Kat Au (Senior Curator, Bury Art Museum) has been awarded a bursary by the British Art Network to develop Sitting Pretty, a collaborative project with artists Tony Heaton and Mike Chavez-Dawson, for a phase of collections research at Bury Art Museum leading to a collaborative exhibition at the Manchester Contemporary. The show will invite viewers to engage in a deep contemplation of one of the most ubiquitous and symbolically charged objects in our daily lives: the chair.

The British Art Network is delighted to share news of our bursary awardees for our current programme EXPLORE – CONNECT – SHARE – SUSTAIN, for activities running to June 2026.

We have been able to support 46 BAN member projects with bursaries of £300 – £1000 plus access support where needed.

Building on the range of responsive bursaries and microgrants offered by BAN since 2015, particularly the Research Barriers Fund delivered in 2024, these latest grants are designed to be highly flexible and open, reflecting what we have learned about the needs of our members. 

Awarded activity includes collections and archival research, exhibition attendance, artist studio visits, publication and resource creation, practice-based research, exhibition planning, sector-facing workshops and public programme events.  

The full list of bursary awardees appears on the website below, along with a selection of projects reflecting the range and variety of member research.

www.britishartnetwork.org.uk/programmes/bursary-awards-2025-26/