UKNA is delighted to showcase the culmination of a six-month project Taking Place: People Place and Practice this October, featuring 10 brand-new works ranging from film to poetry and performance, all inspired by the heart and soul of Derby and Derbyshire. These new works are presented for the very first time across the city allowing the public to experience the essence of Derby through the eyes of talented new artists, and all for free!

UK New Artists will celebrate the beginning of Taking Place: Derby with a showcase of work by some of the best up-and-coming artists from the New Artist Collective #2; a cross-disciplinary group of 12 artists, selected from a nationwide open call.

The Weekend Celebration of Creativity brings together over 38 local and national artists to Lincoln City. Twelve captivating, never-before-seen commissions, born from the heart of Lincoln and created in collaboration with the people, arts organisations and charities, will transform both cultural spaces and unconventional venues alongside other events taking place across the city.

Now in its fourth iteration, The Robert Walters UK New Artist of the Year Award in collaboration with Saatchi Gallery discovers and champions exceptional artists who are representative of contemporary Britain.

Selected from over 1,600 artists, the 2023 finalists were: Damaris Athene (London), William Bacon (Oxford), Parham Ghalamdar (Manchester), Sofia Laskari (London), Kieran Leach (Manchester), Elena Njoabuzia Onwochei-Garcia (Glasgow/Macclesfield), Edward Rollitt (Winchester), Anna Tong (London), Pascal Ungerer (Cork, Ireland) and Kim Thompson (Nottingham).

Starting from May 2023 the UK New Artists 'Taking Place: Lincoln’ programme fully launches!

In partnership with local sector leading organisations in Lincoln, UKNA are hosting an exciting and informative programme of online and in-person talks; blending the perspective of artists, industry professionals and future producers as part of Taking Place: Lincoln. These free events are open to everyone. 

The New Artists Collective 23 has 17 artists, who are working collaboratively for over a year as part of UKNA’s first iteration of Taking Place embarking on an exciting journey in Lincoln; sharing their work, undertaking residencies and collective activities, and taking part in training, networking and mentoring.

UK New Artists celebrated The Beginning of Taking Place: Lincoln with an exhibition and a collection of live performances by the New Artist Collective; a cross-disciplinary group of 18 artists. The exhibition and live performances celebrated the wealth of talent, skill and diversity within the group and offered the public to enjoy work for free.

UKNA’s Weekender #6 takes place at Canopy by Hilton London City, generously supported by 4C Hotel Group. The Weekender is an opportunity to take some time, meet other artists, collaborate and replenish thinking and possible directions for your practice. The residency will centre around discourse, talks and workshops to develop ideas and works which are a direct response to the space, locality of the hotel and the outlined themes. We hope that this place and space will inspire new works as well as being grounds to create collaborative artwork on site.

The Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2022, in collaboration with Saatchi Gallery and UK New Artists, provides a significant platform for artists within the first 10 years of their practice, presenting dynamic artworks from the finalists and awarding £10,000 to the winner and £5,000 to the runner-up.

From a record breaking 1,350 submissions, the 2022 finalists were: Anne Moses, Damien Cifelli, Ella van der Straaten, Farnaz Gholami, Habib Hajallie, Jacob Talkowski, Joanna van Son, Polina Filippova, Rodrigues Goncalves, Tyreis Holder.

The Weekender residency was organised in partnership between Centre for Contemporary Art and UK New Artists. This was the fifth iteration of the weekender programme with previous events having taken place in Blackpool ( 2017 & 2021) St Ives (2018) and Skegness (2019).

New and emerging artists from across the UK took over the city of Leicester for a long weekend. Exhibitions, performance, music, writing and film and much more animated cultural spaces and unusual places, presenting the work of over 50 practitioners at the leading edge of contemporary arts.

UKNA ran a ‘call for ideas’; seeking three projects, led by artists. UK New Artists supported the selected artists realise their projects, with money, time, space and the support of three brilliant mentors; Garth Gratrix, Olwen Davies and Saziso Phiri.

Navigating 2021 & Beyond was a series of free online talks and masterclasses covering a range of topics, to help you navigate and support your creative career.

Led by the UK New Artists team with experts, thinkers and doers in their fields, the talks provided an opportunity to hear from Producers, Curators and Practitioners about their journeys, get some insider tips and advice and ask those burning ‘how to’s.

The awards ceremony took place on Thursday 4th November at the Saatchi Gallery.

Over 900 artists submitted work. The 2021 finalists were: Jukka Virkkunen (London), Molly Kent (Edinburgh), Lucy Gregory (London), Aimee Melaugh (Derry), Sam Tahmassebi (London), Wesley George (London), Jarvis Brookfield (Leicester), Anne von Freyburg (London), Maayan Sophia Weisstub (London), and Catriona Robertson (London).

UKNA’s fourth ‘Weekender’, The Coast is Queer was an invitation to artists to explore the trajectory and longevity of queer culture through collective conversations, facilitated workshops and site specific interventions as a means to animate and examine identity through a multitude of lenses and alongside a diverse coming together of artists across the UK. Delivered in partnership with Garth Gratrix and Abingdon Studios.

The 19th edition of the Mediterranea Young Artists Biennale took place in San Marino, between 14 May - 23 October 2021. Artists from across Europe and the mediterranean presented exhibitions, performances and dialogue in this exciting international exchange. This edition was curated by the participants on the nomadic curatorial programme: A Natural Oasis? led by Alessandro Castiglioni and Simone Frangi.

In July and November 2020, UK New Artists teamed up with Voicemag.uk to host online discussions about the future of the arts industry. Unlike many similar conversations at this time, this was not about the impact of Covid or Brexit, lockdown or social distancing, but instead about the ways in which the arts must become more sustainable, environmental and accessible in order to grow and flourish over the next five years.

Part of Eurodesk’s Time to Move 2020 campaign, The Art of Working (Internationally) is a series of short documentary films featuring interviews and work from three UK artists. The interviews focus on the influence and impact of having international experiences either through festivals, exhibitions/performances or residencies.

The Viewing Room is UKNA’s brand new virtual gallery. The inaugural exhibition, titled Somewhere Between Reality and Obscurity presents new work by twelve of the UK’s most exciting emerging visual artists.

UKNA is proud to partner with The Robert Walters and Saatchi Gallery for an artistic exploration of how the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic will reshape the future of work. In a week-long social media event, taking place 3-9 August 2020, Saatchi Gallery, UKNA and Robert Walters will be calling their followers to share artwork that provokes discussion about how the change and experiences of the lockdown period have influenced the world of business.

Curated by Claudio Zecchi and based on research by Frédéric Xavier Liver, this micro-residency uses the signs and symbols of basketball such as lines, nets and jerseys, to rethink the playground.

With Michael Jordan's jersey on our shoulders and a ball in hand, we will define and craft our own playground to share and play together over the Weekender.

UKYA & Platform Nord are pleased to announce a new international joint working programme for young artists to gain a better understanding of international working and the value of intercultural dialogue. United will be delivered in two parts: part one will be held in Leicester in the UK, and part two will be held in Kristiansand, Norway.

Three unique organisations are collaborating to provide a significant platform and stepping stone for young artists. The Robert Walters Group UK Young Artist of the Year Award in partnership with Saatchi Gallery discovers and champions exceptional artists who are representative of contemporary Britain.

No one belongs here more than you is a participatory performance exclusively for SO Festival 2019, led by artist and curator Chiara Dellerba. It invites participants to look at Skegness through the looking glass of nine artists who took part in ‘Terrain Vague’, the Skegness weekender residency run by UK Young Artists in collaboration with So Festival in April 2019.

UK Young Artists is taking four UK artists to work with an international group of  young artists from the Republic of China and South Korea as part of the 2019 YIYUAN TANG Museum & Foundation Artshake in China in September 2019.

Terrain Vague is our third micro residency, and this edition is run in partnership with the So Festival. The weekender focuses on learning how we can regenerate  a place by exploring its leftovers and its use of public spaces. Artists are called to map, re-imagine and influence Skegness. Moreover the residency aims to examine the way in which we transform our surroundings to reflect and enact the utopia of our dreams.

From 7-13 February 2019, 250 artists from all over the UK, Europe, South Korea and China brought their work to Nottingham for what was truly an unforgettable week. Presenting performance in the streets; poetry on the bus; gigs across the city; exhibitions in disused spaces; interventions in cultural venues and so much more.

The Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library in partnership with UK Young Artists are excited to present G R A F T showcasing artists living, working and making across the UK today.

Come and celebrate making and see over 20 UK young artists perspectives on being human - and how we are all grafters working towards something. See highly colourful film, print, and ceramics, playful sculpture, and installation through to live dance and experimental performance. G R A F T provides twists and turns, highs and lows and a wealth of curiosity and imagination in an uncertain but still human world.

In collaboration with Life Coach Sarah McNicol, in 2018 UKYA supported 5 artists through our pilot Cultural Leadership Programme. Selected artists were George Grace Gibson, Charlie Birtles, Sufea Mohamed Noor, Connor O’Mara, Katie Amanda Smith and Tom Stockley.

UK Young Artists worked with Studio XX and the artist Natacha Clitandre for over a year to ignite and deliver a project which would see how Natacha and UK Young Artist alumni Louise Orwin might support a cross border residency.

The Cornish weekender took place Between 13-16 April 2018 in partnership between UK Young Artists and Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. 11 artists across all art forms, selected from an open call, were invited to participate in the programme.

UK Young Artists has worked with The Mighty Creatives and Arts Connect, with investment from Spirit of 2012, to deliver a series of arts festivals inspired by the work of William Shakespeare. The project spans three years, with a different cohort of artists leading each year in regional settings in 12 areas of low cultural engagement across the East and West Midlands.

UKYA worked in partnership with Seojung Art Centre and Superior Gallery, Seoul and Chung Ang University to take 13 of the best young artists in the UK to Seoul in October 2017 to present their work alongside 10 young Korean artists. During their time in South Korea the artists participated in collaborative
workshops, talks and visits to local cultural events; facilitating intercultural exchange and international collaboration. Artists work was presented at the National Assembly of Korea, Seoul, in partnership with Seojung Art Centre and at other exciting locations.

Delivered in partnership with Primary, Nottingham and BJCEM, the Work In Common residency brought together 11 UK and International artists with an interest in how we choose to work with others and across disciplines to produce art. It encouraged participants to discuss and experiment with different ways of working, to ask what it is to collaborate, and to test out speculative ideas together. Here you can read the Work in Common diary from UKYA.

UK Young Artists selected six artists to represent the UK at the Biennale of Young Artists of Europe and the Mediterranean 2017. The biennale took place in Tirana & Durres and saw 230 artists from across Europe and the Mediterranean present their work in cultural venues and unusual places and spaces. Dance, performance, visual arts, music, poetry, digital art and film animated the cities and artists connected and collaborated across a fantastic 5 days in Albania.

In March 2017 UKYA's Young Curator, Joe Rowley delivered an all day workshop at Loughborough University exploring site specific art and interventions. Joe is currently studying for his MFA at Valand Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden and was delighted to share his expertise and practice with students and practicing artists from the region.

From 24-26 February 2017, UKYA and Abingdon Studios Blackpool took 12 artists from across the country to Blackpool for a weekend of creative exploration. This mini residency offered a period of flux and change to artists with little expectation beyond being curious and having time to think and to learn and share with others.

From 4-6 November UK Young Artists descended on Derby, bringing 80 of the UK's most talented young creatives together for a weekend of exceptional art and performance. Over three days we experienced music, dance, film, photography, painting, sculpture, digital art, theatre, poetry, installation, ceramics, and some inspirational talks and workshops from some of the UK's most respected creatives. 

14 outstanding artists were selected from UKYA’s Leicester festival in 2014, to represent the UK at the 17th edition of the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean in Milan. Our artists joined 200 others from over 20 countries for 4 days of performances, exhibitions, workshops and plenty of Italian food!

In November 2014, 70 selected artists arrived in Leicester to present their work across ten venues in the city. Over the weekend the city was alive with art, performance and conversation, and the buzz could be felt city-wide. One of the aims of our festival was to 'light up Leicester with creative talent' and it certainly felt like everyone; our artists, the venues and our audiences, came together to achieve this.

In September 2012 WEYA brought a staggering 1,000 young artists (18 – 30 years) from 120 nations to Nottingham. Over a period of 10 days, these artists brought the city to life with creative activity across all art forms including visual arts, music and gastronomy. These artists showcased their practice, exchanged ideas and built future collaborations.

UK Young Artists collaborated with Pépinières Européennes Pour Jeunes Artistes  along with other European partners for the 4th and 5th editions of Park in Progress, taking place in two areas of the Saint-Cloud National Park in Sevré, the Nymphée d’Apollon and the Jardin du Trocadéro park in 2011, and in Nottingham in 2012.

The first national UK Young Artists event took place across Derby from Thursday 21 until Sunday 24 October 2010. 75 artists were selected across all art forms, including: choreographers, ceramicists, dancers, musicians, video artists, installation artists, painters, performance artists, photographers, sculptors, storytellers, writers and poets.

In May 2008, a pilot project was launched in partnership between Arts Council England and four universities from the East Midlands (De Montfort, Derby, Loughborough and Nottingham Trent) to send recent graduates to take part in the 13th Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean. It was from this project that UK Young Artists was created.

UKYA selected artists across all art forms to participate in the XIV Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, which was hosted in Skopje.