There is a huge range of fine art being produced in criminal justice and secure settings around the UK. Engaging with fine art is often one of the first steps into education for many people in secure settings.
Many entrants to the Koestler Awards make work for their friends or families. Portraits, in particular, are given as gifts or commissioned from photographs. Others make artwork for qualifications or college portfolios, or simply for the joy of experimenting with materials and ideas.
Some work is made using materials in prison art departments, but people in secure settings can also purchase their own materials or experiment with every day or recycled materials (such as bread, soap and papier-mâché).
Each year the Koestler Awards generate one of the most eclectic and unusual collections of fine art in the UK. Koestler Awards visual art categories include painting; watercolour and gouache; drawing; pastel; mixed media; portrait; sculpture; digital art; graphic novel; mural and wall hanging; printmaking; photography; ceramics; and textile art.
First Date
The Spinney (secure mental health unit)
Elysium Healthcare Highly Commended Award for Painting
2024
The Last Ever Piece of Mahogany
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany)
Bronze Award for Sculpture
2024
Bandit
HM Prison Warren Hill
Outstanding Debut Award for Painting
2024
Firefly Cave
Caswell Clinic (secure mental health unit)
Dennis Evans Highly Commended Award for Painting
2024
Unnecessary Necessity, Death of a River
HM Prison Onley
Erwin James Highly Commended Award for Painting
2024
Lionel
Southampton Probation Service
Roger Graef Highly Commended Award for Photography
2024
Little Mushroom
Atkinson Secure Unit (secure children’s home)
Fast Feedback Commended Award and Wilmot & Cane Under 25s Special Award for Ceramics
2024
Puffins
Northgate Hospital
Commended Award for Painting
2024
Undersea World
HM Prison Dovegate
Daisy Jellicoe Outstanding Debut Award for Perseverance in Ceramics
2024
Blue Tits
HM Prison Gartree
Anne Owers Bronze Award for Sculpture
2024
Puppy
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution New Hall
Sean Tighe Memorial Commended Award for Drawing
2024
Aubergine
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood
Fast Feedback Highly Commended Award for Painting
2024
Umbrella of Diversity
HM Prison Bronzefield
Sodexo Justice Services Platinum Award for Pastel
2023
I’ve Quit for Good!!!
HM Prison Dovegate
Highly Commended Award for Ceramics
2023
Life in a Box
HM Prison Lancaster Farms
Gold Award for Sculpture
2023
Feel My Pain
HM Prison Highpoint
Bronze Award for Printmaking
2023
Me and Dad
HM Prison Glenochil
Platinum Award for Printmaking
2023
The Woolwich Soldiers
Greenwich Youth Offending Service
Margaret Macdonald Under 25s Special Award and Fast Feedback 18 and Under Special Award for Photography
2023
Bouquet
HM Prison Dovegate
Outstanding Debut Award for Watercolour and Gouache
2023
Break the Chain
HM Prison Dovegate
TVMole Commended Award for Ceramics
2023
HM Queen and Big Ben
HM Prison Elmley (Sheppey Cluster)
Gold Award for Portrait
2023
Mystic Meadows
Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly Youth Offending Service
Outstanding Debut Award and Fast Feedback Highly Commended Award for Painting
2023
Modern Problems
HM Prison Rye Hill
Bronze Award for Graphic Novel
2023
Year of the Rabbit
Austen House (secure mental health unit)
Si Pickard Under 25s Special Award and Fast Feedback Highly Commended Award for Sculpture
2023
Seasonal Bliss
HMP Edinburgh
Platinum award for Textile Art
2022
Teardrops Woven with Memories
HM Prison Edinburgh
Commended Award for Textile Art
2022
Scrap Metal Recycled!
HM Prison Warren Hill
Commended Award for Sculpture
2022
Radiation Nation
Bournemouth Probation Service
Gold Award for Graphic Novel
2022
Opposites
West Berkshire Youth Offending Team
Highly Commended Award and Fast Feedback Award for Photography
2022
Landscape Oil Pastels
HMP Oakwood
Highly Commended Award for Pastel
2022
Exotic Taste and View
HM Prison Full Sutton
Bronze Award for Mixed Media
2022
Currant (Affair)
HM Prison Perth
Commended Award for Drawing
2022
City That Never Sleeps
St Andrew’s Healthcare Northampton
Commended Award for Digital Art
2022
Candyfloss Sky
HM Young Offender Centre Hydebank Wood
Painting
2022
A Child’s View to Spaghetti
HM Prison Greenock
Commended Award for Mixed Media
2022
Progression
HM Prison Glenochil
Platinum Award for Printmaking
2022
Manchester
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Styal
Sir Hugh Casson Gold Award for Drawing
2022
Baby Blue
Atkinson Secure Unit
Adam Under 25’s Special Award and Under 18’s Highly Commended Award for Painting
2022
Almost Perfect
HM Prison Dovegate
Silver Award for Ceramics
2022
A Taste of Freedom
HM Prison Edinburgh
Reg Gadney Bronze Award for Portrait
2022
Walk Away
Fieldhead Hospital, Newhaven
Commended Award for Painting
2021
Together and Diverse the Better
HM Prison Full Sutton
Unilink Gold Award for Mixed Media
2021
Unknown 3
Guernsey Prison
Keith Bromley Platinum Award for Photography
2021
Stepping Out
HM Prison Peterborough
Sodexo Justice Services Commended Award for Sculpture
2021
Tap Dancer
HM Prison Low Moss
Silver Award for Mural and Wall Hanging
2021
Portals
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc
Stockwell Bronze Award for Ceramics
2021
Still Life
Arbury Court
Silver Award for Pastel
2021
Soulless Windows
HM Prison Shotts
Bronze Award for Painting
2021
Snuffle Mat Project
HM Young Offender Institution Feltham
Bowman Smart Bronze Award for Textile Art
2021
Poultry In Motion
Koestler Arts Mentoring Scheme
Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Platinum Award for Portrait
2021
Lunch with Marcus
HM Prison Long Lartin
Baseroom First-Time Entrant Award for Portrait
2021
Pink Sunrise
HM Prison Holme House
Commended Award for Painting
2021
Mini Officer
HM Prison Bristol
Highly Commended Award for Sculpture
2021
Girl
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc
Commended Award for Drawing
2021
George Floyd
HM Young Offender Institution Wetherby
Arts Society Hull and East Riding First-Time Entrant Award for Graphic Novel
2021
Framed No. 2
Arbury Court
Bronze Award for Printmaking
2021
Family Outing – Everlasting Memories
HM Prison Buckley Hall
Commended Award for Sculpture
2021
Dirty Old Town
HM Prison Edinburgh
Commended Award for Drawing
2021
Chasing Pokémon
HM Prison Barlinnie
Platinum Award for Digital Art
2021
2 for the Price of One
Cheshire and Greater Manchester CRC – Cheshire West
Bronze Award for Watercolour and Gouache
2021
Woman in Armchair 3/20
HM Prison The Verne
Clara Alman Platinum Award for Watercolour and Gouache
2020
Window of Opportunity
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc
Space Station Sixty-Five Platinum Award for Ceramics
2020
Window Into Jail Life
HM Prison Send
David Wentworth Platinum Award for Mixed Media
2020
Umbrella of Hope
HM Prison Full Sutton
Commended Award for Painting
2020
Takeaway
The State Hospital
Dalrymple Silver Award for Ceramics
2020
Soul
HM Prison Dartmoor
Silver Award for Portrait
2020
Self-portrait of a puffin
HM Prison Buckley Hall
Carmina Commended Award for Sculpture
2020
Resolution
HM Prison Bure
Gold Award for Graphic Novel
2020
(extract)
Regents Park
HM Prison Forest Bank
Sodexo Justice Services Platinum Award for Drawing, 2020
Mosaic
HM Prison & Young Offenders Institution Swinfen Hall
Under 25s Special Award for Mixed Media
2020
Parrot
HM Prison Send
Highly Commended Award for Pastel
2020
Out in the Wild
Langley Green Hospital
Keith Bromley First-Time Entrant Award for Photography
2020
Moments in Time
Clayfields House Secure Unit
Gold Award for Mixed Media
2020
Hope
HM Prison Albany
Hilda May Bronze Award for Drawing
2020
Help
HM Prison Full Sutton
Highly Commended Award for Painting
2020
Helping Granda
HM Prison Dumfries
Bronze Award for Drawing
2020
Gone Fishing
HM Prison Humber
Bronze Award for Mixed Media
2020
Golden Warrior
HM Prison Parc
Si Pickard Commended Award for Ceramics
2020
Fruit on a Striped Cloth
HM Prison Glenochil
Lucie Wallace First-Time Entrant Award for Pastel
2020
Diamond in the Sky
St Andrew’s Healthcare Northampton
Platinum Award for Photography
2020
Crocodile BBQ
HM Prison Warren Hill
Platinum Award for Sculpture
2020
Colourful Past
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc
Christine Wong JP’s One to Watch Gold Award for Watercolour and Gouache
2020
Bristol by Night
HM Prison Bristol
Gold Award for Painting
2020
Behind Every Window there is a Story
HM Prison Ashfield
Bronze Award for Drawing
2020
Beach Comber
HM Prison Usk
Knox Cropper Silver Award for Painting
2020
Banana Split
Brockfield House
Silver Award for Drawing
2020
Bad Time-in 2
HM Prison Glenochil
Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Platinum Award for Portrait
2020
Apple for Eve!
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood
Platinum Award for Painting
2020
All Stand Together
HM Prison Send
Transformation Commended Award for Sculpture
2020
After Mum/After Chagall
Arbury Court
Gold Award for painting
2020
African Woman with Child
HM Prison Risley
Gold Award for Portait
2020
3 Sisters Cubed
HM Prison Wayland
Ariane Bankes Platinum Award for Painting
2020
Umbrellas
Ann House
Roger Graef Highly Commended Award for Photography
2019
The One That Got Away
HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont
First-Time Entrant Award for Printmaking
2019
The Misadventures of Woody (3D)
HM Prison The Mount
Gold Award for Graphic Novel
2019
The Gap Between Our Plates
HM Prison Grendon
Bronze Award for Mixed Media
2019
Sandy Path
HM Prison Wakefield
Gavin Graham Bronze Award for Pastel
2019
Revolving Story of a Prisoner’s Life
HM Prison Dartmoor
Gold Award for Sculpture
2019
Old Men in Prison 1, 2, 3, 4.
HM Prison Littlehey
Bronze Award for Painting
2019
My Sister
HM Prison Dumfries
Pat & Bill Gordon Silver Award for Ceramics
2019
Interlude of an Era
HM Prison Dovegate
Gold Award for Ceramics
2019
Dave
HM Prison Woodhill
Bella The Labrador Bronze Award for Sculpture
2019
City Scape of Poland
HM Young Offenders Institution Swinfen Hall
Hope Under 25s Special Award for Mixed Media
2019
A Moment in Time
HM Prison & Young Offenders Institution Low Newton
First-Time Entrant Award for Watercolour and Gouache
2019
Trapped
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc
Gold Award for Ceramics
2018
Two Dogs
River House Medium Secure Unit (secure mental health unit)
Gold Award for Painting
2018
They May Have My Body But… They Will Never Have My Mind
Stirling Council Criminal Justice Social Work Service, John Crockett Highly Commended Award for Painting
2018
Sand Dunes
River House Medium Secure Unit (secure mental health unit)
Highly Commended Award for Painting
2018
Rab-Donk-Cat-Dog
HM Prison Lowdham Grange
Bronze Award for Sculpture
2018
Morning Dew
HM Prison Glenochil
Silver Award for Painting
2018
Lost in Space
HM Prison Wakefield
First-Time Entrant Award for Mixed Media
2018
Little Big Men
HM Prison Leeds
Iredale First-Time Entrant Award for Painting
2018
Circling
HM Prison Lowdham Grange
Bronze Award for Drawing
2018
Breakfast Plate
Northgate Hospital
Silver Award for Ceramics
2018
Bird
Broadland Clinic (secure mental health unit)
Platinum Award for Drawing
2018
Biff and Boff
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc
Gold Award for Ceramics
2018
Always on My Mind
HM Prison Full Sutton
Good-Sothinathan Commended Award for Portrait
2018
Air Punch
HM Prison Maidstone
Platinum Award for Sculpture
2018
Yellow Man
Fromeside Clinic
Platinum Award for Sculpture
2017
Pop Arty Brush Stroke
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Stoke Heath
Long Family Commended Award for Painting
2017
New York Jungle
Northgate Hospital
Criminal Bar Association Platinum Award for Painting
2017
Look Through My Window
HM Prison Glenochil
Patrick Holmes Platinum Award for Watercolour and Gouache
2017
Inside
HM Prison Stafford
Commended Award for Painting
2017
Girl, Fox and Duck
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood
G & J Charitable Trust Under 18s Special Award
2017
Elizabeth
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood
Lord Ramsbotham Under 18s Special Award for Mixed Media
2017
Don’t Look Back in Anger
HM Prison Peterborough
Gold Award for Mixed Media
2017
Dogs Life Inside
HM Prison Dovegate
Grayson Perry Highly Commended Award for Ceramics
2017
Time
HM Prison Littlehey
Drawing
2016
Them On That
HM Prison Dovegate
Lamb Building Chambers Commended Award
2016
Pingu
HM Prison Dovegate
First-Time Entrant Award for Ceramics
2016
Life Drawing
HMPYOI Styal
Maggi Hambling Commended Award for Mixed Media
2016
North Sea Camp Visitors Centre
HM Prison North Sea Camp
Evelyn Plesch Platinum Award for Painting
2015
Explore more artforms
Take a closer look at the work of Koestler Awards entrants in the online galleries.
Click here