Sky Arts Scholarships 2015 Winners Announced

Sky sponsors emerging UK artists with £30,000 individual investment prizes.

Sky Academy Arts has announced five young UK artists as scholarships winners – two of which are visual talents.

Five UK artists have been awarded £30,000 each to fund and develop their artistic projects through Sky Academy Arts scholarships.

At the South Bank Sky Arts Awards on Sunday 7 June, the scholarship winners were announced – with visual artists Sarah Maple and Kevin Gaffney securing two of the places.

Although adopting very different styles and different subjects, both Maple and Gaffney have been recognised as emerging artists and even won several awards.

Maple specialises in gender, politics and religion with her artwork often described as activist art. She uses many different mediums such as paint, film and performance. Her entry piece was called ‘I disagree with what you say’ which was a solo show based on the concept of freedom of speech, which featured some of her iconic past pieces.

Gaffney was the only Irish applicant to win a Sky Arts scholarship. His work spans photography and film and has toured the international film festival circuit. ‘Tectonic Plates of Conversion’ was Gaffney’s winning entry for the scholarship – which explores forgotten industries in Ireland. Much of his previous work focuses on the presentation of identity in different realities.

Other applicants submitted entries under the music, dance, theatre, creative producing and creative writing categories. The other victors include music producer Adebayo Fakos, creative producer Anisa Haghdadi and writer/performer Jonnie Bayfield. A full list of all the finalists and highly commended applicants can be found here.

Winners will also receive one year’s living expenses and artistic mentorship from the Sky Academy Arts Scholarship programme.

The scheme was open to young artists aged between 18 and 30, and was launched to encourage them to continue creating artwork.

“It’s fantastic that young artists are able to find support through Sky Academy Arts Scholarships at such a crucial stage in their careers,” says Phil Edgar-Jones, Sky Arts director.

“I can’t wait to see their projects come to life throughout the year,” he adds.