During Frieze London, multiple acquisition prizes and awards were announced, including the Tate Frieze Fund (supported by a private patron) which purchased works by Lubna Chowdhary and Barbara Walker for £150,000. The inaugural Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation Prize was awarded to Alex Margo Arden, while the Arts Council Frieze Acquisitions Fund grew to £90,000, acquiring works by Sarah Ball, Olu Ogunnnaike, Vanessa Raw, and Liorah Tchiprout. Other acquisitions included works by Michael Landy and Shaquelle Whyte for the Walker Art Gallery, and the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize went to Bogdan Ablozhnyy. Offsite, the Circa 2025 prize was won by Adham Faramawy for a film addressing the migration crisis.
This proliferation of prizes and acquisition funds during Frieze week highlights how private patronage and institutional awards are filling gaps left by dwindling public funding for the arts. These initiatives not only support mid-career and emerging artists—particularly women and UK-based practitioners—but also ensure that important contemporary works enter public collections, broadening access and preserving artistic legacies. The trend underscores the growing reliance on philanthropic and fair-linked mechanisms to sustain the art ecosystem.