The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize 2017

As part of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of Woman’s Hour, the BBC is delighted to launch The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize 2017, in association with the Crafts Council and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The applications for this Craft Prize have now closed. The 12 finalists was announced during Woman's Hour on Monday 22 May. To listen to all the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize content, including interviews with all the 12 finalists, click here.

Over the past 70 years Woman’s Hour has championed and celebrated both the craft of listeners and of craft practitioners and in that tradition the launch of the prize coincides with the celebrations for the anniversary year.

Woman’s Hour will cover highlights of the crafting calendar, profile the history of the seven craft prize entry categories, interview the finalists, reflect the impact craft can have on health and innovation, and celebrate craft on air through exhibitions, discussions, demonstrations and interviews with practitioners, hoping to inspire our audience to make and create.

The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize 2017 aims to find and celebrate the most innovative and exciting craft practitioner or designer-maker resident in the UK today in the most comprehensive prize of its kind. Applications opened on 1 November, 2016 and are now closed.

The prize will be judged by experts in the craft field, with twelve finalists exhibiting their work at the Victoria and Albert Museum and in a planned touring exhibition of the shortlisted work.

An overall winner will be chosen from the twelve exhibiting finalists and awarded a prize of £10,000 at a ceremony in November 2017. The prize will reward originality and excellence in concept, design and process and will seek to recognise an outstanding craft practitioner or designer-maker with a track record of public display or showcasing of their work, and who has demonstrably contributed to craft practice in the last five years.

• • Applications are now closed for the Woman's Hour Craft Prize 2017

    Read FAQs about the award from the Crafts Council website

  • You can find further information about the terms and conditions and judging process here

  • You can find out more about craft past and present on the Victoria and Albert Museum website

Ceramics

• Alun Graves, Senior Curator, Ceramics and Glass Collection, V&A
• Jenni Lomax, Director, Camden Arts
• Helen Walsh, Curator of Ceramics, York Art Gallery
• Daniella Wells, Events Consultant with craft specialism

Metal

• Catrin Jones, Curator of Decorative Arts, The Holburne Museum
• Simon Fraser, Course Leader, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
• David Mills, Director of Goldsmiths’ Fair
• Oliver Makower, Vice-Principal, Bishopsland Educational Trust

Furniture and Wood

• Grant Gibson, Editor of Crafts magazine
• Corinne Julius, writer and curator
• Martina Margetts, Royal College of Art
• Professor Jeremy Till, Head of Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London

Glass

• Maria Amidu, artist
• Kim Mawhinney, Head of Art, National Museums Northern Ireland
• Sarah Rothwell, Assistant Curator, National Museums Scotland
• Julia Stephenson, Head of Arts, National Glass Centre

Other

• Deirdre Figueiredo MBE, Director, Craftspace
• Philip Hughes MBE, Director, Ruthin Craft Centre
• Polly Macpherson, Associate Professor – Design, Plymouth University, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, School of Art, Design & Architecture
• Annie Warburton, Creative Director, Crafts Council

Jewellery

• Annabelle Campbell, Head of Exhibitions and Collections, Crafts Council
• Alastair Hudson, Director, mima
• Clare Philips, curator, V&A
• Helen Ritchie, The Fitzwilliam Museum

Textiles

• Professor Carole Collet, Design for Sustainable Futures, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
• Professor Lesley Millar MBE, Director of the International Textile Research Centre and Professor of Textile Culture at the University for the Creative Arts
• Professor Carol Tulloch, Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London
• David Weir, Director, Dovecot Studios