Scott Creative Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award 2027

Scott Creative Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award 2027Deadline: 31/10/2026City: Halifax | Country: United Kingdom | Lydia PoolePaid opportunityReport this? Description Opportunity FAQs Make a submission Contact curator Scott Creative Arts Foundation (SCAF) invites emerging artists living or working in Yorkshire to submit a proposal for an original artwork responding to this year’s theme: TENSION. Shortlisted works will be exhibited as part of our 2027 Emerging Artist Award.Emerging Artist Award 2027: TENSIONScott Creative Arts Foundation invites emerging artists to respond to the theme of Tension. The theme, TENSION, emerged whilst reflecting upon the legacy of the Dean Clough Mill, the hosts of the Emerging Artist Award 2027 and once the largest Victorian carpet manufacturer in the world. We imagined the tension of the threads woven into carpets; the rhythms and strains between workers and machinery; the tensions experienced by those of the fading textile industry in the area, alongside its release into the thriving mixed-use mill that it is today. Tension can be as either a condition, a process or a lived experience. Tension is a force held between bodies, materials, systems, histories and futures. It is both structural and emotional. Tension can be a pull that stretches and resists or a force that can bind, forge and overcome limits.Tension also plays a role in artistic labour, embedded within the rhythms of work and the pressures of production. It can be cumulative, invisible or striking.Artists might consider: The physical properties of tension The body under pressure and Institutions or systems of production Biological and physical tension Social and political tensions Emotional or psychological tensions Acts of holding together or pulling apart We encourage responses that engage with materiality and its social context. Artists may choose to work with traditional techniques, disrupt them or translate their ideas into entirely different forms. We welcome proposals from a diverse range of contemporary practices, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, image, sound, video or graphics. Due to spatial limitations, we will not be able to accept proposals for performance art. This brief remains intentionally open. Proposed artworks may seek to reveal tension, embody it or attempt to resolve it. Rather than defining tension, we invite you to capture and reveal it to us, through your materials, your methods and your experiences. Please note: Due to exhibition space restrictions, we cannot accept live performances, video projections, or sound-based artworks unless audio is played exclusively through headphones Award ProcessThere are three stages to the award process: Proposal – Submit a proposal using words and images to describe an original artwork you would create specifically for this award. (If shortlisted, you will be invited to become a finalist and to realise your proposal.) Creation – If selected, produce the artwork according to your proposal. Final works must be delivered to Dean Clough by Saturday 26th June 2027. Judging and Exhibition – The shortlisted artworks will form the Emerging Artist Award 2027 exhibition at Dean Clough, Halifax. A prize-giving will take place during the Open Evening on Thursday 1st July 2027, where the winner will be selected and announced by our panel of judges. The exhibition will be open to the public, daily at Dean Clough, from Friday 2nd July 2027 until Saturday 4th September 2027. Please visit our Emerging Artist Award website to read our Terms and Conditions and to see examples of our past finalists.About UsThe Scott Creative Arts Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award has been created to acknowledge emerging artists, of all ages, who are living or working in Yorkshire.The award aims to spotlight outstanding contemporary artists in Yorkshire who are in the early stages of their career or have yet to gain recognition among art buyers, collectors, and critics.SCAF will host the Emerging Artist Award 2027 exhibition to showcase the work of ten shortlisted artists at Dean Clough, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 5AX.All exhibiting finalists will receive a prize sum of £175, with the exception of the winner of the Emerging Artist Award 2027, selected at the Open Evening, who will receive a prize sum of £1000. The winner will also receive an offer from SCAF to purchase the winning artwork for our own collection. All ten artist finalists will receive a permanent artist page on our website and benefit from access to SCAF facilities, free membership to the Sustainable Artist training programme by Ola David and inclusion in SCAFFOLD, our alumni collective. Scott Creative Arts Foundation, The Art House, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3ADScott Creative Arts Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales - Charity number 1168545. www.scottcreativeartsfoundation.org.ukhttps://www.scafemergingartist.co.uk Make a submission Contact the curator Who is eligible for this opportunity? Emerging artists living or working within a Yorkshire postcode. We define 'emerging' as a creative practitioner who doesn't yet have gallery representation and who hasn’t yet become established amongst art critics, buyers and collectors. When is the deadline? 31st October 2026. How many works can I submit? The artist must submit the idea for only one piece of art. This can include a piece of up to three parts (eg. a diptych or triptych) that must form a cohesive whole. The proposed work must not exceed 150cm x 150cm x 150cm. When is the delivery date? The proposed artworks must be completed in time for the submission of the artwork descriptions, photographs and accompanying videos on 21st May 2027. The proposed artworks must be delivered to Dean Clough (D Mill, Dean Clough, Halifax, HX3 5AX) ready to be exhibited, by Saturday 26th June 2027. When do I need to collect my work? Artworks must be collected from Dean Clough on Sunday 5th September 2027. How much does it cost? We d