Featured Opportunities
Find your next creative breakthrough. Discover creative awards, competitions & funding. Submit to design contests, film festivals, writing competitions…
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Photoworks Writers in Residence 2026
Photoworks
Free to Apply
Closing: 23rd February 2026
Photoworks will appoint two Writers in Residence for 2026 to each contribute two articles (approximately 1000 words each) to Photography+, their quarterly online magazine read by international audiences. Running April 2026 to March 2027, this paid residency offers £300 per article (£600 total for two articles) plus online or in-person meetings with the Photoworks team.
This opportunity suits early-career writers looking to gain experience writing and publishing online about contemporary photography. Writers should have working knowledge of contemporary photography and willingness to look beyond photography for inspiration. Open to writers worldwide (Photoworks is UK-based). Applicants will be informed by 10th March 2026, residency begins April 2026.
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William Morris Art Futures Bursary: £10,000 Funding for Young Artists in Hackney and Waltham Forest
House of Hackney
Free to Apply
Closing: 11th May 2026
House of Hackney announces The William Morris Art Futures Bursary, a new initiative supporting the next generation of artists in the London Boroughs of Hackney and Waltham Forest. Inspired by William Morris’s values of art for all and the transformative power of creativity, this bursary provides £10,000 funding for young people aged 16–25 with creative potential who face barriers to accessing education, training, materials, or mentorship.
The £10,000 funding can be used to support education costs, training programmes, art materials, equipment, mentorship, or other resources needed to advance artistic practice. Applications for the 2026 bursary are now open, with successful recipients announced in Summer 2026.
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Expression of Interest for Bexley Aligned Creatives
Do It Projects
Free to Apply
Closing: Rolling Deadline
Do It Projects is connecting artists and creatives with opportunities in the London Borough of Bexley. This Expression of Interest invites artists who have a connection to Bexley – whether through residence, work, family, community ties, or other meaningful links – to register for potential collaborations across a diverse range of creative projects.
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FVU:LAB – A Research and Development Residency for Artists
Film and Video Umbrella
Free to Apply
Closing: Rolling Deadline
FVU:LAB supports four emerging moving image artists to work with cutting-edge technologies at Nottingham Trent University’s Design and Digital Arts building. Artists can apply either to realise a specific new work or for R&D time to experiment with technologies and incorporate them into their practice. No exhibition outcomes required—this opportunity prioritises experimentation and skills development, though work may be presented at NTU or via FVU’s digital channels.
Selected artists receive up to five days’ access to NTU facilities (motion capture/facial capture, virtual production studio with LED wall and UNREAL Engine, Foley studio, green screen studio, and immersive technologies including VR/AR), £500 bursary, two mentoring sessions with FVU Director Angelica Sule, plus travel, accommodation, and per diems. Days can be taken in one block or spread over time. Open to UK-based visual artists working with moving image at any career stage (broad definition of “emerging”).
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Open Call: Put The Cat Among The Pigeons
The Gallery Holt
Free to Apply
Closing: 27th April 2026
Mixed media exhibition celebrating cats and birds as nature’s fiercest rivals, following the success of ‘Old Dogs, New Tricks’ in 2025. Exhibition features feline and feathered subjects from lions to lapwings and kittens to kingfishers, running 30th May to 7th July 2026 at The Gallery Holt.
Artists notified of successful or unsuccessful submissions by 30th April 2026. Selected artists must deliver work between 18th-23rd May 2026 and collect between 13th-18th July 2026. Submissions accepted via online form on the gallery website.
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D Contemporary Award 2026: Soft Power
D Contemporary
From £15
Closing: 5th April 2026
D Contemporary invites emerging and early mid-career artists of all ages and nationalities to submit work for the D Contemporary Award 2026, exploring the theme ‘Soft Power’ – celebrating how art shapes understanding, fosters empathy, and expands our vision through stories, memories, and experiences. In a new award format, this year creates an ecosystem beyond a single exhibition.
Artists across all disciplines, painting, sculpture, photography, installation, digital media, and beyond, can submit up to five images exploring how art inspires, connects, and uplifts through human experience, resilience, and cultural endurance. A selection of shortlisted artists will showcase work in a group exhibition at D Contemporary’s Westminster, London premises, with each receiving awards and substantial contributions from exclusive partners, jurors, and sponsors. An influential jury will then select one standout artist to receive a solo exhibition, monetary prizes, dedicated mentorship, and press coverage in 2025/6. £15 submission fee until 12th February 2026 (standard £23 thereafter).
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Cabinet of Curiosity No.3: What’s in the River?
Cody Dock
Free to Apply
Closing: 30th March 2026
Cody Dock invites artists and creative collectives to design an interactive, permanent outdoor public artwork exploring hidden stories beneath the River Lea’s waters as part of their Heritage Fund-supported ‘Lighting Up The Lea’ programme. The third and final Cabinet of Curiosity will focus on ecological histories—encouraging artists to research one specific story connecting the river’s natural landscape with local heritage, such as the golden clam’s journey linking global and social histories.
This site-specific commission (budget £5,400 including labour and materials) requires extensive research into the Lower Lea’s biodiversity, river restoration projects, and durable weather-resistant materials for outdoor display. The work will be revealed at September’s Open Day in collaboration with Totally Thames and Open House, becoming a permanent fixture at Cody Dock. Payment structure: £1,700 for R&D (post-R&D meeting 4th May), £1,500 at first production meeting (1st June), £1,500 at second production meeting, £700 final payment (21st September). Work completed by 7th September for 21st September reveal.













