The Platform Graduate Award
The Platform Graduate Award is an initiative to support emerging graduate artistic talent to further their practice following graduation. Established in 2012, the award includes a £2,000 bursary and 12 months of mentoring support, and is awarded to an outstanding graduate from one of seventeen participating regional higher education partners.
The initiative is led by CVAN South East (Contemporary Visual Arts Network South East) and is currently a partnership between four galleries: Aspex in Portsmouth, MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, Modern Art Oxford and Turner Contemporary in Margate. Following an exhibition and events programme across the participating galleries, an artist from each gallery is nominated for the award.
Platform focuses on artists in the first year after graduation; a critical time when the loss of the university support structure and financial pressures can test an artist’s dedication to their practice. For the participating galleries, this is a way to keep in touch with the most promising emerging practice, and with higher education institutions. More broadly, the scheme aims to stimulate artist networks outside of London and encourage artists to stay in the South East region.
