After a year off, the Holt Art Awards have come back bigger and better than ever with three new awards bringing the total to seven, between them garnering over 800 submissions. Welcome to our most comprehensive exhibitions yet. Here, find a selection of artworks from the shortlists alongside insights from Creative Director Lady Anwen Hurt and full online catalogues.
Venues: St Andrew the Apostle, Holt + Allen Hall Gallery / Plastic Culture, Glandford | 20/7—1/8/26 | 11:00—17:00 | More
Future: Mannington Nature Award will travel to Mannington Hall: 6/8—13/9/26 | More
Sir John Hurt Art Award
The original Holt Festival art prize, this award was renamed in honour of the legendary actor and artist following his death in 2017 and has continued to grow in the intervening years with entries from across the globe with consistently high standards across all genres. It is now sponsored directly by Holt Art Projects.
Award Winner
Sarah Longworth-West | c_u
Highly Commended by Judges
Trevor Burgess | Shoe Stall
Chenxi Chen | Somewhere Over the Moon
Rebecca Danning | In the Night Garden & Looking Out
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Rob Moore
Interim (detail)
Shortlist: Sir John Hurt Art Award -
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Sarah Longworth-West
c_u
Shortlist: Sir John Hurt Art Award -
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Alexander Massouras
East 95th Street (study)
Shortlist: Sir John Hurt Art Award -
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H.J. Jackson
Ready for the Catch (detail)
Shortlist: Sir John Hurt Art Award -
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Raykhan Laing
Fissure 3
Shortlist: Sir John Hurt Art Award -
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Jane Human
Reaching I
Shortlist: Sir John Hurt Art Award
Mannington Nature Award
An entirely new award this year sponsored by the Ellis family reflecting their passion for landscape and the environment. The brief was a broad one of which artists made full use entering film, textile, ceramics and sculpture as well as photographs, drawings and paintings. The exhibition for this award will be travelling on to Mannington Hall from the beginning of August to 13th September 2026 (read more below).
Award Winner
Alexander Collinson & Xinyue Ma | Residual Currents
Highly Commended by Judges
Sarah Rooms Heaphy | Wave Drenched
Susan Isaac | At the Edge of Reason
Heidi McEvoy-Swift | Where-Next-the-Sea?
Mannington Nature Award will travel to Mannington Hall, with a private viewing on 5th August. Open to public: Wednesday—Sunday (10am—4pm) from Thursday 6th August to Sunday 13th September. In addition the exhibition will be open on bank holiday, Monday 31st August. Please note there is an admission & parking fee at Mannington Gardens & Grounds which will include entry to the exhibition.
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Ben Wayman
Tarset
Shortlist: Mannington Nature Award -
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Alice Walton
Polden Bud
Shortlist: Mannington Nature Award -
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Flora Mima
Land Lines and Scars
Shortlist: Mannington Nature Award -
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Helen Gilbart
Circling Time (detail)
Shortlist: Mannington Nature Award -
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Caroline Forward
Traces of Time (detail)
Shortlist: Mannington Nature Award -
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Sarah Rooms Heaphy
Wave Drenched
Shortlist: Mannington Nature Award
Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award
This well-established award sponsored by Charlotte Fraser has become one of the innovative highlights of the last few years and this year is no exception with stunning work of profound complexity in both ceramic and glass.
Award Winner
Alice Walton | Harridge Way
Highly Commended by Judges
Mingyu Du | Sculptural Jars
Michele Oberdieck | Japanese Fog Blossom
Kat Wheeler | Carved Lidded Jar
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Jihyun Kim
Salty Fairy Danji 11
Shortlist: Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award -
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Susan Phillips
Untitled No.89
Shortlist: Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award -
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Rachel Barnard
Thought Boxes 1: Think (detail)
Shortlist: Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award -
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Mingyu Du
Sculptural Jar
Shortlist: Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award -
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Philippa Beveridge
Lost and Found (detail)
Shortlist: Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award -
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Wei Ding
A House Beyond Dimension (detail)
Shortlist: Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award
Helen Herbert Portrait Award
Another new award, this time in memory of the much-missed artist Helen Herbert and sponsored by her family. Portrait painting is such an intimate and sometimes unnerving process for both the sitter and the artist, almost more so when they are one and the same – an investigation of what lies beneath and what is unsaid much admired, incidentally, by Sir John Hurt.
Award Winner
Lyn Aylward | Blue Skies
Highly Commended by Judges
Oliver Bliss | Khakhan Querishi & Mr T
India Borley | Ryan
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Jill Iliffe
Evelyn (and Her Factory Team)
Shortlist: Helen Herbert Portrait Award -
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Lucy Wilson
Portrait of an Unknown Sitter
Shortlist: Helen Herbert Portrait Award -
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Lyn Aylward
Blue Skies
Shortlist: Helen Herbert Portrait Award -
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Nelson
Nana Joyce (detail)
Shortlist: Helen Herbert Portrait Award -
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Jane Deighton
Quizzical – About to Iron
Shortlist: Helen Herbert Portrait Award -
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Diana Campbell
Simon
Shortlist: Helen Herbert Portrait Award
Benjamin Hall Photography Award
The third in our trio of new awards, we are delighted to be able to offer an award for photography sponsored by distinguished war correspondent, Benjamin Hall. This award celebrates photography as a powerful way of seeing and engaging with the world, of recording and understanding people, places and events.
Award Winner
Max Kessell | Heading East I
Highly Commended by Judges
Julia Bahadrian | A Modern Crusade
Jeremy Brettingham | Downpour at the Creek
Cristi Paterson | Golden Milk
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Heun Jung Kim
A Single Form
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award -
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Jayne Odell FRPS
Abandoned (detail)
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award -
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Robby Ogilvie
Colour Divides (detail)
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award -
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Max Kessell
Heading East
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award -
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Duncan Smith
Horse Chestnut Stem No 1
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award -
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Cristi Sara Paterson
Golden Milk (detail)
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award -
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Suzi Darsa
Lee and Anamika
Shortlist: Benjamin Hall Photography Award
Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards
Once again huge thanks to Sworders who have been sponsoring these incredibly important awards for a number of years. We share the same desire to offer young people across society the opportunity to explore and develop their creative ideas and help them to discover a voice with which they can challenge the world around them.
Emerging Artist Winner
Ben Daniels | Steppe Mammoth Molar
Young Artist Winner
Ze-Wen Zheng | Severance from the Unethical
Highly Commended by Judges
Louise Hapton | Cheese Girl
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Megan Soul
Untitled: Study for Keep (detail)
Shortlist: Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards -
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Ben Daniels
Steppe Mammoth Molar
Shortlist: Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards -
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Leah Jobson
Spring Lilies
Shortlist: Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards -
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Anya Kalsi
Shadows of Entanglement (detail)
Shortlist: Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards
Allen Hall Gallery, Glandford
Benjamin Hall Photography Award
11:00—17:00
Open until 20:00 on Thursday 23rd & Thursday 30th
The Barns, Glandford, Holt, NR25 7JP (free parking available)
Plastic Culture, Glandford (next to Allen Hall Gallery)
Helen Herbert Portrait Award
Charlotte Fraser Ceramic & Glass Award
Mannington Nature Award (part)
11:00—17:00
Open until 20:00 on Thursday 23rd & Thursday 30th
St Andrew’s Church, Holt
Sir John Hurt Art Award
Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards
Mannington Nature Award (part)
11:00—17:00
During Holt Book Shop’s Literary Celebration hours are extended
St Andrew the Apostle, Church Street, Holt, NR25 6BB
Friends & Supporters PV
The private view was held at Allen Hall Gallery and Plastic Culture on Sunday 19th July, viewing the shortlisted works for the Mannington Nature Award (part), the Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award, the Helen Herbert Portrait Award and the Benjamin Hall Photography Award.
A second private view of the Sir John Hurt Art Award, Sworders Emerging & Young Artists Awards and Mannington Nature Award (part) took place at St Andrew’s Church in Holt (in support of St Andrew’s) on Monday 20th July.