The 8th John Ruskin Prize

International Deadline: December 2, 2025 – The 8th John Ruskin Prize is now open for submissions, inviting artists, designers, and makers from around the world to participate.

With a theme of From the Eye to the Hand, this renowned art competition offers £7,000 in awards, including a top prize of £3,000. This year’s theme invites artists to consider the interplay between what we see and what we create in response.

On display 29 January – 8 February 2026 @ The Buoy Store, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London E14 0JY

ELIGIBILITY
For The 8th John Ruskin Prize, you can submit from anywhere in the world. The prize is open to digital submissions to facilitate international entries. The Prize welcomes works in all mediums, including drawing, painting, print, sculpture, photography, textile, animation, mixed media, digital, performance, installation and more.

JURY
The selection panel is:

• Julian Wild is a sculptor whose work explores gesture, colour and structure, challenging the boundaries of minimalism.
• Victoria Pomery is CEO of The Box in Plymouth, a major cultural venue combining museum, gallery, and archive spaces
• Neal Shasore is an architectural historian, writer and advocate for heritage and craft in the built environment.
• Mary Evans is a British-Nigerian artist whose large-scale installations explore themes of diaspora, migration, and identity.
• Nichola is a former academic and museum curator who directed the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art at UEA, where she launched an MA in Museology and a Museum Leadership Programme.

AWARDS

• 1st Prize: £3000
• Ruskin Mill Trust Prize: £3,000
• Chelsea Arts Club Trust Prize for mid-career: £2,500
• The Alan Davidson Under 26 Prize: £1000

ENTRY FEE
Standard entry: 1 artwork: £25; 2 artworks: £40; 3 artworks: £50 Under 26 entry: 1 artwork: £20; 2 artworks: £25; 3 artworks: £38 International digital entry: 1 artwork; £15: 2 artworks: £20; 3 artworks: £30.

APPLY ONLINE

The John Ruskin Prize is the fastest growing multi-disciplinary art prize in the UK. With the values of the radical polymath John Ruskin at it’s core, the Prize has a growing reputation for supporting and promoting artists, designers and makers whose work defies easy categorisation.