The three winners of the £150,000 Civic Arts Organisations award were chosen for their “outstanding” capacity to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was announced.
The Art House in Wakefield, which created the first Studio of Sanctuary for asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, was awarded £100,000, while In Place Of War and Project Art Works received £25,000 each.
The three art organisations were chosen from more than 200 applications for having demonstrated “resilience” in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The judging panel, chaired by the vice president of communities and national engagement at King’s College London, Baroness Deborah Bull, praised The Art House for their agility in responding to the needs of the community and putting co-creation at the centre of their work.
During the pandemic, Salford-based In Place Of War worked with 12 grassroot community organisations in the UK to find 100 agents of change and were commended for addressing issues of asylum and conflict by the panel.
Meanwhile, Project Art Works, based in Hastings, created a digital platform for communities to participate in creative work from home during the pandemic.
The organisation, which was shortlisted for the 2021 Turner Prize, was praised by the panel for championing diversity and providing a platform for people and issues that are often ignored.
Baroness Bull, who joined the House of Lords as a crossbench peer in 2018, said: “The applicants to this year’s award exemplify the creativity, flexibility and resilience that arts organisations across the UK have demonstrated in response to the challenges of the pandemic years.
“Our recipients rose above a crowded field because of their evidenced commitment to their civic role: to championing diverse voices, to developing skills and creativity, to co-creation and to dissolving the barriers between the practice of art and the impact it has for communities and society.”
The award is funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in the UK, with King’s College London as the academic partner delivering the award.
