The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize project is led by founding Director, Professor Anita Taylor, and supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust.

The pre-eminent annual open exhibition for drawing in the UK, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, was founded in 1994 by Anita Taylor and Paul Thomas as the Rexel Derwent Open Drawing Exhibition. It was known from 1996 until 2000 as the Cheltenham Open Drawing Exhibition and was supported by a private benefactor, Westland Nurseries, The Summerfield Trust, CHK Charities and Rootstein Hopkins Foundation. The exhibition was subsequently known as Jerwood Drawing Prize with 17 years of significant support from Jerwood Charitable Foundation from 2001 until 2017. The Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust became the principal benefactor in 2018.

Selected from original artworks, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize and exhibition has an established reputation for its commitment to championing excellence and promoting and celebrating the breadth of contemporary drawing practice. The open exhibition provides a platform for drawing practitioners to showcase their work alongside other leading artists and makers in the field. The exhibition is launched each year, and the awards announced in London before touring in the UK. While offering emerging, mid-career and established artists a platform to exhibit their work, the project has developed new insights into the role and value of drawing in creative practice today. 

The Call for Entries for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize is launched in Spring each year, and is managed by Parker Harris. Drawing practitioners may register to enter up to three drawings for consideration by the Selection Panel. Entry is by online registration by the end of June, after which the actual works are to be submitted via one of the Collection Centres for review by the Selection Panel. Shortlisted entrants are announced in late July and the award-winners announced in September at the exhibition launch at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London.

The awards will be announced at a ceremony and exhibition launch at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London in September each year. The exhibition then tours within the UK. The award winners and selectors from 1994 to the present day can be seen here.