Happy Opportunity Tuesday!
14 January 2025
Hi team!
Hope you’re getting on OK. I actually made a few ‘resolutions’ this year for the first time in ages, but have tried to make them nice, achievable things because frankly I am bored of feeling like I have to measure or monetise everything…
Read more.
Scroll less.
Learn to crochet.
Attempt and fail some sort of skincare routine.
Learn to sew pockets.
Sew pockets to everything.
Try ice skating.
Get chickens on the allotment (!)
Tell my friends when I’m sad.
Make last minute plans.
Even though I love my work with all my heart, none of these are about work, and that’s important. They’re just small, silly things that I hope will bring me joy, but if I don’t do them literally nothing changes. I don’t know about you, but I need a bit of anti-productivity in my life!
Hope there’s something in this week’s OppTues for you - love and solidarity xx
Happy Opportunity Tuesday!
Every Tuesday (well, almost) I share 10 #artsopps, commissions, residencies, open calls and applications closing soon.
Always PAID (or free/cheap for training) and for a range of artists: emerging to mid-career, from 16 to 80+.
Here are this week’s…
For early career musicians:
Apply for ‘Apply To Play’ to get a performance slot at Tramlines, Truck, Y Not and/or Victorious Festivals, as well as vinyl pressings of your music, £500 studio credits, press and PR shots and support, access to showcase events, industry support and more!
DEADLINE: 31 JAN
For playwrights:
Hightide are looking for 6 playwrights to form their 2025 Writers Group! You’ll get 12 months of mentoring from Kelly Jones, and a bursary of £800 as you work towards writing a new play. Plus present your work as a short rehearsed reading as part of a festival of new writing in February 2026.
DEADLINE: 19 JAN
For directors:
Southwark Playhouse are recruiting a director for their Shakespeare For Schools production of Much Ado About Nothing or A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These are fully professional productions which incorporate both schools and public performances across a four-week run at Southwark Playhouse, and applicants must have staged at least one professional production in a fringe or similar-sized venue. £3,383 fee.
DEADLINE: 7 MAR
For South Yorkshire facilitators:
A cheeky one for my organisation…RivelinCo are looking for freelance Youth Associates! Support our youth work on an ad hoc basis, including sessions with our Young Creatives group for teenagers, holiday activities for younger children and families, and projects throughout the year. Paid £25 per hour / £200 per day.
DEADLINE: 20 JAN
For transfeminine composers aged 18-30:
Apply for a FREE composition residency with GLISS, hosted by inti figgis-vizueta, Sarah Hennies, and Andrew Yee, three trans women composers and performers working in contemporary music. Spend a week in the Hudson Valley workshopping new music together, and get support through a series of lessons, workshops, masterclasses, recordings, barbecues, and hangouts.
DEADLINE: 31 JAN
For comedy writers, writer-performers, producers, directors and editors:
The BBC are offering 10 places on their upcoming Comedy Collective - get up to £10,000 worth of paid shadowing on a BBC Comedy production, an allocated production mentor, and a £5,000 development grant to put towards new material or to further support your development. Plus access to the commissioning team, and expenses covered to attend up to three BBC Comedy events.
EVENT: 31 JAN
For aspiring cultural leaders:
New Art Exchange are looking for an Associate Artistic Director for Transform, an 18-month development programme aimed at nurturing Global Ethnic Majority leaders for senior roles in the arts and culture sector. You’ll get a £30,000 budget to shape and deliver a season of work, and the salary is £35,000pa pro rata.
DEADLINE: 25 FEB
For artists of all disciplines:
Apply to create and deliver artistic work that inspires creativity on the Everyone Here Spark Bus! You could use space on the bus and spill out into the surrounding area. Your work could be an existing piece or something brand new. It should have a participatory element to it that draws people in and be accessible to people with different needs. It could suit exhibitions, performances, sculptures, projections, or something else. You’ll get £300 - £1,000 fee per location, depending on the scale of work, plus an additional resource and production budget.
DEADLINE: 27 JAN
For early career directors:
Tramshed are recruiting an Assistant Director for their production of Sorry Not Sorry. You’ll be paid £550 per week for 5 weeks, and there is a possibility that the Assistant Director in 2025 may step up to direct the performance in 2026 if availability allows.
DEADLINE: 27 JAN
For writers and producers:
New Writing North are looking for a Producer and Writer-in-Residence for Durham Writes – a new talent development programme in partnership with Durham Libraries. £4,500 fee for the writer, £2,400 fee for the producer, plus expenses.
DEADLINE: 27 JAN/3 FEB
That’s it for this week!
Really hope it’s useful. It’s a tough time for artists (and, well, everyone) at the mo so please look after each other out there. Let me know if you’re successful with your applications - I love hearing from you! And as always if you enjoy Opportunity Tuesday please share to help it reach the folks who need it most. I started it to try to level the playing field a bit, and every little helps.
Opportunity Tuesday will always be free to access, but if you can afford to chip in a little something to support me to keep it going, that would be hugely appreciated - just click the button below to support with £1 per week. (I’m freelance too!)
Thank you for your support, and I have my fingers and toes crossed for you. Good luck!
P.S. The part you’ve all been waiting for - Mabel says hi
Please note: Inclusion in #OpportunityTuesday is not endorsement. I look far and wide for the most interesting and exciting paid opportunities I can find, and though I do my best to make sure they’re legit, I don’t always know the organisations well. If you have an issue with something on the list, please get in touch with the relevant organisation. You are very welcome to send me opportunities to include, but please note I will not be able to respond to every request, and I do not guarantee inclusion in the list - each week is curated to be varied and relevant. I don’t normally share ‘traditional’ salaried roles such as marketing, development, finance etc as they are often not relevant for artists. Thanks!