their artistic practice as they look to the future.", Michelle Bowen, Director of UK New Artists
"We are delighted to be hosting the third edition of the UK New Artist Award, an initiative which has proven to be an exciting and important opportunity for emerging artists. We extend our gratitude to Robert Walters Group for their crucial on-going support of this project.", Paul Foster, Director, Saatchi Gallery
Further details on such as theme, selection criteria, eligibility criteria, financial support for shortlisted artists can be found in the application page.
