The Sustainability Art Prize

As a concept, sustainability tends to behave in a multitude of meanings and, for many, it seems capable of encompassing such contrasting issues as controlling economic growth and the protection of other species and their habitat.

Many are the areas where sustainability unfolds its devastatingly simple logic, such as climate change, access to resources, feminism, gender inequality, cultural values, cultural colonisation, speciesism, food production and distribution, geopolitical conflicts; the list goes on.

The creative disciplines are very well equipped for the challenges that such vast and complex issues present. The Sustainability Art Prize has been created to inspire students to explore these issues and to open up spaces for dialogue and transformation.

Entries can be in any medium, and all shortlisted entries are shown at an exhibition in Ruskin Gallery.

The 2026 prize went to Phil Cope, MA Fine Art, for his video Views of Woven Wood and Framing the Woods sculptures. Ellie Good and Polly Good took 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively, while Josephine Allen and Jiaqi Wang were Highly Commended.

2026 winner Phil Cope (centre) with (L-R) Senior Lecturer Practitioner in Sustainability Sarah Strachan, Highly Commended winners Josephine Allen and Jiaqi Wang, and Deputy Head of Cambridge School of Art Rosanna Greaves