The Jury

Curator, artist and writer working at the intersection of art, wellbeing and technology. Works nationally and internationally across physical and digital platforms Read more

American-Austrian art historian, curator and podcaster based in London. Founder of the All About Art podcast, TEDx speaker, and author of Working in Art (Octopus, 2026). Co-director of NXT GEN, supporting early career arts professionals. Read more

Founder and Artistic Director of Kinetika. Cultural activist and internationally recognised artist using walking, making and collaboration as tools for community transformation. Read more

Director and Co-Founder of Counterpoints Arts, the UK-based organisation working at the intersection of arts, migration, and social change. Also Creative Director of Counterpoint Productions and co-founder of the Footnote x Counterpoints Prize. Read more

Executive Director of First Light Festival CIC in Lowestoft, the National Portfolio Organisation behind the UK’s only free beach festival. Chair of the Lowestoft Cultural Education Partnership. Read more

Assistant Curator at The Art House in Wakefield, championing accessibility, neurodivergence, and mental health in the creative sector. Performance and installation artist, and a graduate of Leeds Arts University. Read more

CEO at The Black-E, a national participatory arts centre in Liverpool with nearly 60 years of connecting artists and communities through cultural equity. Read more

Professor of Graphic Art and Course Leader for MA Visual Communication at Birmingham City University. Royal College of Art-trained illustrator and printmaker with work held in the V&A and Tate collections. Read more

Creative Director & Joint CEO of Trigger. Director of PoliNations (Unboxed/Birmingham 2022), Each Tiny Drop (MIF 2023 opening ceremony) and The Hatchling. Read more

Founder and Artistic Director of Meadow Arts, the contemporary visual arts charity bringing ambitious projects to unexpected, often rural places. Curator and former arts journalist based on the Welsh Border. Read more

Writer and art historian focusing on Black artistic practice and the ways art moves through institutions, markets, and alternative networks. Read more

Curator at the Institute of International Visual Arts (iniva) and Guest Curator of the 15th Havana Biennial ‘Shared Horizons’ (2024–25). Researcher in anticolonial methodologies, with prior curatorial roles at GoMA Glasgow, The NewBridge Project, and Museu do Índio. Read more

Transdisciplinary artist-curator based between London and Gimuy/Cairns, working across performance, installation, textiles and new media. Read more

Pioneering feminist artist whose performance, drawing and installation practice has been shown at Tate Britain, the Barbican, the ICA and internationally since the 1970s. Read more

Founder of Dear Creative Gurl, widening access to creative careers. Board member of the London Museum, BAFTA member and FRSA. Read more

Founder of Creative Debuts and Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree championing emerging artists through exhibitions, brand collaborations and community-led events. A leading voice for diversity, inclusion and accessibility in the contemporary art world. Read more

Programme Curator & Learning Lead at Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Cornwall where she develops and delivers exhibitions and projects that explore the role of art in shaping everyday life. Read more

Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry (CCA), curating CCA’s international programme of experimental contemporary art. Former Artistic Director at NN Contemporary Art (now Arts Collective), Northampton. Read more

Artist, writer and course leader for MA Arts and Education Practices at Birmingham City University. Part of the creative team at Vivid Projects, Birmingham, where they lead the Black Hole Club artist development programme. Read more

Creative coach, curator and gallerist with thirty-five years inside the art world. Founder of Ceri Hand Gallery and former Director of Programmes at Somerset House. Host of Extraordinary Creatives, the number one Arts podcast on Apple. Now coaching artists, founders and cultural leaders in over 120 countries to build sustainable, meaningful creative careers. Read more

Director of Exhibitions at Somerset House and former Senior Curator at the Hayward Gallery. Serving on the steering group for the Art Fund Curatorial Diversity Programme, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Read more

Daryl Branch is a cultural leader and creative strategist with 20+ years’ experience, serving as Artistic Director and CEO of Arts Outburst, leading place-based arts programmes that connect communities across Thurrock and South Essex. Read more

CEO & Artistic Director at Humber Street Gallery, Hull. Founder and Editor of YAC – Young Artists in Conversation, and Chair of Trustees at Our Big Picture, Grimsby. Former Director of Bloc Projects, Sheffield. Read more

Practicing artist, educator and founder of The Artist Advisor, mentoring over 200 artists across six years. Faculty at Contemporary Art Academy. Read more