NORTH EAST, UK. May 15th, 2025 – Applications are now open for The Dover Prize 2025, a significant opportunity for UK-based visual artists and creative practitioners to develop their practice through a two-year bursary worth £10,000.
Open to individuals, partnerships or collectives from across the UK, The Dover Prize supports time to think, research, reflect and experiment. It offers a rare chance to consolidate existing work or make a bold step-change in approach – with the final result exhibited for the first time in Darlington.
Now in its 26th year, The Dover Prize was established in 1998 by philanthropist Peggy Nonhebel (née Dover) to promote the arts and arts education in and around Darlington, North East England.
Managed by Point North (formerly County Durham Community Foundation) it has awarded more than £85,000 and supported over 20 artists, contributing to a growing culture of creative ambition in the region.
The Dover Prize provides a £10,000 bursary paid across two years, the freedom to explore new ideas, materials or collaboration, space to test and refine approaches and support in identifying venues and partners in Darlington for a premiere exhibition in 2027
The funding can be used to support a wide range of activities, including research travel, materials, equipment, workshops, or training. Applicants must clearly outline how they would use the funding to develop their work.
Creative practitioners working in painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, photography, digital art, film, performance, installation, and related visual arts fields, can all apply.
Applicants must be based in the UK and able to demonstrate a commitment to their practice by meeting at least three professional criteria such as having exhibited work, received public commissions or taken part in artist residencies.
The most recent winner of The Dover Prize is artist Rebecca Moss, chosen from over 320 submissions for her clever, public-facing and humorous work.
Rebecca plans to use the bursary to explore Darlington’s industrial heritage through kinetic art and water-powered mechanisms and will exhibit the results of this exploration in Darlington in Summer 2025.
She said: “I am thrilled to win The Dover Prize at a very timely moment in my work and life. With this prize I plan to explore Darlington’s industrial heritage, thinking about pre-electronic power and energy, and drawing upon my interest in mechanisms that are activated by water. I still can’t believe I won, and I am so grateful for this award.”
Sharon Gollan, Head of Grants at Point North, said: “We’re always so excited to launch The Dover Prize and invite creative practitioners from across the UK to dream big. This prize is about time, space and ambition, it’s a chance for artists to develop bold new work that will be shared in Darlington.
“We’re also delighted to welcome this year’s judging panel, Phil Gatenby, Vicky Holbrough, Matthew Jarratt, Helen Marriage, Dr. Alistair Robinson, Vicky Sturrs and Stephen Wiper, who each bring incredible insight and passion for the arts. I can’t wait to see what ideas come forward this year.”
Applications for The Dover Prize 2025 are open until 11:59pm (BST) on Sunday 1st, and should be made via www.thedoverprize.co.uk
ENDS