Mother Art Prize

Established and curated by Procreate Project, the Mother Art Prize is the only international open call for self-identifying women and non-binary visual artists with caring responsibilities.

The 21 artists in this new group exhibition have been selected through an anonymous process, from 630 entries submitted from 36 countries.

Through a weave of media and practices, the artworks are connected by a deep urge to address intersectional socio-cultural matters. The audience is invited to engage with stories that speak of the tension between a patriarchal capitalistic culture and the lived experiences of people existing at the margins: those who are raised in diasporas, those who live in poverty and those with disabilities. These stories explore various notions of the human, the woman, the pregnant and the mother*. Through different lenses and cultural perspectives a conversation is created between history, contemporary lives and the future.

The selected artists are: Hannah Ballou, Louise Black, Jodie Carey, Laura Winn Clark, Andrea Hasler, Kate Holcomb Hale, Ming Ying Hong, Mee Jey, Sarah Kaufman, Belinda Kochanowska, W.K.Lyhne, Jennifer Louise Martin, Jana Sophia Nolle, Yasmin Noorbakhsh, Yelena Popova, Qian Qian, Si Sapsford, Alice Sheppard Fidler, Helena Wadsley, Anna Wańtuch, Xie Rong.

The judges were: Dr. Charlotte Bonham-Carter (Independent curator and writer, and Head of International Partnerships, CCW), Niamh Coghlan (Director of Richard Saltoun Gallery), Pauline de Souza (Director of the Diversity Art Forum), Caroline Douglas (Director at the Contemporary Art Society), Touria El Glaoui (Director of 1-54 art fair).

Procreate Project was founded in 2013 and has grown to become a pioneering arts organisation for its ethos in innovation and sociocultural impact. The main aim is to support the development of contemporary artists who are also mothers, working across multiple disciplines. Our new approaches and platforms also aim to drive the attention of the wider public to a broad-spectrum of themes that would otherwise be overlooked and devalued.

Reach the UK and international audiences, supporting traditionally side-lined themes like motherhood and childbirth. The Procreate Project umbrella includes events and exhibitions, commissions and productions of artistic works, Mother Art Prize, online platforms for the sale of original artworks and prints, online publications, and very importantly the Mother House studios – a unique model of artists’ studios with integrated childcare, where children are welcome in the workspace.