The Dewar Arts Awards were set up by the then Scottish Executive in 2002 as a fitting memorial to Scotland’s first First Minister, Donald Dewar.
We disburse the income from a trust fund to support talented young artists in Scotland, who do not have the financial means to pursue their ambitions.
We accept nominations for the awards all year round, in recognition of the fact that opportunities do not always fall neatly into the financial calendar,
The nominations are assessed by a board of Trustees, comprising some of the most respected names in the arts.
Chaired by journalist and broadcaster Ruth Wishart, our Trustees are Sir Brian McMaster, Richard Chester, Lesley Thomson, Nicola Catterall, Jill Miller, Polly Rewt, Anne Neilson, Andy Arnold and Jean Sangster. Find out more about each of them here.
Patrons of the awards include Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Giles Havergal, Tommy Smith, Catherine Lockerbie and Callum Innes. And they have recruited a host of top-flight talent spotters across all the art forms.
So far the Trust has provided over £3.5 million of funding to support more than 400 talented young Scottish artists in achieving their ambitions.