Announcing the Axis Artist Awards 2026

This year, we are putting nearly £50,000 directly into artists' hands.

The work behind the work needs support. The time to think, test, make, learn, pause, return, and begin again. That is what the Axis Artist Awards are for.

Too often, artists are funded for the visible outcome: the exhibition, the event, the finished work. The public moment. But you know where the real work happens. In the studio, the notebook, the conversation that changes everything.

As a charity, Axis exists to support artists and make contemporary art more visible, understood, and accessible. We are not publicly funded. Our work is made possible by our members, people who share a commitment to supporting artists and making practice possible.

We use what we have to put money directly into our members, guided by your priorities and needs. We are still learning. But we are clear about the direction: we want to grow so we can support more artists, more directly, and more often.

This year, 38 artists will receive awards. 35 receive £1,000 to start something, test an idea, or move forward work that might otherwise stay on hold. 3 receive the Axis Fellowship: several months of time, space, and support to think, test, and share work in progress.

We ask one thing in return: share something of your process, so that others can see how work develops and connect with it.

Artists helping artists. In practice.

Awards are for Axis members. If that's not you yet, it's a good moment to join.

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• Learn more about the Axis Artist Awards