Freelands
Foundation today announces The Burton at Bideford in North Devon as one
of the first winners of a major new £1.5 million awards scheme
recognising and celebrating visual art education in
the UK over the next five years.
Winning
for Burton Futures – an outreach programme working with rural schools
to remove barriers to arts engagement – The Burton is one of three
winning organisations who will each receive an award
of £100,000. The winners will also collaborate with Freelands
Foundation on case study films to share their art education work as a
resource and inspiration to other organisations in the sector and
beyond.
The Freelands Awards 2026 winners chosen in recognition of progressive art education approaches with demonstrable impact, are:
- The Burton at Bideford in North Devon,
for Burton Futures, an outreach programme working with schools to
remove
barriers to arts engagement, including The Burton Art Box – a horse box
converted into a camera obscura and darkroom that travels to rural
schools
- SIGNAL in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria for its Artist Development Lab developing artists through workshops, expert
mentoring and exhibition making
- Wolverhampton Art Gallery
for two stand-out projects in its Arts and Culture Youth Programme
inspired by the
collection and temporary exhibitions in which participants work with
the gallery team to help build skills and careers in the creative
industries
Burton
Futures was established in March 2025 in response to feedback from
teachers about the increasing economic barriers local schools face in
connecting young people to world-class art as part
of their education. As well as funding continuing professional
development (CPD) sessions for teachers and travel bursaries for rural
schools to visit The Burton and take part in artist workshops, the
scheme runs The Burton Art Box - a converted horse box
that travels to rural schools as a camera obscura, connecting science
and art curriculums.
Initially
funded via a public crowdfunding campaign with The Big Give, the pilot
year of Burton Futures has supported neary 500 children from nine rural
schools to engage with art in new ways. There
are now plans to build on the success of the programme by expanding
into artwork loans to schools and mobile museums, working directly with
teachers on shaping and fundraising for the project.
Harriet Cooper, Director, The Burton at Bideford, said:
“Receiving
a Freelands Award 2026 is a huge honour for The Burton at Bideford. We
believe every child in Northern Devon should have free access to art and
creative experiences as part of their
education. Our schools’ programme, Burton Futures, has shown what is
possible when we listen to teachers, work alongside schools and develop
programmes that are rooted in the places where young people live and
learn.
As
we celebrate our 75th anniversary, this Award will help us build on
that approach by continuing to listen to and learn from schools. We want
young people across North Devon to see themselves
as part of The Burton’s community and to grow up knowing this museum
belongs to them. Whether they return as visitors, artists, volunteers,
staff or trustees, they will help shape the next chapter of The Burton’s
story for our future generations.”
Freelands
Foundation’s mission is to champion art education. Despite the
increasing pressures they face due to declining funding and rising
operational costs, visual arts organisations continue to
be important sites of life-long teaching and learning. This first of
its kind award recognising and celebrating visual art education in the
UK is the result of learnings from a decade spent supporting visual art
education, during which Freelands Foundation
has seen galleries, museums and visual arts organisations as spaces for
inspiring and progressive art education.
The
judges for the Freelands Awards 2026 are: Artistic Director, Freelands
Foundation, Dr Henry Ward; broadcaster, writer and producer Gemma
Cairney; artist Joy Gregory; curator and writer Jenni
Lomax; and art historian and educator Dr Ben Street. Following an open
call and subsequent review of a broad range of entries from galleries
and art organisations of different scales and models across the UK, the
judges selected a group of organisations to
visit in person before deciding on the three inaugural winners, all
running innovative programmes committed to and rooted in their local
communities.
Dr Henry Ward, Director of Freelands Foundation
and Chair of the Freelands Awards 2026 Judging Panel, said:
“Chairing
the jury and having the opportunity to read about, then visit, these
extraordinary organisations and projects has been an incredible
privilege. We are all too familiar with the challenges
facing arts education and the constant pressures on the sector. Yet the
inaugural Freelands Awards winners are inspiring examples of the
progressive work taking place. All three demonstrate innovative,
collaborative approaches to visual arts education, working
closely with their local communities, responding to the specific places
in which they are situated, and creating programmes where everyone is
learning. Together, they reflect the remarkable breadth of this work,
engaging everyone from primary school children
and teachers to young people and emerging artists. Visiting them was a
joy, and the judges were inspired to see first-hand the extraordinary
impact they are having. They are true beacons of hope.”
This
new vision for the Freelands Awards replaces the Foundation’s previous
annual award focused on enabling UK arts organisations to present an
exhibition of new work by a mid-career woman artist
which ran for eight editions between 2016 and 2023.
