The Achates Philanthropy Prize, the national campaign to promote support of the arts, returns for its fifth year in 2020, reimagined in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on the creative sector.
Launched in 2016 to raise awareness of the arts as charitable organisations that play an important role in society, the Achates Philanthropy Prize promotes the democratisation of arts organisations and arts philanthropy.
In previous years, the Prize has asked cultural organisations across all art forms to nominate an individual, group, trust or company that has supported them for the first time, at all levels, within the last 12 months. In 2020, no Prizes will be awarded, as the campaign refocuses on a UK-wide showcase of case studies from across the UK, researched by regional Prize Ambassadors, which will illuminate how cultural organisations have worked with their communities and how their communities have responded to this work during an extraordinary year.
A shortlist of these case studies, selected by the Prize judges, will be showcased at a special ceremony on Thursday 12 November 2020, curated and presented with HOME, Manchester.
The ceremony will be preceded by a one-day conference, Art, Audiences, Money, which will consider the future of the sector and the relationship between these issues.
Achates Philanthropy Foundation Chair, Caroline McCormick, said:
“This year’s Achates Philanthropy Prize has been reimagined in response to the pandemic. We want to champion and celebrate the remarkable groundswell of innovative responses from cultural organisations across the country within their communities. The arts have immeasurable and far-reaching value beyond economic value alone, and this is our focus this year – be that intrinsic artistic value or social value which
brings benefits for social engagement, health and well-being, education and empowerment. The eight Prize Ambassadors, charged with researching 15 case studies each in their region, will be rigorous in their search for the broadest range of outstanding examples of the myriad ways we value and share art, up and down the country. The showcase will be the central anchor of our Art, Audiences, Money conference as we come together to think about the future of the sector”.
Eight Achates Philanthropy Prize Ambassadors have been appointed to research and develop 15 case studies each – from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and each of the five ACE regions in England (London, South East, South West, North and Midlands). Each Ambassador is resident in their region and will compile a collection of case studies that will provide a unique snapshot of the role of cultural organisations within their communities in 2020. The case studies cannot be comprehensive
but will be curated to showcase the breadth of work being carried out to underline why the arts deserve government and public support. To further share the great work across the UK, this year the Prize will invite the public to celebrate local arts organisations that have made a difference to their community – with the hashtag #artfeltthanks
A 19-strong panel of judges will review the 120 case studies and hand-pick a shortlist which will be showcased at a special ceremony presented in partnership with HOME Manchester on Thursday 12 November 2020.
New judges for 2020 are: Javaad Alipoor, artist and writer; Deanne Bell, Doctor at Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Alison Body, Lecturer in Philanthropic Studies at the University of Kent; Tom Byrne, Senior Sustainability Manager at ASOS, supporter of Candoco Dance Company and winner of the 2019 Corporate Award; Alex Cheales, solicitor and Achates Philanthropy Foundation Trustee; Henny Finch, Executive Director at Donmar Warehouse;
Lyn Gardner, theatre critic, children’s novelist and journalist; Kane Moore, Director of Development at Achates Philanthropy Ltd; Dave Moutrey, Director & Chief Executive at HOME and Director of Culture for Manchester City Council; Liv Nilssen, Sector Strategy Lead at Spektrix; Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive at The Wolfson Foundation; and Nick Thomlinson, supporter of World Heart Beat Music Academy and winner of the 2019 Individual Philanthropy Award. They will join Prize sponsors, partners and Achates Philanthropy Foundation Trustees to make the 2020 selection.
The ceremony will close the free one-day conference – Art, Audiences, Money – on Thursday 12 November 2020. Curated by the Prize in partnership with HOME Manchester the conference will look at routes forward for the culture sector. The full programme will be announced in September 2020.
