The Freelands Art Fund Acquisition is a partnership with the Art Fund that offers grants of up to £60,000 for museums and public collections to acquire contemporary art by the winners of the Freelands Award – an annual prize recognising mid-career women artists.
Through bolstering contemporary collections in the UK, this initiative increases public access to work by women artists and brokers new relationships between artists, organisations, museums and their audiences, enabling a continued presence of the artists work following their exhibitions the original prize enables.
2021 Freelands Award Winner Jacqueline Poncelet presented 'In the Making' at MIMA, Middlesborough.
Applications are now open for UK museums and public collections interested in acquiring work by Jacqueline Poncelet to apply for grants of up to £60,000. Find out more here.
Previous acquisitions include:
Hannah Starkey presented 'In Real Life' at the Hepworth Wakefield.
- Beauty Shop (2022)
- Bus Stop (2022)
- Kirkgate Towers (2022)
- Wakey Tavern (2022)
Ingrid Pollard presented as part of 'Land Sea Sky' at The Box in Plymouth.
- Three Drops of Blood (2022)
Lis Rhodes presented at The Hunterian, Glasgow.
- Ambiguous Journeys (2018)
- Dissonance and Disturbance (2012)
- Pictures on Pink Paper (1982)
Veronica Ryan presented ‘An Axis of Abstraction’ at Leeds Art Gallery
- Exclusion Zones I (2021)
Hannah Starkey, Beauty Shop (2022)
Courtesy of artist and Hepworth Wakefield
Hannah Starkey, Bus Stop (2022)
Courtesy of artist and Hepworth Wakefield
Hannah Starkey, Kirkgate Towers (2022)
Courtesy of artists and Hepworth Wakefield
Hannah Starkey, Wakey Tavern (2022)
Courtesy of artist and Hepworth Wakefield
Ingrid Pollard, Three Drops of Blood (2022) 2
Courtesy of artist and The Box, Plymouth
Ingrid Pollard, Three Drops of Blood (2022) 3
Courtesy of artist and The Box, Plymouth
Ingrid Pollard, Three Drops of Blood (2022) 1
Courtesy of artist and The Box, Plymouth
Veronica Ryan, Exclusion Zone I, 2021
Installation view, Along A Spectrum, 2021 at Spike Island, Bristol
Courtesy Spike Island, Paula Cooper and the artist. Photo: Max McClure
Veronica Ryan, Exclusion Zone I, 2021 (detail)
Installation view, Along A Spectrum, 2021 at Spike Island, Bristol
Courtesy Spike Island, Paula Cooper and the artist. Photo: Max McClure
Veronica Ryan, Exclusion Zone I, 2021 (detail)
Installation view, Along A Spectrum, 2021 at Spike Island, Bristol
Courtesy Spike Island, Paula Cooper and the artist. Photo: Max McClure
Veronica Ryan, Exclusion Zone I, 2021
Installation view, Along A Spectrum, 2021 at Spike Island, Bristol
Courtesy Spike Island, Paula Cooper and the artist. Photo: Max McClure
Lis Rhodes, Ambiguous Journeys, 2018 (film still).
Courtesy the artist and LUX
Lis Rhodes, Pictures on Pink Paper, 1982 (film still).
Courtesy the artist and LUX
Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making exhibition view. Courtesy of MIMA. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
Installation view of Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making, MIMA, 2024. Image courtesy of the gallery.
Installation view of Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making, MIMA, 2024. Image courtesy of the gallery.
Installation view of Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making, MIMA, 2024. Image courtesy of the gallery.
Jacqueline Poncelet, On the Brink. Courtesy of MIMA. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making exhibition view. Courtesy of MIMA. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making exhibition view. Courtesy of MIMA. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
Jacqueline Poncelet: In the Making exhibition view. Courtesy of MIMA. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
Jacqueline Poncelet, Lift Vinyls. Courtesy of MIMA. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
The scheme follows the acquisition, enabled by Freelands Foundation, of an important work by Jacqueline Donachie (Freelands Award 2016 winner) to enter the Tate collection in 2022. The Freelands Art Fund Acquisition will enable all subsequent winners to contribute works to the UK’s national collections.
The Freelands Award was established in 2016 to enable an arts organisation outside London to present an exhibition, including significant new work, by a mid-career woman artist who may not yet have received the public recognition that their work deserves. Winning artists are Jacqueline Donachie (2016 winner, with Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh), Lis Rhodes (2017 winner, with Nottingham Contemporary), Veronica Ryan (2018 winner, with Spike Island, Bristol), Hannah Starkey (2019 winner, with the Hepworth Wakefield), Ingrid Pollard (2020 winner, with MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2020) and Jacqueline Poncelet (2021 winner, with MIMA, Middlesbrough).