Zealous 2025 Wrapped: A Year of Creative Community

11,247 of you read our articles

That’s 11,247 of you who carved out time in your busy lives to engage with our content, and honestly, we’re still a bit overwhelmed by that. Thank you for trusting us with your time – we know how precious it is.

Some articles really resonated with the Zealous community this year. Introducing Zealous Amplify Future was a big moment, as we launched an Open Call early in February that prompted creatives to share their vision of the future. The winner of the Amplify Future public vote, Hana Walker-Brown’s In Pieces, opened up honest dialogue about burnout and hope – a conversation many of us needed to hear.

Our roundup of 10 ephemeral artists you should know kept circling online all year long, which explores looking at the theme of impermanence in beautiful ways. 10 creatives sharing the truth about their creative degree reminded us that everyone’s creative career looks different (and that’s perfectly okay). And our exploration of kinetic artists celebrated those bringing movement into their practice.

For organisations, there was no shortage of interest in our Complete Guide to Managing Awards and Competitions, with a decade of insights from planning and running your open call, to beyond. Everything that could go wrong with your open call (and how to stop it) tackled common problems with solutions across communication, admin, judging and more, whilst lessons in Running Open Calls: Essential Submissions Management Tips from organisations, artists and curators in industry who have walked the walk resonated with you.

507 submissions for Zealous Amplify Future

When we launched Amplify Future, we asked creatives one question: what does the future look like to you? And 507 of you responded with hope, imagination, concern, and creativity. The theme invited artists, designers, and makers to envision tomorrow through their unique lens, and the diversity of perspectives was extraordinary.

Our winners created work that challenged, inspired, and moved us. The judging panel brought together industry leaders who understood the importance of supporting emerging voices. And when we analysed what the future looks like according to 500 creatives, patterns emerged – themes of sustainability, community, technology, and connection woven throughout.

19 voice notes from our community

Voice notes became our favourite way to hear from you this year. There’s something about hearing someone’s actual voice (the pauses, the enthusiasm, the thoughtfulness) that typed words can’t quite capture.

Nineteen of you sent us voice notes sharing your thoughts on the future. Some of these made it into our article on what does the future look like according to 500 creatives, but each one shaped our understanding of what matters to this community. You talked about the importance of accessibility, education, kindness, diversity of thought, space for play, and building a creative eco-system that includes everyone.

We’re keeping the voice note line open. Your voices matter to us.

£282.37 donated to Arts Emergency

Through our Amplify Future Open Call, we raised £282.37 for Arts Emergency, an organisation doing vital work to connect young people from working-class and underrepresented backgrounds with mentors and networks in the creative industries.

Arts Emergency believes that where you come from shouldn’t determine whether you can build a creative career. They provide mentorship, resources, and community to young creatives who might not have access to the informal networks that often make or break creative careers.

60 longlisted creatives learning how to unlock your network with Ceri Hand

As part of the Amplify Future longlist prize, 60 creatives joined a masterclass with Ceri Hand on unlocking your network. Ceri is a gallerist, curator, and someone who genuinely understands how creative networks actually work (not just in theory, but in practice).

One image stuck with everyone in the session: a beehive of connections. Your network isn’t a linear ladder you climb – it’s an interconnected web where every connection has the potential to lead somewhere unexpected. The session explored how to build authentic relationships in the creative industries without feeling like you’re “networking” in that traditional, uncomfortable sense. The kind of workshop we all wish we’d had five years ago.

231 organisations posted an opportunity on Zealous…

This year, 231 organisations trusted Zealous to manage their entries. These include The Sovereign Art Foundation, Society of Scottish Artists, The Cass Art Prize, Embracing Our Differences, The Lumen Prize, The Folio Society, RMetS and CIWEM.

There’s something special about nurturing these long-term partnerships, seeing organisations return because they’ve found our services genuinely helpful.

For repeat organisations, it’s not just about convenience (though we hope we make things easier). It’s about connecting them with a community of serious, committed creatives who are actively seeking opportunities to develop their practice and gain recognition. This is the community we’re working so hard to build.

…and 129 of these organisations posted an opportunity for the first time

This one’s exciting: 129 organisations posted an opportunity on Zealous for the very first time this year. New galleries, new prizes, new commissions, new ways for creatives to get their work seen and supported.

This is the reason why we exist: to grow a virtuous cycle of creativity. And we have interviewed some of the people making these new opportunities possible, including Isabel H. Langtry who’s putting money in sculptors’ pockets through the London Sculpture Prize, while Ross Poole discussed the Michael Harding Secret Coast Prize for Fine Art and the vital work of shifting power back to artists. The British Library is another organisation that posted their first opportunity with us.

Every few minutes this year, somewhere in the world, a candidate hit the submit button

Every few minutes this year, a candidate hit the ‘submit’ button. That’s tens of thousands of courageous moments, putting yourself out there and believing your work deserves to be seen.

Some of those submissions led to wins, exhibitions, commissions, recognition. Others didn’t, and that’s the nature of creative opportunities. But here’s what we want you to know if you were one of those people entering: you did it. You showed up for yourself. You said yes when self-doubt probably whispered no. You completed the application, uploaded your images, wrote your statement, and sent it out into the world.

8 deployments to improve our services

Behind the scenes, our development team shipped 8 deployments this year, each one focused on making your experience smoother, faster, and more intuitive.

We’re really excited about bringing the biggest changes in early 2026. We’re working on simplifying multiple submissions and payments – these updates will make life easier for both organisers and candidates.

14 humans behind the scenes working hard to make things happen

Behind every opportunity, article, and email you receive from us, there are 14 humans who care deeply about making Zealous a space that truly serves creative practitioners. Our team has poured energy, creativity, and genuine care into building something that works for you.

Thank you for engaging with us this year – for reading our articles, for trusting us with your submissions, for sharing your voice notes and your visions of the future, for being part of this community. We’ve learned so much from you, and we’re already planning how to support you even better in 2026.

We’ll be here for you next year, bringing new opportunities, new resources, and continuing to advocate for creative practitioners at every stage of their journey. Watch this space, because we’re only just getting started.

Here’s to 2025, and to everything you created this year. We’re honoured to have been part of it.

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