ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES
updated monthlylast updated on the 3rd of June 2023
Below you can find residencies, open calls, competitions, grants, exhibition, publication, mentorship and workshop opportunities suitable for early-career visual artists. Our selection focuses on opportunities available to UK-based artists, although not exclusively. In addition, we aim to select free opportunities and fully-funded residencies, but you can also find a selection of paid opportunities at the bottom of the list.
OPEN CALLS
10th STIFF Festival Submissions are open to audiovisual media, performances, participative works and instructions, digital works, installations, interactive objects, machines, as well as sound works and textual works that can be interpreted in the exhibition or public space while dealing with the subject of THE DECADE in the broadest sense. - Sunday 4 June
TPG New Talent 23 TNT 23 offers each finalist a bursary of £1,500, a year-long mentorship with a photographer or industry professional, the chance to work with the creative team at An Endless Supply on a bespoke exhibition website, and see your work at large-scale on a billboard in London and your hometown. - Sunday 4 June
Hypha Studios Hastings We are looking for collectives of artists, curators or gallerists that would like to put on an exhibition in Hastings, East Sussex. - Sunday 4 June
Photography+ The Graduate Issue 2023 10 graduates will be published in the next issue of Photography+. One artist will receive a Photoworks membership and mentoring. One artist will be awarded a £200 printing voucher. - Tuesday 6 June
Flamm Commissions Creative Kernow is seeking proposals from Cornwall-based artists and collectives for four commissions as part of an exciting new event, Flamm, in partnership with Art Night. - Wednesday 7 June
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage Serendipity are looking to commission five visual artists across any artform. Successful artists will then be asked to create a likeness of a selection of up to 20 Black women in their chosen medium.Collectively the artworks will be shared in a citywide exhibition at Leicester Gallery from October 2024 – January 2025 and to be part of a publication and documentary short that brings the stories and art together. - Saturday 10 June
Deptford X Deptford X Supported is open to early career Black and People of Colour artists from the London Borough of Lewisham who have not previously received a commission for their work. Selected artists will receive a fee of £1000 and a production budget for the work of up to £800. - Sunday 11 June
Hypha Studios Stratford Apply today for two huge spaces for free exhibition opportunities in East Village Stratford. 50 Celebration Avenue, London E20. - Sunday 11 June 6pm
Turf Projects Desire Paths An artist-led charity founded by Croydon locals in 2013, Turf was set up to provide opportunities & space for creatives locally. Operating in ex-retail spaces in Croydon with an uncertain future due to as-yet-unrealised urban development, the questions we frequently found ourselves asking about who has power over space in our hometown acted as our starting point for Desire Paths. - Tuesday 13 June
Arts+Causes 100 percent of each sale will be split evenly between the artist and charity. - Thursday 15 June
Wheatley Fellowship Birmingham School of Art and Eastside Projects invite applications from visual artists for an Incidental Artists placement in Birmingham supported by the Wheatley Fine Art Fellowship. - Sunday 18 June
Hypha Studios Birkenhead We are looking for 4 collectives of artists or art organisations that would like free space for a minimum of 6 months. - Sunday 25 June 6pm
Baltic Photography Portfolio Crit 23 Visual artists at all stages of their creative practice are eligible to apply. You don’t need to have a formal education in the arts. The applicant must be based in the North East of England. - Sunday 25 June
Stanley Picker Fellowships in Design & Fine Art 2023 Each Fellowship provides up to £16,000 and valuable access to the extensive material workshops, technical resources and expertise within Kingston School of Art and the wider University departments, to support a practice-based, innovative research project that will result in an exhibition of international standing at the Stanley Picker Gallery. - Monday 26 June
Jerwood Arts Take It Outside Take it Outside is a new artist development scheme aimed at supporting extraordinary early-career artists that are aiming to develop work for outdoor and public space contexts. - Wednesday 28 June
Artists’ Collecting Society Studio Prize 2023 The ACS Studio Prize offers recent graduates a £6,000 prize to help secure a studio space in a UK city of their choice. - Friday 30 June
SUGi x NAVA Photography Contest 2023 The SUGi x NAVA Photography Contest celebrates the ways we bring nature closer, even in everyday urban settings. We want to see wild places through your lens and your creativity. - Friday 30 June
Cultural Reforesting: Darkness in Urban Spaces As part of an artist-led research programme, Cultural Reforesting, we are looking for an artist or artist collective to explore the theme of darkness in urban spaces. - Sunday 16 July
Art for Change Prize This year’s prize asks artists to creatively respond to the theme Regeneration. A total prize fund of £20,000 will be split between six winners, five to receive £2,000 and one overall winner to receive £10,000. Winning artists will also have the unique opportunity to exhibit their work at Saatchi Gallery in London. - Monday 17 July
Yorkshire Graduate Award 2023 YSP is offering a placement for a recently graduated BA or MA artist, from any Yorkshire-based university, to work and stay on-site for two weeks. - Friday 21 July
ProfiFoto New Talent Award 23 A jury of experts will award prizes to five photography projects. The jury will also select the three best works from the total of ten winning works in the two competition sections each year. These will receive cash prizes totaling 3,000 euros (1st place 1,500 euros, 2nd place 1,000 euros, 3rd place 500 euros). All winning entries will be published in ProfiFoto and be part of group exhibitions. - Sunday 23 July
Deptford X Fringe 2023 Contributions are welcome from visual artists of any and every kind: amateurs or professionals, trained or untrained, emerging or established. We are looking for exhibitions, films, performances, happenings, workshops, interventions into the local landscape, and any other kind of visual arts project. Any site, space or venue within reasonable distance of Deptford Station can apply as a host venue or be approached by an artist for their project. - Wednesday 26th July 5pm
Materials Matter 2023 For the second year running, the global non-profit Textile Exchange, in partnership with Magnum Photos, is calling on photographers to document the way we transform textiles, and how textiles in turn transform us. - Friday 28 July
Ametron Mail Art Open Call You are invited to send a dream of yours, recorded both in your native language and in English and illustrated in any visual medium you like. Our dreams will be exhibited in Crete, Greece in September 2023, as part of the "Dream archive" project. The work is not for sale. - Sunday 20 August
ROSL Photo 2023 Royal Over-Seas League is delighted to announce its biennial photography competition is now open for submissions! This year’s theme is Viewpoint, each entrant can submit up to five digital images of their choice taken in the past 18 months from any image making camera source, tackling the subject however they wish. - Friday 5 September 5pm
Preus Museum Open Call It's in our DNA! – Democracy – Nature – AI*
How can democracy, nature and AI tell us something about evolution, diversity and manipulation? How can this be expressed through photography? - Friday 5 September
The Horizon Magazine At The Horizon Magazine each edition is a combination of visual and literary media. We aspire to blend our submissions in a way that allow pieces to play off each other, complement, and contrast. We accept submissions of: Art and Photography, Poetry, Short Fiction + Drama, Essays - Saturday 30 September
Sola Journal (Instagram takeovers) Our takeovers run from Monday to Thursday, allowing you to showcase up to two posts a day and incorporate stories as desired. This is an ideal opportunity to network, share both new and previous works, and even promote upcoming exhibitions or publications. - will close when fully booked
Sola Journal (Artist Interviews) Are you a photographer with a compelling body of work or a project that you think would align with our journal's vision? This is a chance to share your creative journey, insights, and perspectives with our readership. - no deadline
Sticky Fingers Publishing Each month we’ll be reviewing lots of tasty publications pull-outs and pamphlets in our monthly mail outs. Send us a little bit about your zine and yourself, or any enquiries, to stickyfingerspublishing@gmail.com. - on a rolling basis
Open Eye Gallery Open Source Open Source is a rolling submission-based open call, giving developing and early-career artists the opportunity to showcase their work digitally on the gallery’s exterior screen. - on a rolling basis
TPG Young Writers An editorial programme for writers and photographers under 25. For both articles types (A Young Person Recommends… and A Story Behind a Photograph), we pay the writer £40 for the piece. For A Young Person Recommends, we can reimburse you for your exhibition ticket/book. - on a rolling basis
Tied to Light
To submit, please email us at tiedtolight@gmail.com with:
- A short statement about your practice (max 100 words).
- 5-10 images of your work (max 1MB per image).
- Any relevant hashtags or handles you would like us to include.- on a rolling basis
The Balkan Archive Whether a single image or a series of photographs, you can send your contributions via DM or to thebalkanimagearchive@gmail.com. - on a rolling basis
Re-Collective We are looking for artists who love nature and fight against climate change, or anyone who wants to take place in this activist project. -on a rolling basis
Photomeet x Northern Narratives Photo Meet and Northern Narratives would like to help friends, colleagues and co-workers in the field offering the opportunity to access their online resources to expose and promote their projects with a series of features, interviews, and online chats. - on a rolling basis
The African Photobook
Publishers and photographers are invited to contribute by submitting books to be showcased on the website. Please email us here: theafricanphotobook@gmail.com - on a rolling basis
Inside the Outside We are interested to hear from individuals and especially small collaborative groups (2+) who have either existing, in progress or ideas for new series of work for us to feature online and also possibly publish in print through our popular zines. - on a rolling basis
Media Trust
Want to volunteer your time and skills to a great cause? As a Volunteer Director, you will be paired with a charity that reflects the causes you care about and be supported by a Media Trust Creative Producer from development through to delivery. - no set deadline
Mubi Notebook We ask you to send us a postcard of your choosing with your message handwritten on the reverse. We will read every postcard we receive and publish the most memorable ones in future issues of the Notebook magazine. - no set deadline
Blurring the Lines The theme for the 2023 edition is "An Ecology of Seeing." The call is open to graduating students and recent graduates worldwide who can use their talent to envision and experiment with solutions that witness and accompany the transformation of territories, lifestyles, organizations, and forms of production. - no set deadline
£££
Fotofestival Lenzburg - €23 A distinguished international jury will select the projects that show a deep understanding of the theme “SYNTHESIS” and exhibit a unique artistic style. - Wednesday 7 June
Young Masters Art Prize 2023 - £38 We are looking for artists who show originality, skill and imagination in response to the art of the past. You can interpret this as widely and creatively as you wish. - Sunday 11 June
Foam Talent Open Call - €30 Foam Talent aims to be the starting point in an artist’s career. The programme is centered around nurturing and supporting you and your work. If you think your work is ready for international recognition, being selected as a Foam Talent is a jumpstart to your career. - Sunday 18 June
AIR Open 2023 - £5/work Showcase your work in our 6th annual AIR Open. This is always one of our strongest shows of the year and a great showcase of contemporary talent from around the world.(We have a volunteer scheme where if you help us invigilate the show, you'll get your entry fee reimbursed (plus a free meal!) - Sunday 25 June
The Wild Garden Art Rail - £25 This is a new, exciting initiative with the involvement of some local people (East London) willing to open their gardens for a week-end to the general public and to host some exciting artworks chosen from this international call. - Saturday 15 July
GRANTS
FIELDNOTES Development Grant The programme will support four emerging artists and writers for a six-month period during which they will receive editorial and financial support in order to develop new text-based work. - Monday 19 June
The Elephant Trust Priority is given to artists in the fine arts and small organisations and galleries who should submit well argued, imaginative proposals for making or producing new work or exhibitions. - Sunday 25 June
Creative Debuts: Black Artist Grant The Black Artists Grant is £1,000 given out monthly to black artists in the UK, with each artist selected receiving £500 each. - monthly
Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund Applications do not require project proposals. If you’re selected to work on commission, you’ll receive between US$500 and US$5000. - on a rolling basis
The Eaton Fund At the moment our average grant is around £350. - on a rolling basis
The Awesome Foundation Grant The Awesome Foundation is a global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time. - on a rolling basis
The Peter Hansel Scholarship Fund The fund provides financial support for any person working in a programme of study or research in the field of illustrative documentation in medicine. Grants will not normally exceed £500. - on a rolling basis
RESIDENCIES
West Dean College's School of Arts UK
Co-ordinated by the School of Arts at West Dean College, our residencies are designed to support artists and writers in developing research projects and studio-based practices. - Monday 5 June
ARCAthens Greece
These fully-funded opportunities enable artists, curators, and scholars to live/work in Athens, Greece, and be immersed in—and consequently respond to—the ongoing cultural renaissance taking place here. - Saturday 10 June
Moving Body FestivalBulgaria
Moving Body foundation (Varna) and School of Kindness present Critical Moves Research Residency and Mentorship for artists and researchers who want to embark on a four-week, site-specific residency in Varna, Bulgaria in Autumn 2023. - Sunday 11 June
Living Summer School Belgium
Every year we create an informal learning experience for a diverse group of youth exploring different aspects of territorial innovation. The third edition to be held in September 2023 will explore emerging building processes. - Thursday 15 June
Künstlerstadt Kalbe: Sommercampus Residency Germany
For six weeks from 22 July – 27 August 2023, national and international artists of all disciplines are invited to participate in a social sculpture in Kalbe and to contribute their own project ideas. - Friday 16 June
Salt Space 'Uncertain Futures' Residency Scotland
‘Uncertain Futures’ residency programme invites proposals from emerging artists based in Scotland to respond to the uncertainty of our current state, for example the cost of living crisis, climate emergency and the Covid-19 pandemic, though artists are free to interpret in other ways. - Sunday 18 June
Art Gene UK
Art Gene invites an artist to take up a six-week residency at our Isle of Walney outdoor project space, Allotment Soup, in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, to create an engaged art and environmental commission in the landscape. The residency will allow the artist to develop ‘temporary artworks’, create interventions, provocations, and work with and around real issues for these challenging times whilst engaging with local people through focussed workshops and events. - Tuesday 20 June
Platform Odd One Out Open Call Finland
Platform is an art organization based in Vasa, a relatively peripheral Finnish town. We run an art space and a residency to offer live experiences of different perspectives in a location where this would otherwise be limited. - Friday 30 June
Steirischer herbst Research Residency Fellowship 2023 Austria
The fellowship supports and encourages innovative scholarly, creative, and interdisciplinary inquiries into steirischer herbst’s practice and history. Fellows receive a stipend of 1,500 euros plus an accommodation allowance of up to 500 euros. - Saturday 1 July
ACAVA Barham Park Studios Residency UK
ACAVA Hosts: Barham Park Studios Residency is a career development opportunity for a socially engaged artist from a Global Majority background to be based at one of our studio communities in North London. - Monday 10 July 9am
L’Air Arts Solo & Duo Residency
France
We invite artists, writers, curators, designers, architects, researchers and other creators and cultural professionals from any corner of the world to join and contribute to the project while benefiting from the Atelier 11 residency. The self-directed residency at Atelier 11 is from 2 weeks to 2 months. Funded residencies are limited and priority is given to candidates based in less economically developed parts of the world (Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Latin America and South East Asia) as well as artists at risk or in exile. - on a rolling basis
Rupert - €15 Lithuania
Rupert is inviting applications for residencies, calling local and international cultural practitioners and thinkers (artists, writers, curators, researchers, managers, and academics) willing to live and work in Vilnius from 1 to 3 months in 2024 (January–December) and develop individual or collaborative projects, reflections and research while immersing themselves in the region’s contemporary art field. - Thursday 15 June
Mas Palou Art Residency 2024 - €30 Spain
We want to invite up to 7 artists / collectives from around the world to spend 11 days at our estate and work on their crafts. Absolutely any artistic discipline is welcome here. Expect to meet amazing people from all over the world, dialogue, time to create and think, food, and wine. - Thursday 15 June