Art Sale 2008

29 Oct - 2 November
Weds - Fri 11 am - 7 pm
Sat - Sun 12 noon - 4 pm

Koestler Arts Centre
168a Du Cane Road
London W12 0TX
(East Acton tube station)

Admission free.

Explore three floors of artworks at our building next to Wormwood Scrubs Prison. There will be thousands of works for sale in dozens of different artforms, with prices starting at £10. More details on this site soon!

We also have stunning artworks for sale now through our on-line shop.

Art Sale 2007

In September 2007, we held a selling exhibition of nearly 2,000 offenders' artworks at the Koestler Arts Centre at Wormwood Scrubs. For images of the exhibition and some of the artworks, click on the thumbnails below.

Thumbnail panels:

Koestler cards and gifts

We have a brand new range of merchandise reproducing artworks by offenders. Every purchase helps support the Trust.

Please click here for the order form for our Christmas cards. There are 5 designs in packs of 5 cards for £4.95 per pack - or £4.50 if you buy 5 packs or more.

Also available are:-

Postcards 70p each
Variety pack of 8 postcards £4.50
Koestler Trust mug with colour finger-prints £7.95
Koestler Awards 2007 fold-out brochure/wall-chart in plastic pocket £2.50
“Insider Art” exhibition poster A3 size £1.95
Badges - 4 per pack with slogans “Lifer”, “Screw”, “Guv’nor”, “Lag” or “On parole”, “On remand”, “On the wing”, “On the run”. £2.95
Darkness at Noon and various other paperbacks by Arthur Koestler.

The complete range is on sale at the Koestler Arts Centre or can be ordered on 020 8740 0333 or info@koestlertrust.org.uk

Cheques are payable to Koestler Sales.

Gifts and cards will soon be available through our on-line shop.

About Koestler sales

Entrants for the Koestler Awards choose whether or not they wish their work to be sold. If they opt not to sell (usually because they have already sold the piece or want it for a family member), we return the work to them after judging and exhibition. In 2008, all items will be returned by Christmas.

About three quarters of entrants opt to sell their work. Of the proceeds from sales:-

10% is donated to Victim Support, the national charity for people affected by crime;
half goes to the artist (in prisons, this is paid into the "private cash" held for each prisoner by the governor);
the remainder provides crucial income for the Koestler Trust.

Sales are an important part of the Koestler Trust’s work because they:

are an extra incentive for offenders to participate in the arts;
prove to offenders that their positive achievements are worth their while;
help offenders focus on the audience for their work – they learn marketable skills;
bring modest but very valuable extra income to individuals in prisons and in other tough social contexts;
bring offenders’ artworks to the attention of the wider public – and into people’s homes;
make a contribution to support for victims of crime;
sustain the work of the Koestler Trust.

Some Special Hospitals have a no sales policy, but nearly all prisons are pleased for their inmates’ work to be sold. People sometimes question whether offenders should be allowed to profit in this way. If we felt that an individual was looking to make excessive sums through Koestler sales, we would discuss this with the prison authorities, but this situation has not yet arisen. We find instead that most offenders are modest in their expectations and that growing numbers of them donate their artworks to us as a charity.