launched a five-year acquisitions programme<\/a>\u00a0to collect works from exciting talent and showcase the best of UK creativity \u2013 promoting further interest in the country\u2019s globally renowned creative sector.<\/p>\nThe Art X-UK project initially ran as a successful pilot scheme in 2020\u201321. Since then,\u00a0more than\u00a0170\u00a0pieces by\u00a080\u00a0contemporary visual artists have been\u00a0acquired\u00a0for the\u00a0Collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The works will be seen by audiences across the UK and around the world, with displays in government buildings across the country and in\u00a0ten\u00a0British embassies and Ambassadors\u2019 residences overseas, including in Washington DC, Ankara,\u00a0Abu Dhabi\u00a0and Paris.<\/p>\n
Grace\u202fClifford,\u00a0Yorkshire\u00a0and the Humber artist said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing my bronze pub stool acquired by the\u00a0Government\u00a0Art\u00a0Collection, a work that I truly don\u2019t think would have been possible for me to actualise if I wasn\u2019t practising in Sheffield, where I have been allowed time and space to develop my technical skills and sculptural practice, fills me with joy and pride.<\/p>\n
It really takes a village to make these things\u00a0happen,\u00a0from the day I began making the moulds to cast the pub stool to being supported into the acquisition. My heart sings and I am so proud to know a bronze pub stool now sits amongst such a significant public collection.<\/p>\n
Issam Kourbaj, East of England artist said:<\/p>\n
Art X-UK has anchored my work within the living fabric of Cambridge and the East of England – a region where histories surface and recede like tides.\u00a0Water Awash\u00a0With\u00a0Memory\u00a0grew from the Mediterranean, a sea shaped by crossings,\u00a0exchanges\u00a0and exiles, yet the painting reaches beyond geography to speak to universal experiences of displacement and resilience. Its fractured colours and collaged book covers – gathered from Cambridge\u2019s own binders and conservationists – form a kind of archive, a palimpsest of stories that resist erasure. Having the work held here feels like a quiet recognition of those layered journeys, and of the fragile traces that bind people and place.<\/p>\n
Kedisha Coakley,\u00a0Yorkshire\u00a0and the Humber artist said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
To have Collection 15 and I AM HERE: Breadfruit II enter the Government Art Collection feels significant because my practice has always been about making visible histories and Black British experiences that I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0see reflected in the collections around me. These sculptures trace the entanglement of colonialism, botany,\u00a0extraction\u00a0and Black identity, so their place within a national collection feels like a meaningful shift in whose histories are held and remembered.<\/p>\n
Sheffield and Yorkshire have been central to my practice, giving me the community,\u00a0space\u00a0and opportunities to develop this work. For me, this acquisition is not simply about recognition; it is about contributing to a fuller, more complex national story.<\/p>\n
Sam\u202fMetz,\u00a0Yorkshire\u00a0and the Humber artist said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
I am surrounded by artists that inspire me in Yorkshire. My work particularly thrived when I was an artist at\u00a0The Art\u00a0House,\u00a0Wakefield,\u00a0supported by Damon Jackson-Waldock,\u00a0I found my work\u00a0became more focussed due to the accessible community the studios offered. I am glad that stimming as creative practice is being recognised in the region and I know this is due to Yorkshire organisations like Unlimited, Yorkshire Visual Art Network and Yorkshire Sculpture International who nourish disabled artists. I am currently based at Feral Arts in\u00a0Hull\u00a0and I continue to find a community of practitioners that elevate drawing.<\/p>\n
Claire Cansick, East of England artist said:<\/p>\n
I am so proud that my work is representing my beloved Norfolk in the Government Art Collection, [as] a\u00a0working-class\u00a0woman, from an outlying coastal town where I attended art college at 18, which gave me a sense of purpose and belonging.<\/p>\n
The geographical position of Norfolk means it can sometimes feel forgotten nationally, although there is a vibrant,\u00a0thriving\u00a0and supportive artist network. My work attempts to draw a thread between my community and the world beyond, reflecting a collective discernment and concern for the natural world. Having this recognised in such a prominent collection means so much.<\/p>\n
Amartey\u00a0Golding,\u00a0East of England artist said:<\/p>\n
At what feels like a pivotal and uncertain moment for the country and its politics, having my work \u2013 and especially Bring Me to Heal \u2013 join the Government Art Collection feels deeply significant. The East of England has profoundly shaped British history,\u00a0from Boudica and Kett\u2019s Rebellion to its strong Quaker traditions and histories of resistance and social reform. These histories resonate deeply with my own practice, and I am proud to be connected to this place.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0enormously grateful to the people at CVAN who put my name and work forward. It means the world.<\/p>\n
Paula Orrell, National Director,\u00a0temContemporary\u00a0Visual Arts Network\u00a0(CVAN\u00a0England)\u00a0said:<\/p>\n
These artists\u00a0represent\u00a0the depth,\u00a0ambition\u00a0and diversity of contemporary practice across Yorkshire & Humber and the East of England. Our partnership with the Government Art Collection\u00a0demonstrates\u00a0the importance of working with regional visual arts networks to ensure the UK\u2019s national collection reflects the richness of artistic practice across the whole of England.<\/p>\n
As devolution reshapes how culture is recognised and invested in, programmes like Art X-UK highlight the critical role of regional\u00a0expertise\u00a0in\u00a0identifying\u00a0talent, strengthening local creative\u00a0ecosystems\u00a0and connecting place-based cultural identity with national and international audiences.<\/p>\n
By acquiring and displaying these works around the world, the Government Art Collection is not only investing in exceptional\u00a0artists but\u00a0also\u00a0recognising the vital contribution that regional visual arts ecologies make to England\u2019s cultural life and international reputation.<\/p>\n
Sharon Gill, CEO, Yorkshire and Humber Visual Art Network (YVAN), said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
It has been a real privilege to work with colleagues across the Yorkshire region to discuss and share our knowledge and joy in the creativity, and for the opportunity to support artists to be collected and celebrated for and by the nation. The hardest part was limiting the number of nominations, because the validation and\u00a0subsequent\u00a0confidence in your own practice such an honour brings cannot be underestimated.<\/p>\n
Rosie Cooper, Director,\u00a0Wysing\u00a0Arts Centre and Chair, CVAN East, said:<\/p>\n
I see the Government Art Collection as part of the UK\u2019s cultural memory bank: each work is a portal into\u00a0a different perspective, experience,\u00a0place\u00a0and time.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0been a pleasure to work with brilliant artists,\u00a0curators\u00a0and directors across our very dispersed Eastern region, to help the\u00a0Collection reveal more fully the richness,\u00a0complexity\u00a0and creativity of life in the places and communities\u00a0it\u00a0seeks\u00a0to\u00a0represent.<\/p>\n
Notes to editors<\/p>\n
As part of the first year of this project, the GAC\u00a0acquired\u00a0over 30 new pieces of artwork from Wales and the Midlands. In 2023\u201324, the GAC\u00a0acquired\u00a0more than 20 new artworks from Scotland and the\u00a0North East. Last year, nine works were\u00a0acquired\u00a0from Northern Ireland and the\u00a0North West.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2025\u201326, GAC worked in partnership with YVAN (Yorkshire and Humber Visual Art Network) and CVAN East (Contemporary Visual Arts Network \u2013 East of England). Each network\u00a0convened\u00a0a panel of artists and curators who proposed a shortlist of artists from the region for the GAC team to research.\u00a0Artists whose work was\u00a0acquired\u00a0are:<\/p>\n
Yorkshire and the Humber \u00a0<\/p>\n
Kedisha Coakley
\n Karanjit Panesar
\n Grace Clifford
\n Sam Metz<\/p>\n
East of England\u00a0<\/p>\n
Issam\u00a0Kourbaj
\n Sikelela Owen
\n Amartey Golding
\n Claire\u00a0Cansick<\/p>\n
ART X-UK acquisitions programme 2022\u201327:<\/p>\n
2022\/23 – Wales, East\u00a0Midlands\u00a0and West Midlands
\n 2023\/24 – Scotland,\u00a0North East
\n 2024\/25 – Northern Ireland,\u00a0North West
\n 2025\/26 – Yorkshire and the Humber and the East of England
\n 2026\/27 –\u00a0South East,\u00a0South West<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Works to be displayed in British embassies worldwide, from Washington to Abu Dhabi. Acquisitions are part of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-767386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}