Abbot Hall in Kendal has become the first UK institution to receive a new £30,000 fund dedicated to buying art by an emerging artist.
The gallery, run by charity Lakeland Arts, has been awarded the inaugural Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund. The award will allow Abbot Hall to acquire a work from the Focus section of Frieze London 2026, bringing a new contemporary piece into its public collection.
Artwork to be selected at Frieze London
Senior curator Will Cooper and keeper of collections Niall Hodson will attend the event to choose the artwork. The selected piece will join an Abbot Hall collection that already includes work by JMW Turner and Barbara Hepworth.
The new acquisition is intended to build on more than 60 years of collecting at the gallery while extending the range of art available to audiences in Kendal, Cumbria and across the North of England. Lakeland Arts said the work will reflect Abbot Hall’s commitment to bringing contemporary art to audiences outside London.
The fund was launched by the Contemporary Art Society in partnership with Frieze. Its creation marks a new initiative connecting emerging artists with UK institutions through philanthropic support.
Collection-building beyond London
The Contemporary Art Society is a London-based charity founded in 1910 to promote the acquisition and study of contemporary art in the UK. It is marking the 10th anniversary of its partnership with Frieze this year and has facilitated the donation of more than 10,500 pieces of fine art and craft into public collections.
Caroline Douglas, director of the Contemporary Art Society, said Abbot Hall was chosen because of its distinctive collection and its commitment to presenting ambitious contemporary art to audiences in the North West.
She also said the award came at a time when most UK museums had no core budget for acquisitions, making committed philanthropy one of the few routes through which contemporary artists’ work could enter public collections.
For Lakeland Arts, the award will support both the development of Abbot Hall’s collection and the career of an artist at an early stage. The chosen work will be brought to Kendal, where it will be available for audiences for generations to come.
“Lakeland Arts is immensely proud to be the inaugural recipient of the Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund.”
Mr Hodson said the opportunity would allow Abbot Hall to continue its long tradition of ambitious collecting while broadening the perspectives and practices represented in the collection. He described Frieze’s Focus section as an opportunity to encounter urgent and compelling voices in contemporary art at a pivotal moment in their careers.
The artist and work to be acquired will be decided by the Lakeland Arts representatives at Frieze London 2026. The source material does not state when the new acquisition will go on display at Abbot Hall.