Holt Festival is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 art prizes.
28 July 2022
It has been a joy to see this year's Holt Festival thrive in spite of the difficulties faced in previous years, with a lineup of captivating speakers and events, and the highly regarded art prizes attracting some exceptional talent. Many congratulations to the winners and to all the artists that entered the competitions. The judges were hugely impressed by the very high standard of the entries.
The art prize shortlist exhibitions were held at Adrian Hill Fine Art in Lees Yard in Holt (to view all shortlisted entries, please click here) and it was an honour to have our very own Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, Amy Scanlon, at the festival this weekend to announce the winners of the Sworders Prizes for Emerging Artist and Young Artist. The prizes for which were £750 and a commission-free exhibition at The Gallery, Holt, and £500 respectively.
THE WINNERS
Sworders Emerging Artist - Winner
Mary Whitlock Time to Party

Oil on canvas, 40 x 30cm
Black floating frame 3cm wide
"Time to party after two years of lockdowns."
£550
Sworders Young Artist - Winner
Izzy Wright No Means No

Tonal pencils, acrylic paint, 30 x 100cm
Unframed
"This is a tonal piece I created for my school project which was based on ‘how can art be used to address social issues’. The piece visualises the emotional pain of sexual assault and how it can happen to any woman of any shape or size. The style was inspired by the artist Barbara Kruger but all photos/concepts used are my own."
£350
The festival continues through to this Saturday 30 July and tickets are still available for many of the main events. Please visit www.holtfestival.org for more information.
We are delighted to be offering a collection of Roberto Rigon's stylised animal works in our first Design auction of 2026, which takes place on Tuesday 27 January.
24 November 2025
Sworders are delighted to present the David Rapley Collection – a lifelong assemblage of fine silver, gold, and decorative arts.
At a recent valuation day in our Stansted Mountfitchet salerooms, two ceramics were brought in that made our specialists sit up and take interest.
24 November 2025