[The winning designs, by Janet Alao (left), Samuel Webb (top right) and Ria Hoondle (bottom right)]

“Art has the potential to inspire minds and touch emotions in a way that science alone often finds challenging.” - Martin Siegert, Visiting Professor at the Grantham Institute

Grantham Climate Art Prize 2023

The Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London has revealed four murals designed by young people for its biennial project, the 2023 Grantham Climate Art Prize. The prize, which is sponsored by Octopus Energy, invited young people, who will be most affected by climate change, to create bold designs for outdoor public murals focused on the solutions needed to tackle the climate crisis.

Murals revealed

Three winning designs were unveiled as public murals across the UK - in Glasgow, Coventry and West Norwood in London - painted by professional artists.

• The winning design for the 11 – 14 age group is Samuel Webb, 11, from Sutton in Surrey, with his depiction of a kingfisher flying from a trashed and polluted world to a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future. It has been painted as a mural in Binley Road, Coventry, by Street Art Strategy  (top-left).

• The winning design for the 15 – 18 age group is Janet Aloa, 17, from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, with a design entitled Use Your Voice aimed at empowering young people to speak up to those in power and demand action to tackle climate change. It has been painted as a mural in Orford Court, Elmcourt Road, West Norwood, in South London, by artist Michelle Meola (bottom).

• The winning design for the 19 – 25 age group is by Ria Hoondle, 19, from Barking in East London, and is called Team Green. It depicts a group of people working to preserve nature and rectify damage caused to our environment by replanting nature, recycling and using cleaner energy sources.  It has been painted as a mural in Cresswell Lane Glasgow by artists Globel Brothers - Ciaran Globel and Conzo Throb (top-right).

Designs to be showcased on billboards

The winners and six runner-up designs are being displayed on billboards in London ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which starts on 30 November 2023.

Runners up include:

• Orla Stack, 13, from near Mold, in North Wales, with her design “Stopping pollution is the only solution” with a clock on top of images of a car in a thunder storm, sea ice melting, land becoming an arid dessert; and some remaining flowers and pollinators.
• Kelvin Chen, 13, from Wood Green, in North London, with his design showing three young people repainting the world green, fishing plastic waste from the ocean and installing wind turbines.  
• Holly Barnes, 18, from Chorley, in Lancashire, with her design “Stary city night” inspired by van Gogh’s Stary Night with a call to “Invest in green energy”.
• Holly Williams, 19, from Wigan, in Greater Manchester, with her design “Go green - leave the car at home” showing a green mountain scape with a car wing mirror revealing the world heating.  
• Lucy Bishop, 23, from Cheddar, in Somerset, with her design “Don’t turn a blind eye to earth’s cry” depicting two teenagers engrossed on their phones and ignoring the world on fire.
• Caitlin Melling, 20, from Wigan, in Greater Manchester, with her design “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” of a women transforming a garment into a blanket.

Winners each received £500 and runners-up got £250 each. The judging panel was made up of representatives from the Grantham Institute, Octopus Energy and the Turner Contemporary.  

View all the winner and runner-up designs.

Highly Commended Design and exhibition of the 9 things you can do about climate change 

A fourth highly commended design will be transformed into a mural in Nine Elms, close to the newly revamped Battersea Power station in Wandsworth.

The design “Colours for the Climate” by 12-year-old Aarayn Prabhaker from High Barnet, North London, shows a range of fruit and vegetable with protests placards calling for people to eat more plant-based foods and less meat and dairy in order that we can live more sustainably. Aaryan’s design has been transformed into a mural by artists Karla Rosales Garcia and Roger Rigol.  

It sits alongside an exhibition of the 3 winning designs and runner up and shortlisted designs illustrating the Grantham Institute’s 9 things you can do about climate change. This additional project will be sponsored by Ballymore. 

Featured designs are:

1. Mark your voice heard by those in Power – Janet Aloa, winner age 15 – 18 category.
2. Eat less meat and dairy – Yamen Enabulele, shortlisted age 15 - 18 category.
3. Cut back on flying – Latifatul Azizah, shortlisted design age 19 – 25 category.
4. Leave the car at home – Holly Williams, runner up age 15 – 18 category.
5. Reduce your energy use and bills – Holly Barnes, runner up age 15 – 18 category.
6. Respect and protect green spaces – Samuel Webb, winner age 11 – 14 category.
7. Spend and Bank your money as responsibly as you can – Alicia Johnson, shortlisted design age 15 – 18 category.
8. Cut consumption and waste – Caitlin Melling, runner up age 19 – 25 category.
9. Talk about the changes you make – Ria Hoondle, winner age 19 – 25 category. 

Read our blog to see the mural bassed on Aaryan's Highly Commended design and a selection of the exhibition panels.

Palette for the Planet: a greener, cleaner, cooler, future

The 2023 art prize theme was climate action to ensure a more sustainable future world. The Institute’s Action Hub, including our popular 9 things you can do about climate change, was a source of inspiration for positive actions we can all take to reduce our impact on the planet, including reducing energy use and bills, green travel, protecting nature and eating less meat and dairy. Young people age 11 – 25 were asked to interpret these themes and focus on at least one of them when depicting their visions of a greener, cleaner, cooler future world.

All artforms were welcomed, including painting, drawings, graphics, photomontage, collage, typography – except artwork generated by AI. Entries opened on 25 May through Octopus Energy’s website and the closing date was 22 September. 

For more information, download our factsheet (PDF).

Watch this space for more updates, and if you have any more questions about the art prize, please contact: granthamartprize@imperial.ac.uk