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oil, marker pen and spray paint on canvas

© France-Lise McGurn. Photo credit: Eva Herzog

The Impact of your Support

Through your support, we have been able to donate over 10,500 works of fine art and craft to public collections.  As a result, 90% of Museum Members responded to our annual survey saying it was their foremost priority to make their collection more representative of a diverse audience.

I support the Contemporary Art Society because this is an arts organisation for the whole of the UK. It is not just centred on one city.

Tim Franks - Trustee

Supporting Emerging and Established Artists

mixed media

Omega Fund

The principal aim of our Omega Fund is to purchase the work of artists who show much promise, are exhibiting widely but may still be at an early stage in their career.

Donated to Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. © Carlos Bunga. Photo credit: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.

mixed media steel structure, 5 mirrors, carousel slide projector, 73 slides

Collections Fund at Frieze

The Collections Fund at Frieze is a purchase prize, designed to acquire major work by living artists, addressing some of the most pressing issues of the day.

Donated to Towner Eastbourne. © Dineo Bopape. Photo credit: Towner

16mm colour film

Great Works

Great Works aims to address the absence in regional museums and galleries across the UK of works by British artists who have established international reputations over the last 20 years.

Donated to Wolverhampton Art Gallery. © Steve McQueen. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and Marian Goodman Gallery

British gypsum plaster, polystyrene, water, glue, copper leaf, steel, vinegar, fertiliser, salt

Partnership with Henry Moore Foundation

The Contemporary Art Society and Henry Moore Foundation have formed a partnership, generously supported by Cathy Wills, to donate contemporary sculpture to museums in the UK.

Donated to Leeds Art Gallery. © Emii Alrai. Photo credit: Matt Denham

I feel immensely supported and encouraged knowing the work has found the best possible home, local to where I live, in a gallery whose collection has shaped my thinking and encourage my making.

Jade Montserrat - Artist

Supporting Representation across Intersections of Identity

oil on linen

Valeria Napoleone XX Contemporary Art Society

An Acquisitions scheme focused on gender inequality in the arts.

Donated to Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photo courtesy the artist and Mary Mary, Glasgow.

Britannia silver and oxidised copper

Griffin Award

The Griffin Award is designed to support the acquisition or commission of an important work in a craft medium.

Donated to Graves Gallery. © Francisca Onumah. Photo credit: Jerry Lampson

photocopy monoprint on sugar paper, with paper collage elements

Ada Award

The Ada Award is designed to support the purchase of significant works by mid-career women artists in the UK.

Donated to Tate, London, Liverpool and St Ives. © Rita Keegan, Photo credit: Andy Stagg.

installation of a display case containing a taxidermy goldfinch and a porcelain hand

Partnership with the National Gallery Artist in Residence Programme

The programme comprises a partnership with the Contemporary Art Society and the designation of the National Gallery Artist in Residence, a twelve-month appointment in collaboration with a non-London museum member.

Donated The Herbert, Coventry. © Ali Cherri. Photo credit: The National Gallery, London

I love that the Contemporary Art Society is on the cutting edge of what the best artists of our time are making in this moment.

Emma Goltz - Trustee

Individual Membership

Joining the Contemporary Art Society as a Patron enables significant works of contemporary art to enter public collections across the country where they are enjoyed by millions.

Close to the leadership of the Contemporary Art Society, our Patrons enjoy informed and inspirational involvement with contemporary art and collecting. They receive a range of bespoke benefits including exclusive access to contemporary artists, curators and collections in the UK and internationally.

Support

thrown porcelain