Following the Platform Graduate Award 2025 exhibition in our Project Space this August, we are thrilled to announce that the selected artist  for the award is Ailbhe Callanan

Ailbhe will join three other artists selected from the PGA 25 exhibitions at Modern Art Oxford, Aspex in Portsmouth and Mirror Gallery in Plymouth to form a cohort receiving a cash award and a series of mentoring opportunities over the coming months

Ailbhe says –

It is a huge honour to be selected as the winner of the Platform Graduate Award, particularly considering the incredibly high standard of work by the other nominees. This award will allow me to invest in important materials and equipment that I have lost access to having finished my degree, and will also offer the opportunity for professional development and guidance. It will allow me to maintain the momentum I have built up within my practice over the past three years which feels like a massive privilege at this early stage of my career. Thank you to CVAN South East and Phoenix Art Space for this fantastic opportunity.

Laurence Hill, Curator at Phoenix Art Space says –

This is my first year being involved in the Platform Graduate Award and both the original selection for exhibition here and the selection of Ailbhe as the winner have been tough – the standard has been so high. Both myself and Lucy Day, Executive Director at Phoenix Art Space, are really happy to be able to offer this opportunity to Ailbhe and we look forward to following her progress through the next stages and seeing her already outstanding work develop further.

Across the board it has been a real pleasure to work with all of the artists involved and to curate such great work. I wish them all well as they move forward in their careers.

Thanks to CVANSE whose initiative this is and to our supporting education organisations the University of Brighton and East Sussex College