Freedlands Foundation establishes £100,000 annual prize for UK women artists over 50

A new £100,000 annual award, the Freedlands Artist Award, has been introduced to support midcareer women artists based in the UK. Unlike the Tate’s Turner Prize, this initiative specifically includes artists over 50 years old. The Freedlands Foundation, an arts education organization led by media executive and Tate trustee Elisabeth Murdoch, is behind the prize. Last year, Murdoch commissioned a report revealing that despite female art and design graduates outnumbering men, women lack adequate representation at and beyond mid-career stages. The inaugural selection panel comprises artist Phyllida Barlow, curator Teresa Gleadow, Camden Arts Centre director Jenni Lomax, and Martin Clark, director of Norway’s Bergen Kunsthalle. The winner will be announced in autumn 2016.