We are delighted to announce the winners of Write on Art 2024, an award run jointly by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (PMC) and Art UK.
Write on Art was created to encourage an interest in art, art history and writing among young people in the last four years of school. It also aims to inspire young people to critically engage with art in their local collections and use their creative voices to express their responses and ideas.
In August, this year's judges – Enuma Okoro, Nigerian-American writer and cultural curator and Sally Shaw, Director of Firstsite, Colchester – selected three winners from each category (Years 10/11 & Years 12/13) from over 200 submissions of extremely high quality. This year's winning texts explore a range of powerful themes including colonial history, war and grief, the female body and male gaze, and abortion.
Enuma Okoro commented: 'It gives me deep hope to know that young people are engaging with art and are motivated to reflect and write on it. Art is a powerful form of storytelling that can shape narratives and mindsets. It teaches us how to see and how to recognize the connection between seeing, feeling, thinking and, then hopefully, doing. Opportunities like Write on Art remind us all that reflecting on art is a vital pathway to strengthening our visual literacy. It was a pleasure to serve as a judge for the 2024 competition and to read the thoughtful considerations of some of these young minds. Many of the writers showed remarkable insight in their essays, offering keen observations on how art can be a window to how we think about the world around us. Congratulations to all who were part of this competition.'
Judge Sally Shaw at the Write on Art 2024 award ceremony
Sally Shaw said: 'Writing can be challenging. Looking at and then writing about art, even more so. However, when we really stop to spend time doing just that, lots of really magical things start to happen. We look at the world with more curiosity, rather than just accepting things at face value. We work out how these particular views (the artist's, and ours combined) make us feel. We think about that for a while, and then we make every attempt to share that with others using a wide landscape of words to choose from: so many variables. That's the beauty of writing about art – it's about unique experiences, visions, choices and languages: something to be enjoyed by lots of people. Reading the shortlisted essays for this year's Write On Art competition reminded me of all that and I'm extremely grateful to everyone who took part. Well done to all the writers, supporters, teachers, artists and museums.'
On Saturday 7th September, the shortlisted writers, judges, and staff from the PMC and Art UK gathered at The Mary Ward Centre in London for the prizegiving ceremony. The students winning first place in each category won £300, the second-place students won £200, and the third-place students won £100 each. All six essays are published on the PMC and Art UK's websites (see below).
Write on Art 2024 award ceremony
Dr Sarah Victoria Turner, Director of the PMC, said: 'All the applicants to the Write on Art competition demonstrated the power of using art to communicate about the world around us. The creativity and emotional force of the writing submitted this year was really remarkable. Meeting the shortlisted writers at this year's award ceremony made me feel very optimistic about the next generation who will go on to champion the importance of visual and creative arts in our society. Their essays were brimming with curiosity and originality on every line.'
Andrew Ellis, Chief Executive of Art UK, commented: 'As always, it was such a joy to read the winning essays in this year's Write on Art competition. To start with it is always fascinating to see what artworks from Art UK are chosen. This year's selection was particularly intriguing. But the real delight is in the clarity of expression, the brave insights and the passionate, often uncompromising, views held by the authors. Huge congratulations to all our prize winners and indeed to everyone who ventured to send in an entry.'
The winners of this year's competition are:
Year 10/11 Category
First place: Azzurra Mitchel on Woman with Dead Child by Käthe Kollwitz
Second place: Nancy Edwards on The Artist in Her Studio by Paula Figueiroa Rego
Third place: Eve Williams on Hong Kong Harbour by Olive Edis
Year 12/13 Category
First place: Amelie Roscoe on Pauline Bunny by Sarah Lucas
Second place: Flora Dodd on Triptych by Paula Figueiroa Rego
Third place: Evie Wildish on We Are Making a New World by Paul Nash
Submissions for the 2025 prize – the eighth year of the competition – will open in January 2025.
Maggie Hills, Learning Content Producer at Art UK
