Winner of the John Moores Painting Prize Visitors’ Choice Award announced

Walker Art Gallery and John Moores Painting Prize Trust are proud to announce that Deborah Gricehas won the John Moores Painting Prize 2025 Visitors’ Choice Award for her painting Safehold.

The North Lincolnshire-based artist receives £2,025 in the popular award sponsored by Rathbones.

Visitors to the exhibition praised the painting for, “the sharp contrast between light and dark”, and how, “it is so atmospheric and delicately painted using wonderful colour”. One visitor commented, “It feels authentic. I can feel, imagine, and see what is going on. Story intertwined with art.” Another said how, “It fills me with peace. The thought of camping in nature, escaping the world’s troubles, watching the wonders of the night sky.”  

Deborah Grice said:

“Winning the John Moores Visitor’s Choice Award means a great deal to me because it comes directly from the visitors. My work is about shared experience, and this recognition confirms that people are willing to slow down, look, and engage. It has been an honour to show my work alongside so many wonderful artists. I am thankful to everyone who voted, to the organisers of the exhibition, and to Rathbones for their generous sponsorship. I would also like to wholeheartedly thank the Walker Art Gallery’s gallery assistants for their patience and enthusiasm in lending the UV torch to the public. Without their help, the visitors would only have seen one dimension of my painting, Safehold.”

Safehold took two years to develop. Grice created a technique that combines phosphorescent pigment with oil paint on a single surface: in daylight, the small canvas shows a quiet landscape, while under UV light, provided by gallery assistants with torches throughout the exhibition, a glowing geometric structure appears. That tension between familiar landscapes and deeper unease runs through her work. She describes how we live in, “a state of flux, caught between nostalgia for a more innocent past and the complexities of the present.” The hidden structure in Safehold represents what she calls, “our longing for security and refuge.”

Charlotte Keenan, Head of Walker Art Gallery, said: 

“We are delighted to award Deborah Grice the 2025 Visitors’ Choice on behalf of our visitors, who were so captivated by this quietly powerful painting. Safehold is a painting that reveals itself slowly. Its use of phosphorescent pigment means there is always more to discover; a hidden layer that only becomes visible when you give it time. 

Throughout the exhibition, visitors told us how much it stayed with them, with many returning for a second look. It’s a painting about searching for stability in uncertain times, and that resonated deeply. We would like to thank Rathbones for supporting this popular prize, which encourages visitors to consider what makes a painting truly memorable.”

Neil Turner, Office Head at Rathbones, said: 

“At Rathbones, we believe in the long-term value of investing in culture and creativity. We are proud to support the John Moores Painting Prize Visitors’ Choice Award, which gives audiences a meaningful voice in one of the UK’s most important painting awards and a central role in celebrating contemporary British art.”

The 2025 jury selected 71 paintings from over 3,000 entries. Ally Fallon won first prize in September 2025 for If You Were Certain, What Would You Do Then?, which has since been acquired for Walker Art Gallery’s collection.

The John Moores Painting Prize 2025 exhibition closes on 1 March 2026. Past Visitors’ Choice winners include Donal Moloney (2016), Gary Lawrence (2018), Kiki Xuebing Wang (2020), and Nicholas Baldion (2023). Sir Peter Blake is Patron of the Prize.

The John Moores Painting Prize will return to Walker Art Gallery in 2027 for its 70th anniversary, coinciding with 150 years of the gallery.

Find out more information about The John Moores Painting Prize here.