Congratulations to Abby Prior (Class of 2020) for having been shortlisted in the New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize.

Abby was one of 24 creatives shortlisted by New Blood Art, from around 100 nominations made by Universities and Colleges nationwide, in recognising talent across all Art courses, at both undergraduate and post graduate level.

New Blood Art has been working with fledgling artists and universities for over 20 years and in 2023 launched the Emerging Art Prize. The Prize aims to address the gap that lies in the lack of support for creative individuals to develop the entrepreneurial and commercial skills needed to sustain their careers, by combining expertise from the fields of entrepreneurship, education, creative mentoring and the commercial art market.

After Trent College, Abby completed a Foundation Degree in Fine Art at Loughborough University before moving on to Leeds to study Fine Art, receiving a 1st Class Honours Degree in 2024. It’s a significant achievement for Abby who is the only one of five students nominated by Leeds Art University to have been shortlisted.

Abby: “It was great to be nominated by the university, out of my whole year group, then to find out I had been shortlisted was really exciting!”

“My time at Trent was fantastic. The Art Department was so supportive and the opportunities we had at both GCSE and A-level allowed me to grow as an artist whilst still loving the process of creating Art - something I’ve managed to sustain.”

“I’m not exactly sure what the future holds, but I’m enjoying being able to keep painting and this nomination has given me further encouragement to do so.”

Abby’s artwork, ‘The Systems Within’, is amongst the work that earned her the Emerging Art Prize nomination. Abby explains: “The System Within paintings are my final degree exhibition piece, which represent and visualise unseen technology systems.”

New Blood Art: “Through her exploration of The Systems Within, Prior visualises the unseen networks that shape our lives, presenting patterns and structures that invite viewers to reflect on their relationship to technology.”

New Blood Art | Abby Prior