A selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers and curators.
This is an edited listing. We update this feature once a week on Fridays from a selection of submissions, newsletters, magazines and blogs. Our editorial team only select opportunities they feel offer a clear benefit to the submitting artists. To recommend an opportunity for listing, please fill in the form in the sidebar. We email around 19,500 art practitioners weekly with selected opportunities.
Fellowship
NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship
The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is a $7,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located therein. This grant is awarded in 15 different disciplines over a three-year period (five categories a year) and the application is free to complete. The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is not a project grant, but is intended to fund an artist's vision or voice, at all levels of their artistic development.
Deadline 22 January 2020
New York Foundation for the Arts/ New York State Council on the Arts
Facebook: @nyfacurrent/@NewYorkStateCouncilontheArts
Twitter: @nyfacurrent/@nyscarts
Apply here
Commission
Ten Acres Of Sound: Open Call for Sound Artists/ Performers, and Noise Makers.
We are looking to present six works selected from the proposals we receive. Each commissioned artist will be paid a fee of £900 to produce and oversee the installation of the work.
The proposal for Ten Acres of Sound would preferably explore ideas of locality and community. This could include work that uses sound...
...to investigate human/nature interactions, biodiversity loss, pollution, sustainability, global environmental justice or climate change
...as a tool for protest or creating social change
...to think about community dynamics, the erosion of public space and gentrification.
Deadline 24 January 2020
Artefact
Facebook: @ArtefactStirchley
Twitter: @artefact_bham
Apply here
Fellowship
Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA) Fellowships 2020-21
Each year the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA) awards multiple CIMA Fellowships to support research and study of Italian modern and contemporary art for doctoral and postdoctoral scholars. Citizens of all nationalities are eligible. CIMA offers a unique experience to its fellows: the annual exhibition serves as a hub for scholars from diverse academic backgrounds to share research derived from the artworks on view with each other and the public.
The exhibition for CIMA’s next season (October 2020–June 2021) focuses on the early body of work created by the painter Mario Schifano (1934–1998) between 1960 and 1965. During their residency, fellows also have the opportunity to pursue their own research and connect with scholars and other professionals in and around New York.
Deadline 26 January 2020
Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA)
Facebook: @CIMANYC
Twitter: @ItalianModArt
Apply here
Prizes and Awards
Contemporary Young Artist Award 2020
Open to established and emerging artists aged 35 years old or under, the Contemporary Young Artist Award will profile the successful entrants and raise awareness of mixed contemporary art practices. The Biscuit Factory welcomes submissions including paintings, photography, original handmade prints, sculpture, glass, ceramics, textiles.
Shortlisted artists will feature in our headline exhibition in Spring 2020.
The winner will receive £2,000 and the opportunity for a solo show of work, along with a comprehensive press package. There will also be a People’s Choice winner, as voted for by the public, who will receive a £500 prize.
Deadline 26 January 2020
The Biscuit Factory
Facebook: @thebiscuitfactorynewcastle
Twitter: @biscuit_factory
Apply here
Fellowship
Henry Moore Institute Visiting Research Fellowships
Visiting Research Fellowships are intended for academics and curators working on historic and contemporary sculpture who can make particular use of the Institute’s resources: our Research Library, Archive of Sculptors’ Papers and the Leeds Sculpture Collections.
Artist Research Fellowships are intended for artists to develop their practice through research, using the Institute’s resources. The Fellowships will support a range of visual arts practices and outcomes generated through research into sculpture and its histories.
Research Fellows will be given the opportunity to spend a month in Leeds. In addition we will support up to two six-week Senior Fellowships, which are intended to give established scholars time and space to develop a research project free from usual work commitments.
Deadline 27 January 2020
The Henry Moore Foundation
Facebook: @HenryMooreInstitute
Twitter: @HMILeeds
Apply here
Artist in Residence
Clare Thornton Memorial Residency
Residency opportunity for a mid career artist to enable time, space, funds and critical engagement to develop and resolve new work in Plymouth. We are now inviting applications for the first of these two residency opportunities made possible by funds left by the late artist Clare Thornton and the subsequent monies raised through a successful CTMR Crowdfunder campaign. The chosen artist is provided with a studio plus a £2,500 fee and £1,650 budget for expenses and should have an affinity with Clare Thornton’s work.
Deadline 27 January 2020
Clare Thornton Memorial Residency
Apply here
Call for Writers
London Conference in Critical Thought 2020
The Call for Streams is now open for the 9th annual London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT), hosted and supported by the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy, Kings College London.
We are now accepting submissions for streams, encouraging especially stream proposals that stimulate a range of cross-disciplinary responses and which approach critical thought in an open, non-prescriptive way. Rather than focus on single theorists or intellectual traditions, streams are envisaged as interdisciplinary spaces, whether interdisciplinarity is understood as research at the intersection of distinct disciplines (across the arts & humanities, social sciences, and beyond) or as an approach that identifies a problematic that can elicit responses across disciplines.
Deadline 27 January 2020
London Conference in Critical Thought
Facebook: @londoncritical
Twitter: @londoncritical
Apply here
Prizes and Awards
Dare Art Prize 2020-21
Challenging artists and scientists to collaborate on new approaches to the creative process, the £15,000 DARE Art Prize awarded by the University of Leeds and Opera North (UK) is open for applications.
The 2020-21 Prize will be awarded to an innovative, ambitious artist in any discipline, who is excited by the opportunity to work with leading scientific researchers at the University of Leeds, and with Opera North.
Deadline 30 January 2020
Opera North
Facebook: @OperaNorth
Twitter: @opera_north
Apply here
Artist in Residence
Open Call for Artist Residency - OMM
OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum in Eskişehir, Turkey has announced an open call for a two and a half month fully-funded residency in Spring 2020, open to artists from across the globe.
The residency is the first official season of a long-term guest artist programme developed by the major new museum, which will see international artists invited to create work in a dynamic unfamiliar environment.
The residency accepts all forms of artistic approaches including but not limited to painting, printmaking, photography, film, sound art, new media art, sculpture, and graphic design.
Applications are open until 30 January and the artists accepted will be announced on 20 February 2020. The program is free to apply and open to artists from anywhere in the world.
Deadline 30 January 2020
OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum
Facebook: @ommxart
Twitter: @ommxart
Apply here
Exhibition Opportunity
Hidden Door 2020 - Visual Art Call For Proposals
Hidden Door 2020 will take place in Edinburgh from 9–18 October 2020 and will see a secret venue transformed into a temporary live music venue, theatre and performance space, alongside a multitude of art exhibitions and installations. Visual artists are invited to submit ideas for innovative projects that could encompass anything from paintings to performances. Individuals from across the UK are welcome, and can be at any stage of their career, with new graduates, emerging artists or those looking to develop and innovate their art practice especially encouraged. Selected artists will receive a flat fee of £500 towards their time and project expenses.
Deadline 31 January 2020
Hidden Door
Facebook: @hiddendoor
Twitter: @hiddendoorarts
Apply here
Artist in Residence
Sounds of our Cities | Open Call
Sounds of our Cities is an European project of Cultural Cooperation carried out between City of Roeselare, Dear Hunter, Aalborg Universitet and Idensitat. It aims to explore urban areas, focusing on the locality, including local audiences and reflecting on cultural identity in relationship with the community.
SoOC offers a residency to 10 artists (5 in Roeselare and 5 in Barcelona) to develop a project within the social context of each city. The project will be carried out within 20 days long residency, to take place during April and May in Roeselare and October and November 2020 in Barcelona. The central artistic activity of the project is the development of two sound art exhibitions, which will be embedded into specific sites in the urban environments.
Deadline 31 January 2020
Idensitat
Facebook: @IdensitatID
Twitter: @IDENSITAT
Apply here
Screening Opportunity
Film and Video Open Call for Women Artists: CONTESTED DESIRES
CONTESTED DESIRES seeks six exceptional artist film and video works by women artists and filmmakers internationally. CONTESTED DESIRES is a transnational project using contemporary visual arts as a tool to explore our shared and contested Colonial heritage and its influence on contemporary culture.
This open call will provide artists with four exhibition opportunities across Europe, working with D6 and our partners.
Work must be existing, not in development, and have a clear/critical dialogue to the conceptual framework of CONTESTED DESIRES. For more details about the project, visit our website. CONTESTED DESIRES is supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Deadline 31 January 2020
D6: Culture in Transit
Facebook: @D6cultureintransit
Twitter: @D6culture
Apply here
Call for Writers
Open call: International Radio Playwriting Competition 2020
We're inviting writers from outside the UK to submit radio drama scripts for the 27th International Radio Playwriting Competition.
- Grant/Opportunity: £2,500 prize, a trip to London and have their radio play recorded and broadcast by the BBC World Service
- Deadline: 31 January 2020
- Open to: we encourage both new and established writers to enter the competition however entrants must be 18 or over and live outside of the UK
Deadline 31 January 2019
British Council/BBC
Facebook: @Arts.BritishCouncil/@bbcworldservice
Twitter: @UKTheatreDance/@bbcworldservice
Apply here
Exhibition Opportunity
Light the North - Call for Artists
Light the North will become a three-dimensional canvas for creativity. Transform a lighthouse sculpture with your artwork and have your masterpiece appreciated by hundreds of thousands of people across the north-east, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.
Designs are welcomed in any medium – traditional to new media, fine art to illustrations, graffiti and mosaic. Whatever the art form, we’re keen to add drama, fun and a creative flair to Light the North.
Deadline 31 January 2020
Light The North
Facebook: @LightTheNorth
Twitter: @lightthenorth
Apply here
Artist in Residence
Application Rijksakademie Residency 2021
Application is open to artists with at least 2 years of independent professional experience after finishing education. Most candidates have finished a MA degree but this is not obligatory. There are no age limits, however most artists at the Rijksakademie are between 27 and 35 years old.
Every selected artist will have a studio, a stipend to contribute to living expenses (in 2020: €14,000) and a working budget (in 2020: €1,500). Every selected artist will have a studio, a stipend to contribute to living expenses (in 2020: €14,000) and a working budget (in 2020: €1,500).
Deadline 1 Febuary 2020
Applications open on 1 January 2020
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten
Facebook: @rijksakademie
Twitter: @Rijksakademie
Apply here
Exhibition Opportunity
False Memory - Open Call
FALSE MEMORY - a contemporary art exhibition connected to the theme of false memory. This group exhibition will explore the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories. We would like to invite artists to submit artworks that link with the theme in whatever way inspires them.
Deadline 3 February 2020
Rugby Art Gallery & Museum, Rugby
Facebook: @ArtsInRugby
Twitter: @RugbyGallery
Apply here
Call for Writers
Future News Worldwide 2020
Future News Worldwide is a partnership programme between the British Council and some of the world’s leading media organisations, including BBC, Reuters, Facebook and Google News Initiative. It aims to identify, train and support the next generation of global journalists.
We’re looking for 100 of the world’s most talented, motivated and passionate young media makers to join us for an exclusive conference taking place in London on 14 and 15 July 2020. Here, they will receive coaching from some of the world’s most high-profile editors, broadcasters, writers and reporters and will make connections with other young global journalists.
This is a fully funded opportunity. All costs involved in attending the conference, including travel to and from London, accommodation and board, will be covered by the British Council, so there is no cost at all to the successful students.
Deadline 14 February 2020
British Council
Facebook: @britishcouncil
Twitter: @britishcouncil
Apply here
Artist in Residence
Renewable power for a sustainable future. Artist in residence opportunity
We are looking for an artist with an interest in sustainability and climate change to take part in a residency with SSE in Perth, Scotland. SSE is an electricity generator focused on renewable energy including hydroelectricity, onshore and offshore wind. The artist will have an opportunity to learn about sustainable energy and exchange ideas with a community committed to innovation and sustainability. To create artworks that help raise awareness of the contribution of renewable energy in Scotland, how technologies relate to the landscape, harnessing the power of wind and water.
Deadline 14 February 2020
Sustainability First
Twitter: @SustainFirst
Apply here
Prizes and Awards | Sponsored
Derwent Art Prize 2020
Derwent, internationally renowned fine art brand, are proud to announce that the fifth instalment of the Derwent Art Prize is now open for entries.
From the submitted artworks, approximately eighty will be selected for display at Gallery@OXO in central London and in a gallery in 20 rue Saint Claude in Paris, France.
- First Prize £4,000 plus a year’s supply of Derwent products**
- Second Prize £2,000
- Young Artist First Prize (For artists under 25 years) £4,000 *
- Young Artist Second Prize (For artists under 25 years) £2,000
- People’s Choice Award £500
Entry fee: £15/£5 (concession for artists under 25)
Deadline 17 February 2020
Derwent Art Prize
Facebook: @DerwentArtPrize
Twitter: @derwentart
Apply here
Exhibition Opportunity | Sponsored
New English Art Club Annual Exhibition
Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the New English Art Club at their Annual Exhibition 2020. The exhibition offers several prizes and awards, open to all participating artists, including the new Chris Beetles Gallery Award of £2,000 for a non-member artist. The New English Art Club is an elected society of contemporary painters whose ethos resides in art informed by the visual world and personal interpretation.
Entry fee: £18 per work (or £12 per work for artists aged 35 or under), which includes Free Admission to the exhibition (normally £5)
Deadline 28 February 2020
New English Art Club, Mall Galleries
facebook.com/mallgalleries
Twitter: @mallgalleries
Apply here
Exhibition Opportunity | Sponsored
apexart International Open Call 2020-21
apexart will accept proposals for its International Open Call from February 1 - March 1, 2020. Four winning proposals will become apexart exhibitions presented in selected locations around the world as part of its 2020-21 exhibition season. Curators, artists, writers, and creative individuals, regardless of location, or past experience are invited to submit a proposal online.
Deadline 1 March 2020
apexart
Facebook: @apexartnyc
Twitter: @apexart
Apply here
Fellowship
Jerwood Bursaries 2020
Jerwood Bursaries provide funding of up to £1,250 to help you explore and develop your practice by enabling you to gain new skills and knowledge. We want you to have the opportunity to pursue your interests independently and on your own terms.
A Jerwood Bursary can support your development by funding meaningful opportunities to reflect on and grow your creative practice. This might include new partners for collaboration, receiving mentoring or taking part in training, conferences and workshops. It can support development of your creative practice by covering the costs of self-initiated residencies and by supporting early-stage research and testing of brand new ideas. We want you to suggest activities that will help you to learn and take control of the development of your artistic practice and career.
Deadline 09 March 2020
Applications open on 22 January 2020
Jerwood Arts
Facebook: @jerwoodarts
Twitter: @Jerwoodarts
Apply here
Prizes and Awards | Sponsored
BBA Artist Prize 2020
BBA Gallery and a jury of professionals look each year for the artist who shows the most significant potential and professionalism, and who has convincingly and skilfully executed a concept or work. The shortlisted entries will be shown in an exhibition at the gallery in May 2020. The winning artist will be represented by the gallery and receives a solo show in 2021.
Entry fee: 29 €
Deadline 15 March 2020
BBA Gallery
Facebook: @berlinblueart
Twitter: @berlinblueart
Apply here
Artist in Residence | Sponsored
Call for Creatives - Share your talent with a local school
Artists in Residence (AiR) was founded to raise the profile of the arts in education by connecting creative professionals and arts organisations with schools in areas of deprivation. We have now expanded nationally and are seeking to recruit artists and arts organisations nationwide to share their artistic skills with our schools. We are seeking creative professionals from all fields - Art, design, theatre, music, film and more.
How it works:
- Artists apply via our website and are invited in for an interview.
- AiR then connects the Artists to a school that has requested their field of experience.
- The Artist and the school co-design the project and agree on the number of days, materials,
number of students and dates to deliver the project.
- Projects are usually completed within the space of 6 weeks.
- Projects last for usually 3-4 days.
- Artists are paid by AiR for their work.
Open Deadline
Artists in Residence
Twitter: @ArtistsIR
Apply Here
Grant | Sponsored
The Drawing Year Scholarship
One year postgraduate MA-level course / No fees / Free studio space.
The Drawing Year is a full scholarship MA-level course offering up to thirty students the opportunity to focus on drawing from observation for one academic year. There are no tuition fees for The Drawing Year – all students are awarded a full scholarship and receive a free studio space. Apply now to start in September 2020-21.
Deadline 31 March 2020
Royal Drawing School
Facebook: @royaldrawingschool
Twitter: @royaldrawing
Apply here
Competition | Sponsored
Postcards from The Trafalgar Way: Art & Photography competition
Showcase The Trafalgar Way in photographs, paintings or digital art and you could win £1000.
The Art and Photography competition invites entrants of all ages to explore and capture the route and geography of The Trafalgar Way in picture form, as well as learning something of its history.
Main award winners will be invited to London on October 22nd 2020 for a private awards ceremony and spectacular concert which will feature their winning entry.
All award-winning entries will be considered for a Postcards from the Trafalgar Way touring exhibition during 2021.
Entry Fees
Age 7 to 11 - £1 per entry
Age 12 to 16 - £2 per entry
Age 17 to adult - £5 per entry
Deadline 1 September 2020
The Trafalgar Way
Facebook: @thetrafalgarway
Twitter: @TheTrafalgarWay
Apply here
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