Mercers’ Arts Award

Eligibility

To be eligible, students must be currently enrolled on any of the full-time 15 months postgraduate courses below starting in September 2024 and finishing in December 2025:

• MA Fine Art course at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
• MA Textiles course at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
• MA Illustration course at Camberwell College of Arts, UAL
• MA Fine Art: Computational Arts/Drawing/Painting/Photography/ Printmaking/Sculpture course at Camberwell College of Arts, UAL.

About

The Mercers’ Arts Awards are generously supported by The Mercers’ Company and can be used for any expenditure the recipient encounters whilst establishing their career. The award is to assist with the costs associated to become a professional within the successful graduates’ field of creative practice.

These might include:

• studio rental
• tools of the trade purchases
• further tuition and training fees
• living costs.

In 2025 one award of £10,000 will be available to a postgraduate student at Camberwell College of Arts and another award of £10,000 will be available to a postgraduate student at Chelsea College of Arts.

The scholarships will be assessed based on financial need. It will provide a contribution towards expenditure within the first year of the recipients’ career to bridge the gap between academic study and professional careers. This could include studio rental, tools of the trade purchases, living costs or further tuition and training fees.

Applications are welcome from those who are in financial hardship and those who will benefit from postgraduate studies to realise their full potential. Hardship will be assessed based on student circumstances to include household income below £55,000 per annum, caring responsibilities, care leavers, disability or medical conditions impacting on paid employment, family estrangement and significant debt.

Receiving payment

The scholarship will provide a contribution towards the costs of materials and/or studio space to bridge the gap between academic study and professional careers.

Successful award recipients must agree to acknowledge the grant in connection with any publicity or core material (in print or online) about the work supported using the following minimum wording:

• Supported by the Mercers' Charitable Foundation
• Funded with the support of the Mercers' Charitable Foundation

Payment will be in 1 instalment in December 2025 just as the award recipients finish their courses.