Wakelin Award 2026, Hannah Walters - Exhibition in Swansea, Swansea

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Friday 16 October 2026 - Sunday 3 January 2027
10:00 am - 4:30 pm

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is delighted to announce the Wakelin Award recipient for 2026. Purchased in partnership with the Friends of the Glynn Vivian.

The annual award is given to an artist living and working in Wales, whose work is purchased for the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery’s permanent collection.

The recipient for The Wakelin Award 2026 is Hannah Walters. Previous award winners include Brendan Stuart Burns, Anthony Shapland, Catrin Webster, Jonathan Anderson, Meri Wells, David Cushway, Helen Sear, Clare Woods, Alexander Duncan, Philip Eglin, Richard Billingham, Cinzia Mutigli, Anya Paintsil, Ingrid Murphy and Lucia Jones.

This year’s selector is Catherine Spring, Curator, Oriel Myrddin, Carmarthen.

Catherine said: “Selecting Hannah as this year’s recipient of The Wakelin Award was an easy decision. Her work demonstrates an exceptional level of skill and craftsmanship, combined with a real sense of humour and playfulness that makes the pieces both engaging and memorable. I was particularly drawn to the way her practice is rooted in the rich visual language of her parents’ antique shop and the historical ceramics she has grown up around. She brings these influences into a contemporary context with warmth, originality and sensitivity. Hannah is a hugely deserving recipient of the award, and I’m delighted to see her work recognised in this way.”

Hannah Walters said: “I am over the moon to be selected for the Wakelin Award 2026. It is brilliant to join the long list of previous winners, a line up full of artists and makers that I admire and many of whom have inspired my own creative journey. I am grateful to those who set up, run and select for the award. The Wakelin Award is an important cultural marker that highlights Welsh artists in key points of our careers. I’m delighted to have a body of work in the Glynn Vivian where it can create new points of connection for the traditional ceramics in the collection.

The Award is administered by the Friends of the Glynn Vivian and is generously supported by donations in memory of Richard and Rosemary Wakelin and their son Martin, who were themselves artists and active supporters of the arts in Swansea.

Dr Peter Wakelin said “The Glynn Vivian is one of the outstanding art galleries of Wales as well as a brilliant resource for the people of Swansea. It’s great to see the gallery continuing to strengthen its collection and support Welsh artists through this award with the help of the Friends.”

Melvyn Williams, Chair of the Friends of the Glynn Vivian: “Helping build the collection of art available to the people of Swansea is what the Friends of the Glynn Vivian is all about. To be able to do it in a way that so directly relates to work that is permanently on display at the Glynn Vivian is particularly satisfying. Hannah Walters’ sculptures echo the history of Swansea and its traditional crafts, bringing the collection right up to date in a fun and accessible way. They are an absolute joy, and she is very worthy of this year’s Wakelin Award.”

Karen MacKinnon, Curator, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery: We are delighted with Catherine’s selection of Hannah’s work and very grateful to Peter, the Wakelin family, and Friends of the Glynn Vivian for making this award possible. Hannah’s fascinating works are both functional and sculptural and refer to her childhood and the deep histories embedded in clay and porcelain. Her work really resonates with our ceramics collection, and we can’t wait to share them with our visitors.

Hannah Walters

Hannah Walters is a Welsh ceramic artist based at Fireworks Studios in Cardiff. Inspired by time spent working in her family’s antique centre in Pembrokeshire, her practice reworks traditional objects, collections, and ideas of value through ceramics. Working primarily with porcelain, she creates sculptural and non-functional objects. Walters describes many of her pieces as “contemporary antiques”, objects that feel historic and newly formed. Her work has been exhibited across the UK, including at Collect, Artefact, and the Sculpture Trail at Craft Festival Wales.

Catherine Spring

Catherine Spring recently took up the role of Creative Producer at Oriel Myrddin, having led the gallery through a major redevelopment. She has a particular interest in contemporary applied art and design and is Exhibition Director for Cymru yn Fenis / Wales in Venice at the 61st Venice Biennale with the collaborative project Sownd, supported by lead organisations Oriel Davies and Oriel Myrddin.

Richard and Rosemary Wakelin

Richard Wakelin (1921-1987) and Rosemary Culley (1919-1998) were both artists, based in Swansea from the late 1950s. They were born in Cardiff and met as students at the Welsh School of Architecture in 1939 before entering the services for the duration of the war. They married in 1947. Richard worked as an architect in private practice and later with the City Council (where his role included care and alterations at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery). As artists, they both worked in abstract styles, but they appreciated all forms of art and craft. They worked through several organisations to further the visual arts, notably the Swansea Art Society, the Association of Artists and Designers in Wales, the 74 Guild of Artist Craftsmen, the Welsh Group, and the Friends of the Glynn Vivian.

They were co-founders of the Swansea Arts Workshop in the Maritime Quarter, now the Mission Gallery. They were keen to help and encourage talented artists and craftspeople and to broaden the enjoyment of the arts in Swansea. Their three surviving children are Andrew, Sally (and her daughter Kate) and Peter Wakelin. Their eldest son Martin died in 2012 leaving his wife Christine Townley and his daughter Megan, who continue to take an interest in the award.

The Friends of the Glynn Vivian

The Friends of the Glynn Vivian group offers invaluable support to the gallery but is also a lively organisation in its own right, one whose programme of events includes lectures, behind-the-scenes visits, and social events.