Platform Graduate Award 2026 – Announcing the Shortlisted Artists

CVAN South East announces the Platform Graduate Award 2026 exhibitions, celebrating emerging artistic talent and supporting the future visual arts of the region.

Now in the fifteenth year of the scheme, Platform Graduate Award 2026 showcases 26 emerging artists across three locations, with three final awardees due to be announced in October. Selected from 11 universities across the South of England, their work will be featured in a season of exhibitions in Oxford, Plymouth and Portsmouth, many of them reaching a wider public for the first time.

Launched in 2012, the Platform Graduate Award is a unique initiative celebrating emerging artistic talent across the South East and South West regions. The award is designed to support graduate artists at a pivotal stage in their careers. For the 2026 award, CVAN South East is proud to partner with three visual arts venues across the South: Aspex Portsmouth, Modern Art Oxford, and MIRROR/Arts University Plymouth. One awardee from each location will receive a £500 bursary alongside six months of mentoring support, offering valuable guidance as they navigate the early stages of their careers and develop their practices.

For the 2026 award we are proud to partner with three visual arts venues across the South: Aspex Portsmouth, Modern Art Oxford and MIRROR/Arts University Plymouth.

CVAN South East and its partners are excited to announce the graduate artists selected for the first stage of the award. Their exceptional work will be showcased in the three exhibitions.

Images (clockwise from top left): Bohalls, Conor Trapnell, 2026; Der Herr 1, Berenika Weinreb-Osiecka, 2026; Pink Horse, Maisie Rose, 2026; Untitled, Ana Córdoba, 2026; Untitled, Leah Olaleye, 2026.

Aspex Portsmouth 

Preview, Thursday 17 September, 5.30-8pm / free to attend and open to all

Exhibition on display, ‘The Shape of a Spell’: 18 September – 15 November 2026

Selected artists: Katherine Bouleau (UCA Farnham), Ana Carceller Córdoba (UCA Farnham), Sian Chungh (Southampton Solent University), Madeline Drake (Arts University Bournemouth), Lucy Grant (Winchester School of Art), Kai Grizzle (Southampton Solent University), Helena Jane (University of Portsmouth), Maisie Rose (Winchester School of Art), Lauren Rufford (University of Portsmouth), Phillippa Todd (Arts University Bournemouth)

Modern Art Oxford 

Exhibition on display, ‘The Shape of What Remains’: 26 September – 22 November 2026  

Selected artists: Naiya Ellis-Woodward (Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford)​​, Leah Olaleye (University of Reading), Thomas Sebastino (Oxford Brookes University)

LIVE X Platform; with performances by Isabel Ingram (Reading University), Isabella Rolls (Oxford Brookes University) and Bliss Ashley (Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford): 12th November 2026, 6-10pm  

MIRROR (Arts University Plymouth/University of Plymouth & Falmouth University) 

Exhibition was on display: 2-9 July 2026

Selected artists: Ruby Abbott (Falmouth University), Spike Barwis (Arts University Plymouth), Sharon Douglas (Arts University Plymouth), Courtney Edwards (University of Plymouth), James Hampson (University of Plymouth), Debbie Miller (Arts University Plymouth), Vasilia Panteli (Falmouth University), Francesca Pease (Falmouth University), Gail Thomas (Arts University Plymouth), Conor Trapnell (Arts University Plymouth), Magdalena Tudor (Arts University Plymouth), Katie Watkins (University of Plymouth), Berenika Weinreb-Osiecka (University of Plymouth)

For more information about this year’s exhibiting artists click here.