Maddi Nicholson honoured in HM The King’s 2025 Birthday Honours. 

Maddi Nicholson, artist and founder-Director of Art Gene has been named in King Charles III’s birthday honours list today, 14 June, for services to the Arts and to the community in Barrow-in-Furness.

It is with great pride that the Art Gene team announce Maddi’s recognition as a medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) and take this opportunity to celebrate her work. Maddi is one of only two women in this year’s Cumbrian honours list.

HM Lord-Lieutenant of Cumbria, Mr. Alexander Scott congratulated all the 14 award winners from the county:

“I’m especially pleased by the number of recipients this year, it reflects the depth of commitment, compassion and service that runs through our communities.

“Being awarded an Honour is a truly significant achievement… Each of them has gone above and beyond, often without seeking any recognition, and their dedication is an inspiration to us all.”

Maddi’s dedication to quality, her commitment to Barrow, its stories and environment, and her unfailing optimism and positivity, are certainly an inspiration to her colleagues and to the many people she collaborates with across the UK.

A gifted contemporary visual artist, Maddi arrived in Furness from Carlisle in the 1990s having secured an artist residency. Barrow, with its unique contrasts and complexities, got under her working-class skin and when she met fellow artist Stuart Bastik, they resolved to stay. They set up Nicholson-Bastik, going on to show work at Tate and the Liverpool Biennial, and travelling the world as ambassadors for UK culture.

Barrow’s old Technical College, impressive in scale but by the late 1990s in a desperate state of repair, offered great potential as artist studios. Maddi and Stuart worked there in almost dereliction, helping to make the case for regeneration by demonstrating a new use for the old building. In 2002, they established Art Gene, an art and design company bursting with ideas and intent on supporting other young artists from around the UK and abroad to thrive and do their best work.

For over 20 years, Maddi has deployed her immense talent towards creating positive change in our town. Strategic, ambitious and a team player, she has won hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment for Barrow. She brings colour and inspiration to all of our lives and she greatly deserves this honour. Bravo!