The Koestler Trust - Arts By Offenders - Prison Art

News:

Online shop open for business!
We have gone live with our online shop where you can buy some of the best entries from our 2007 Awards. There is a fantastic range on offer, from a unique matchstick backgammon set to an amazing pastel rendition of a grey eagle buzzard. Why not visit the shop to see what’s on offer?

A mountain of art
A big thank you to all of you who have sent in work. We have passed our 5,000 entry target, marking a new record for the Koestler Trust. Judging is currently taking place and the results will be published on this website in July.

New Fundraising Total
We have reached a new fundraising total of: £185, 175 which is absolutely fantastic and many thanks to our generous supporters. However we still have £159, 825 left to raise which is a big target to reach to keep the Koestler Awards going, so if you can help please turn to the ‘Support Us’ section of the website.

…And finally
If you’ve got a few spare minutes and you’re a member of Facebook, how about joining our group ‘‘I’ve heard of the Koestler Trust’’ so we can keep you informed about our annual exhibition and other events.

Prison art and the Koestler Trust

We are the UK’s best-known prison arts charity. We award, exhibit and sell artworks by offenders, detainees and high security patients.

Our aims are:

to help offenders lead more positive lives by motivating them to participate in the creative arts;
to demonstrate the power of arts activity in the criminal justice system.

The Koestler Awards attract around 5,000 entries a year from inmates of prisons, young offender institutions, secure hospitals and immigration removal centres across the UK, as well as offenders supervised by probation and youth offending services.

The entries come in 49 artforms, including

creative writing
film
graphic design
music
needlework
painting and drawing
photography
sculpture
woodcraft

Experts from these fields volunteer their time to judge the entries. Every entrant is sent a participation certificate, most get feedback on their work, and a quarter win cash prizes up to £100. The awards have a profound impact on offenders’ self-esteem, leading them to positive new directions in life.

Our specially trained arts mentors support the most talented Koestler award winners to continue their arts activity after release from custody.

The best entries to our visual arts awards form our annual exhibition – the national showcase of arts in criminal justice. In 2007, the exhibition was “Insider Art” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, generously sponsored by Bloomberg. The curators included Turner Prize-winner Grayson Perry.

Most of the artworks are for sale. At least half of the proceeds go to the offender, with a contribution to Victim Support. We hold occasional public sales at our building at Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London. We will soon be selling artworks and merchandise through this website.

We were founded in 1962 by Arthur Koestler, author of the prison novel Darkness at Noon.

We need to raise £159,825 to meet our running costs in 2008-09. We have no endowment or capital. The Government gives us a grant that covers around a fifth of our costs, but it has an uncertain future. We could not survive without the generous support of businesses, charitable trusts and individual donors. Please support us if you can.

Judge Me Not
Garvey Thompson, HMP Risley
Kalyx Commended Award for Oil Painting, 2007

The Yard 2030
C King, Maghaberry Prison, Northern Ireland
Kalyx Commended Award for Painting 2007