Helping artists develop and thrive
About Us
ABF has been supporting artists for over 200 years. Our vision is to provide wide-ranging support for artists in need to overcome a range of economic, social, cultural and mental health challenges which act as barriers to their ability to establish sustainable careers as artists. We believe that difference and/or disadvantage of any form should never act as a barrier to creative expression. Today, we enable emerging artists to launch, develop and sustain a professional career working in partnership with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
In 2018 we established our ‘Step Change Programme’ in order to achieve this. The programme provided funding for artists who wished to make a change or investment in their practice, but whose circumstances prevented this from happening.
In 2024 we launched the prestigious ABF Breakthrough Artist Fellowship Find out more.
"This time has been invaluable and enabled me to make clear decisions on my practice and future career as an artist"
Hannah Sarah Day, 2021/22 Fellow
2022/23 Fellows
There is no one in (2023) Katie Sarah Carr
Photo: Katie Sarah Carr
Katie Sarah Carr
UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND
“I am an artist and writer whose practice is focused on the subject of narrative.
“By creating semi-fictitious scenarios of family events and relationships, drawn from personal found photography, I offer situations for the viewer to interpret, evoking moments of memory, nostalgia, and loneliness.
“The work here ultimately explores the complexities and compositions of familial relationships. I intend for the viewer to try and dismantle the constructed imagery and poems to find the narrative or feeling I wish to transmit, as well as bring their own knowledge to the work.
“I believe this to echo the nature of life itself: that it is difficult to separate ourselves from our histories as human beings.”
Self portrait 2 (2023) Adam Charlton
Materials: Oil on canvas
Photo: Adam Charlton
Adam Charlton
SWANSEA COLLEGE OF ART
“‘What should I love if not the enigma?’ wrote Chirico, beside his 1911 self-portrait.
“‘What should I paint if not the enigma?’ Philip Guston misquoted.
“‘The way of life is transformation, not exclusion.’ Jung wrote, in The Red Book. Painting is a way of self-realisation and self-knowledge. This is how I thought of it for much of 2022. But I discovered that I was not really learning much of value through painting “automatically” and “intuitively”.
“‘What you start with is a kind of itch, a desire,’ Guston said in conversation with Clark Coolidge in 1972. There was a point in the fellowship that I realised I had this massive itch- an enigma that I wanted to paint. And it had nothing to do with me.
“So now, throughout my fellowship, I have learned to paint invisible objects- by seeing the enigma.”
Would I be cordial (2023) & ATPs (2023) Erin Donnelly
Materials: Artist book & aluminium, UV print
Photo: Elena Grace
Erin Donnelly
CARDIFF SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
“I make sculptural work that is often embedded with personal associations and memories of childhood. The ABF has allowed me to push my practice forward, upskill and advance how I explore materials in my work.
“The fellowship culminated in a solo show in which I created large-scale aluminium sculptures inspired by the anti-trespass structures usually found on train platforms. They blocked off one of the rooms in the gallery, an intervention in the space which imposed distance and shifted the way in which the work was viewed.
“The hostile design was paired with domestic imagery of the same room presented from two different viewpoints to explore the idea of exposure from opposing vantage points - being watched and watching, ideas of perceived danger and being on view in a domestic or otherwise personal space.”
Dimensions Variable (Purple and Mustard Chiffon), Casey Lauren Edwards
Materials: Pine stretcher, emulsion paint and chiffon
Photo: Casey Lauren Edwards
Casey Lauren Edwards
LIVERPOOL HOPE UNIVERSITY
“Rejecting pictorial illusion and utilising the structural aspects of painting, I seek to present painting as a physical object that occupies a space instead of acting as a window to a fictional realm.
“My practice unveils the underlying framework that is traditionally concealed by employing chiffon (semi-transparent fabric) instead of traditional canvas so that the stretcher can transcend its functional role as mere support and merge seamlessly with the overall composition.
“With each painting's ability to be displayed in a variety of ways, it allows me to break free from the limitations of traditional painting and propose painting as something immersive as opposed to static.”
A Portrait of Transnormative Design No. 4 (2023) Jo Flint
Materials: Digital photography printed on canvas, 830 x 590mm
Photo: Jo Flint
Jo Flint
LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
“The ABF Fellowship allowed me the time and financial liberty to further develop and theorise my practical and contextual inquisition into Queer Theory. During the yearlong funded scheme, I expanded my field of Photography & Videography through the considerations of narrative art principles.
“Moreover, I was able to utilise Loughborough University’s ceramics facilities to further develop my interests in clay-making principles such as clay lamination and multimedia composition. Outside of the practical remits, I was afforded the opportunity to access the library and academic environments in which I refined my theoretical and methodological inquisition into Fine Art and Sociological theorems.
“The ABF Fellowship has not only granted me the time to flourish as an artist but to also grow my network within the Fine Art and academic field. The benefits awarded to me from the privilege of undertaking the Fellowship will be everlasting as I continue my career as an artist.”
Supporting artists for over 200 years.
Help us continue this legacy.
Whether it’s corporate partnerships or a legacy donation, your contribution can help change artists’ lives. Find out more.
RECEIVing FUNDING
The ABF no longer supports artists directly. We now work with Higher Education Institutions to distribute artist funds to selected emerging students. Find out more.