ABOUT THE JOHN RUSKIN PRIZE

The John Ruskin Prize is the fastest growing multi-disciplinary art prize in the UK. With the values of the radical polymath John Ruskin at it's core, the #RuskinPrize has a growing reputation for supporting and promoting artists, designers and makers whose work defies easy categorisation.

The John Ruskin Prize was founded by The Guild of St. George in 2012, under the administrative umbrella of The Big Draw supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust. Over the years the prize has honoured painters, printmakers, designers, sculptors, photographers and a wide range of craftspeople.

In his lifetime, Ruskin was primarily famed not as an artist but as a writer, critic, outspoken social commentator and inspiring public lecturer. For him, “The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and say what it saw in a plain way”. He considered his own drawing and painting - from a geological specimen to an Alpine scene or the architecture of Venice - principally as his route to truly seeing and recording the world or, in the case of the enormous diagrams with which he illustrated his lectures for example, to encouraging others properly to see it and thus to enrich their lives as productive members of society.

The theme for the 2025 Prize, From the Eye to the Hand, is intentionally open to individual interpretation through work which recognises and reveals the crucial relationship between the eye that truly sees and the hand which responds creatively to that sight. We look forward to this year’s submissions!

Read our interview with Clive Wilmer, Former Master of The Guild of St George here.

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ABOUT JOHN RUSKIN

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was a writer, artist and philanthropist. He championed many of the tenets of the welfare state, and inspired the founders of the National Health Service, the formation of Public Libraries, the National Trust and many other cornerstones of civil society in the last one hundred years. His influence reached abroad in such areas as women’s education, the minimum wage, child labour, and environmental protection and has served both as a restraining influence on unbridled capitalism and a moral conscience for the nations of the world.

He wrote on many things: art and architecture, nature and craftsmanship, literature and religion, political economy and social justice —a dizzying variety of subjects. He also worked tirelessly for a better society; the depth and range of his thinking, his often fierce critique of industrial society and its impact on both people and their environment, and his passionate advocacy of a sustainable relationship between people, craft and nature, remain as pertinent today as they were in his own lifetime.

PREVIOUS PRIZES

"...the show is not so much an open call to artists but a call to arms" - Afterview on The John Ruskin Prize 2019: Agent of Change

Co-inciding with the bicentenary of Ruskin’s birth in 2019 the 5th John Ruskin Prize focused on the role and increasing relevance of Ruskin the impassioned social reformer, and significantly Ruskin as not just a great thinker, but a doer. The nationwide call for entries opened on Ruskin’s birthday (8th February), calling artists to respond to the theme: ‘Agent of Change’. A record number of artists, makers and designers responded, the panel considered over 3000 artworks from 1260 artists, finally shortlisting 41 artists for the well received exhibition hosted at The Holden Gallery, Manchester from 11 July - 24 August 2019. The 4th Prize, The John Ruskin Prize 2017, Hand & Eye: Master of All Trades, celebrated artist as polymath. The critically acclaimed shortlist exhibition was held at The Millennium Gallery, Sheffield from June - October 2017 and showcased an eclectic range of work of the 26 prize finalists, selected from over 1000 entries. 3 winners were awarded a total of £5000 in prizes and the exhibition attracted over 44,000 visitors. READ MORE. The selected artworks defied easy categorisation, dissolved boundaries and had a joyous disregard for the conventions of their chosen materials and disciplines. Several works addressed the parallel between artist and scientist, combined traditional craft with social commentary, displayed skilful material manipulation and a keen visual wit.

Since The John Ruskin Prize launched in 2012, with our partners, The Big Draw has organised 5 national prizes, considered entries from over 4000 artists and makers, awarded £20000 in prizes to 11 winning artists, promoted and displayed the work of 143 shortlisted artists and designers at high profile national museums and galleries attracting a total audience of over 120,000 visitors to John Ruskin Prize shortlist exhibitions and events. The prize continues to grow in reach, reputation and support for artists whose work defies easy categorisation.

CELEBRATING THE BICENTENARY OF JOHN RUSKIN’S BIRTH 1819 | 2019

The Big Draw was proud to be joining with organisations across the world to mark the bicentenary of John Ruskin’s birth in 2019 with a series of special events exploring Ruskin’s radical and increasingly relevant ideas on society, culture, politics, environmental issues and everything in between. A true polymath and social justice pioneer, Ruskin’s legacy was explored through exhibitions, talks, publications, workshops and the national art prize, The John Ruskin Prize.