The LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award is a major award to increase opportunities for under-represented artists that will benefit them with two years of support through rent-free studio space, professional development opportunities and a bursary.
Established in March 2021, the LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award celebrates talent, creative thinking and individuality within contemporary art practice. The award works to increase and strengthen equitable representation and access and amplify artistic voices across class, race, gender, sexuality and disability.
Each awardee receives a rent-free workspace within Studio Voltaire’s RIBA-award-winning buildings for two years, a bursary of £5,000, an individualised programme of mentoring and professional development, dedicated curatorial and pastoral support and access to local and international audiences via public events programming.
The award has been developed in direct response to the urgent need for affordable and secure workspace for artists in London. Sustained issues of economic disparity, compacted by the cost of living crisis, present one of the most urgent and pressing challenges for artists.
The 2023–2025 awardees are:
- Babajide Brian
- Maz Murray
- Emily Pope
- Shamica Ruddock
- Meera Shakti Osborne
- Nick Smith
- Ossie Williams
The selected artists work across a range of disciplines and mediums, encompassing a diverse set of interests, experiences and modes of working. Awarded artists were selected by a panel of leading curators and artists: Sepake Angiama, Artistic Director of Iniva; Andrew Bonacina, Curator; artists Anthea Hamilton and Elizabeth Price; and Studio Voltaire’s Curator of Studios and Residencies, Maggie Matić and Director, Joe Scotland.
Studio Voltaire received over 600 high-quality applications for the award, both via open call and through a group of selected nominators, emphasising the importance and level of need for long-term opportunities for artists to support and sustain their practices.
The second phase of the award, a year-long residency for an international artist to be based at Studio Voltaire, will also be announced later this year.