Art prizes done properly
Parker Harris was founded in 1990 by Emma Parker and Penny Harris. Thirty-five years later, the same team is still doing the work: running prizes, delivering exhibitions, and managing open calls for some of the most respected arts organisations and brands in the country.
If you are an arts organisation, a foundation, a gallery, or a brand with ambitions in the visual arts, we should talk.
How we work
There are no packages here. Every client relationship begins with a conversation about what you actually need, what you have the capacity to deliver, and where the gaps are.
Some clients come to us to run an entire prize from scratch.
Others need press and communications support around a programme they're already delivering.
Some need both. We work out what's right for you, and then we deliver it.
We are a small team, and we work with a manageable number of clients at any one time.
That means the people you speak to at the start are the people doing the work.
Our Services
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Running an open call well is harder than it looks. The entry platform, the communications, the judging process, the selection logistics, the artist notifications: each stage has its own complexity, and errors at any point reflect on the prize. We have managed thousands of submissions across dozens of prizes and have the systems, the contacts, and the experience to run the entire process smoothly.
Whether you are launching a new prize or overseeing an existing one, we build and manage every stage from site building to final selection.
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A prize without press coverage is a missed opportunity. We write and distribute press releases, build media lists, pitch to journalists, and we hold relationships across arts and mainstream press. Recent coverage includes BBC Radio 4's Front Row, the Financial Times, the Guardian, and a wide range of regional and specialist arts titles.
We handle the full press cycle from open call announcement through to shortlist, winner, and exhibition, keeping your prize visible at every stage.
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The exhibition is where a prize becomes tangible - for the artists, the selectors, and the general public.
We can manage every element of the physical show: logistics and installation, private views and prize-giving ceremonies, catalogue production, and touring programmes.
We have delivered exhibitions at the Mall Galleries, Millennium Gallery Sheffield, the Royal Geographical Society, OXO Gallery, and venues across the UK and internationally.
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We manage the marketing strategy of open calls across the full prize cycle, from open call launch through shortlist announcements, exhibition previews, and winner reveals.
Across our accounts, we reach over 45,000 followers on Instagram and 45,000 subscribers via email newsletter.
We write and distribute email marketing campaigns, produce copywriting across all channels, and know what quality content looks like in this space.
Our digital marketing is built to drive entries, grow audiences, and keep your prize front of mind throughout the year.
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Sponsoring an art prize is one of the most effective ways for a brand to build credibility in the cultural sector, but only if the partnership is structured properly.
We work with businesses of all sizes to identify the right programme, develop the sponsorship proposition, manage the negotiation, and deliver the relationship from first conversation to final report.
Current and former partners include ING, EY, Derwent, Brewin Dolphin, Lloyds Private Banking, and Pfizer. We know what makes a sponsorship work for both sides.
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Our relationship with artists does not begin and end with the prizes we run. Through The Art Ladder, our subscription mentoring programme, we support artists at every stage of their careers, with monthly webinars from curators, gallerists, collectors, and critics, regular sessions with the Parker Harris team, and one-to-one mentoring.
We also run ArtOpps, our free platform listing open calls, prizes, and exhibitions for artists across the UK and internationally.
Between ArtOpps and The Art Ladder, we reach and support tens of thousands of working artists around the globe.
Who we work with
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Arts organisations
Museums, galleries, foundations, and trusts come to us when they want to run an open call or prize programme but don't have the internal resource to deliver it properly. We understand the pressures: limited staff, stretched budgets, and the expectation of a professional, well-run programme regardless. We have worked with organisations of every scale — from regional museums launching their first open call to long-running national prizes with thousands of annual entrants. We can manage the entire operation, or work alongside your existing team to fill the gaps. Either way, the standard of delivery is the same.
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Businesses and brands
The relationship between business and the arts, when it works, is genuinely valuable for both sides. We have been building those relationships since 1990, working with businesses ranging from SMEs to multinationals to develop arts programmes that deliver real results — in brand credibility, staff engagement, CSR, and public profile. We identify the right programme, build the structure, manage the delivery, and measure the outcomes. Current and former partners include ING, EY, Derwent, Pfizer, Brewin Dolphin, Lloyds Private Banking, and Clyde & Co. We know what a successful arts partnership looks like, and we know how to build one that lasts.
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Artists
Everything Parker Harris does ultimately connects back to artists. We run the prizes, deliver the exhibitions, and build the platforms — and we want the artists who engage with our programmes to get more than just an entry acknowledgement. ArtOpps, our free listings portal, brings together open calls, prizes, and exhibition opportunities from across the UK and internationally. The Art Ladder, our subscription mentoring programme, gives artists direct access to curators, gallerists, collectors, and critics, as well as to the Parker Harris team themselves. If you are an artist looking for opportunities, or looking for guidance on building a sustainable career, both are there for you.
