Viridescent Window, by Plaifah Chaisen. Winner of the Grantham Climate Art Prize 2025.
The Stewardship and Innovation Hub: Restore Nature with Nature, by Cristiane Darie. Runner-up, age 19–25.
Let’s go back to our roots, by Kescheka Rajeekaran. Runner-up, age 15–18.
Don’t let the grey take over, by Liam du Plessis. Joint runner-up, age 11-14.
Between Chains and Petals, by Jade Panton. Joint runner-up, 11-14.
Grantham Climate Art Prize 2025 - Design the Future: From Grey to Green
Winner and runners up of the 2025 Grantham Climate Art Prize announced
The winning design for the Grantham Climate Art Prize 2025, by Imperial student Plaifah Chaisen (19), will be transformed into a panoramic mural on Imperial College’s South Kensington campus. It was one of more than 550 submitted for this year’s prize.
Called ‘Viridescent Window’, it will be adapted to fit the panoramic space on Dalby Court by professional mural artist Michelle Meola.
Plaifah, who is also a first-year undergraduate student at the Dyson School of Engineering, said: “Viridescent Window envisions the potential of cities when innovation and sustainability are fully embraced.
"The window, shining light on the future, offers a glimpse of what we can become. From grey to green, the choice is ours.”
It will be the 13th mural in the Grantham Climate Art Prize series and the first at Imperial College – the others are located across Britain, from Brighton to Glasgow, alongside three more in London (Tower Hamlets, West Norwood and Nine Elms).
The 2025 Art Prize theme was Design the Future: From Grey to Green – inspired by Imperial’s sustainability strategy. Young people aged 11 – 25 from schools, colleges and universities were invited to submit a vision for a more sustainable future shaped by nature-based solutions and green innovation with the urban environment in mind.
Four runner-up designs are also displayed on recycling bins on campus. They are:
- Age 19–25 the Stewardship and Innovation Hub: Restore Nature with Nature by Cristiana Darie
- Age 15–18 Let’s go back to our roots by Kescheka Rajeekaran
- Age 11–14 (joint runner-up) Don’t let the grey take over by Liam du Plessis
- Age 11–14 (joint runner-up) Between Chains and Petals by Jade Panton
As well as having their mural painted on Dalby Court, the winner also receives £200 in prize money and £100 worth of art materials. The runners-up are awarded £150 in gift vouchers and a print of their design. This is thanks to our sponsors Oden Services, Future Street and MRT Office Services. The winning design will also be shown on Oden Services' fleet of vehicles.
The artworks will be on show to the public at the Great Exhibition Road Festival on 7 and 8 June 2025, along with:
- An art workshop hosted by professional artists for children and young people to create some collective pieces of art highlighting simple and enjoyable actions we can all take to reduce our climate footprints;
- an exhibition of the 2021 art prize, which highlights biodiversity loss as a result of climate change, on Sherfield Walkway;
- an exhibition from our 2023 art prize on Imperial College Road highlighting the 9 things you can do about climate change.
A further 15 designs received a special commendation by judges.
“We hope the mural will raise awareness of the climate crisis by those who pass and inspire them to take action to alleviate its worse effects, allowing us to live more sustainably. We invite young people to take part because it is their futures that will be most affected by climate change and therefore their aspirations should be magnified.”Linsey Wynton, Senior Outreach and Communications Officer
What is the Grantham Climate Art Prize?
The Grantham Climate Art Prize is a biennial award from the Grantham Institute that invites young people to design murals drawing attention to the climate crisis and the need for action to create a more sustainable world.
The Grantham Institute launched the Grantham Climate Art Prize in 2018 to draw attention to the climate crisis through art. The prize began with an exhibition in the Blyth Gallery but took to the streets from 2021, inviting young people to design street murals that were then painted by professional artists.
Previous themes have included British biodiversity loss (2021) and a greener, cleaner, cooler world (2023), inspired by the Grantham Institute’s 9 things you can do about climate change.
Showcasing winners from previous art prizes, we have created 12 murals across Britain. We have also had exhibitions of winning and runner-up designs at COP26, in two Natural History Museum Real World Science Network museums, beside Battersea Power Station and on billboards across London’s transport hubs at Hammersmith Hospital in the Library.
As to why we run the competition, a previous participant in the Grantham Climate Art Prize workshops Mahamood Mubarak, then a PhD student, summed it up: “When you talk to young people about climate change – it is a challenge to make it hopeful and not too frightening… but there is a therapeutic element to creating art to express and share their hope.
"Through this project I’ve learned the value of art and how it complements science – topics I spent months studying can be captured in a visually striking way that speaks to all.”
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