Happy Opportunity Tuesday! BUMPER EDITION
4 February 2025
Hi folks
A bumper addition for you this week to make up for missing a couple in January. It has been a very intense month with some scary deadlines, applying to funders who could change everything if we’re lucky enough to get through. I know lots of other creatives have been going through the same thing over the last few weeks - crossing fingers for all of us!
The other reason I’ve been so busy is because, alongside my brilliant colleagues, I’ve been preparing to launch a super exciting artist commission (which features in this week’s list, of course!)
Feb is looking a lot calmer, so I should be back on my weekly posts again. Thanks for bearing with me, there are some bonus opps in it for you this week :)
Big love 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 socially engaged artists:
I’m always so excited when I can share one of my own opportunities in this list…and I’m particularly proud of this one: apply to be a RivelinCo Neighbourhood Artist! We’re looking for 6 artists, or groups of artists, to co-design and deliver exciting creative community projects in 6 North Sheffield neighbourhoods, in collaboration with community partners. Get up to £5,000 commission fee, plus up to £750 materials budget, access budget, and a huge package of support including a Lead Producer, professional photos, marketing, tech support and more.
DEADLINE: 3 MAR
For storytellers:
Get £1,000 bursary and 5 mentoring sessions PLUS £1,000 fee for your mentor, from Adverse Camber! Adverse Camber will support the mentee and the mentor, including a first meeting to set goals and outcomes, plus informal meetings between the mentees to discuss career opportunities, network and share experiences.
DEADLINE: 9 FEB
For visual artists and makers in Yorkshire:
Apply for Testing Ground, a residency programme for creative experimentation at Exchange Place Studios in Sheffield. You’ll get £2,000 fee, 24/7 studio space access for 8 weeks, £500 materials grant, and more! The next residency is 1 April - 25 May 2025.
DEADLINE: 17 FEB
For female and non-binary writers:
The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is back! Apply to win up to £20,000, their largest ever first prize. The Prize is open to full-length plays written in English, by female and non-binary playwrights. The first prize will be awarded in respect of an option agreement with Ellie Keel Productions, Paines Plough, and Sheffield Theatres.
DEADLINE: 22 APR
For early-career working class creatives:
The White Pube Creatives Grant is a one-off £500 given out every month. It is no-strings attached financial support to help you with whatever you like - be that money to cover time to make, or money to fund materials, equipment, research, subscriptions, development, travel, or even rent and bills. Anybody can put themselves forward, and if you are not awarded the grant one month, your submission is still taken into consideration for future months so there is no need to re-submit.
DEADLINE: ROLLING
For British East and Southeast Asian theatre artists:
Apply to be part of a 9 month creative incubator opportunity with New Earth Theatre! They’re looking for artists and companies who are interested in using a heritage artform in their contemporary practice. Each artist will receive £2,000, plus mentoring in fundraising, marketing, and creative development, and a residency at Bush Theatre or Leeds Playhouse.
DEADLINE: 5 FEB
For Leicester-based artists and creatives:
Apply for a small grant (usually around £500) to support a creative project which develops or celebrates what you do in some way, from the Lucy Phillips Arts Fund, in memory of Lucy Phillips who sadly died in July 2024.
DEADLINE: 20 MAR
For performance and multi-disciplinary artists:
Co-produced by In Good Company and Derby Theatre, Departure Lounge Festival is an arts festival celebrating and showcasing ground-breaking performances, workshops, installations and discussion. This year’s theme is ‘Play’ and submissions are open for work that responds or links to this theme. You’ll be guaranteed a fee of between £1,000 or £2,000 dependent on the scale of the work, plus Festival Artist Passes and accommodation if required.
EVENT: 13 FEB
For Black artists of all disciplines:
The Creative Debuts’ Black Artists Grant offers no-strings attached financial support. You can spend the grant on whatever you want: new work, equipment or materials, travel, research, exhibitions or conferences, or even just cover some life expenses. A new recipient is chosen monthly and given £500.
DEADLINE: ROLLING
For writers:
Apply for the Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize to win up to £3,000 for your playwriting response to the theme ‘Fear’.
DEADLINE: 1 APR
For artists based in the Black Country:
Apply for Black Country Digital Firsts to get financial support, build your digital creative skills, meet others artists and receive mentoring and advice. You may wish to create a piece of music, visual art, dance, drama, documentary, poetry, prose or animation – anything that can be enjoyed by audiences digitally.
DEADLINE: 20 FEB
For political artists and creative activists:
ArtCry support political artworks in public space, with decisions made on applications within a week. Apply for up to £2,500 for work which is time-critical and responsive to social/political events happening now.
DEADLINE: ROLLING
For creatives with lived experience of migration, displacement and/or seeking sanctuary:
Migration Matters Festival, a 9-day theatre and arts festival in Sheffield celebrating the positive impact of migration, are recruiting guest curators for their 2025 programme. Get £2,500 fee for part time work between Feb-June, to expand ways to include migrant voices in the festival, produce projects, and curate a programming strand of multi-discipline art forms for diverse audiences.
DEADLINE: 7 FEB
For visual and cross art form artists:
Orleans Gallery in Twickenham are looking for an artist or a collection of artists to create an exhibition that transforms the environment into a space for exploring imagination in a playful way for people of all ages in 2026. Get £20,000 (inclusive of artist fees, technical support, materials and expenses), plus £3,000 for participatory workshops with partner organisations, production management support and more.
DEADLINE: 10 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 and Chewie say 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!