Open calls

Open Call — Groninger Visual Arts Stipends — local & international

Applications for the Groninger Visual Arts Stipends 2025 are open! You can apply until 19 March 2025 for the two stipends Land and Horizon.

About the stipends

The Groninger Visual Arts Stipends are awarded annually to stimulate the artistic development and cultural entrepreneurship of starting, promising visual artists and designers. The stipends encourage new work that can make a meaningful contribution to contemporary art in the Netherlands. Since 2023, these stipends are the successors of the George Verberg Stipendium and the Hendrik de Vries Stipendium, both of which have been awarded to young artistic talent for decades.

The two stipends each consist of an amount of €20,000 for a working period of one year, and are linked to support programs in which the talent development of the artist is central. In doing so, the artist makes use of the network, expertise and facilities of the Noordenaars; a platform for presentation institutions in the Northern Netherlands consisting of 12 organisations.

The collaborating parties of the Municipality of Groningen, Kunstpunt Groningen and Minerva Art Academy attach great importance to a qualitative support process for the winning artists as part of the stipends. In this way, they offer more sustainable support for the development of artistic practice.

Land and Horizon, a local and an international focus

The stipends both have their own orientation:

Land is focused on researching and making an impact in the local region. Artists are encouraged to work in the surroundings of Groningen and the Northern Netherlands. This can be done, for example, by researching this environment, working on location, addressing social and societal issues and/or by working together with local communities.

Horizon has an international orientation in which the artist is encouraged to spread his wings and develop a (part of a) project abroad. This process starts in the North with a preliminary investigation, and then leaves for a location outside the Netherlands for, for example, a residency, collaboration or presentation. At the end of the process, the artist will return to the North, to share the results, experience and knowledge that the artist has collected with the local public and the cultural field.

⏰ Deadline for this open call: Wednesday 19 March 2025

ℹ️+🧑‍💻  For all information and application, go to👉 Groninger Visual Arts Stipends | Minerva

Open call — Akerk + Trypan Blue are looking for artists to participate in exhibition 'Nature versus Nurture' — Groningen

Akerk and Trypan Blue are organizing the exhibition Nature versus Nurture in the Akerk this fall. For this exhibition, they are now looking for artists who work from painting, sculpture, installation, photography or mixed media.

Trypan Blue about this open call:

“Dive into the age-old debate of Nature versus Nurture through art in our upcoming exhibition, which explores the intricate interplay between genetic inheritance and external influences on the development of human identity.

Nature versus Nurture seeks to reveal how our identities and creative expressions are shaped by given biological traits and influenced by the rich cultural, social and family environment.”

⏰ Deadline for submissions: March 5
🗓️ Exhibition dates: August 23 to September 21, 2025
📍 Location: Akerk

ℹ️🧑‍💻 For all information and registration, go to 👉 Trypan blue

Open call — Designers Thinking — Groningen

Designers Thinking is looking for proposals for the upcoming season around the theme Making-Together. This is what they say about their open call:

“Making: Making through prototyping, sketching, or physical model-building- serve as a catalyst to move beyond and generate ideas. By working together in a shared space, participants will be encouraged to experiment, prototype, and communicate ideas through materials and action, not just words and computers! Whether you are designer, artist, engineer, student or just a curious maker, the call aims to employ the power of collective hand-on experience to explore new perspectives and new mindsets toward the modern craft and techniques.

Together: rejecting the capitalist idea of existing as an individual; sharing experiences, knowledge, and skills that are often kept exclusive. Stop gatekeeping! Finding a space to come together for mindsharing, inspiring, and sharing their frustrations and excitements. We will also explore design’s role in creating and shaping a sense of community.

We are looking for playful, experimental session proposals, which are open in format. Think of workshops, presentations, testing & feedback moments, roundtables, walks, crafting sessions, excursions, etc. The direction and approach can vary! We are open to different orientations, focusing more on material and technique, politics and activism, teaching and learning, or something else. We would love it if participants can make something during the session to take home afterwards.

We are interested in providing an accessible and energizing environment, so let us know if we can accommodate any accessibility needs! We can discuss and develop your session together in further detail. Our program is in English. As a self-organised collective and currently we do not offer financial compensation for the session facilitators. (Because we are anti-capitalist!)”

⏰ Deadline for this open call: Friday 28 February, 11:59 p.m.

🧑‍💻 Register here 👉 OPEN CALL | | DT: Making-Together

ℹ️ Want to know more about this open call? 👉 Designers Thinking (@designers_thinking) • Instagram photos and videos

Open call — Kunstruimte H47 — Leeuwarden

Kunstruimte H47 is an exhibition and project space for contemporary visual arts in the centre of Leeuwarden. The Grafisch Atelier Friesland (GAF), the Hania artists and Stichting VHDG share this space and organise exhibitions in turn.

From 28 April to 1 June, there is room in the programming for artists, collectives and curators from outside. Do you have a good idea for an exhibition, but no place to realise it? Then participate in this open call!

🧠 Good to know:

• ✅ The main rule is: anything is possible and allowed, as long as you can return the space to its original state, it does not pose a risk to health and safety or cause permanent damage to the space.
• 👌 An exhibition is successful if the artist provides an interesting view of current affairs, he or she has pushed the boundaries of his or her own work and the visitor is encouraged to look at the world with a new perspective.
• 💰 H47 offers a budget of up to 850 euros, in addition a maximum compensation of 100 euros for printing and a maximum compensation of 50 euros for an opening.

⏰ Deadline: submit your plan before Thursday 20 February 2025, via contact@h47.nl.

ℹ️ For all information, go to 👉 OPEN CALL! – H47

Open Call — Kaalstaart 2025 — Amersfoort 🛥️ Zwolle 🛥️ Groningen 🛥️ Dokkum

The latest edition of Kaalstaart, a festival for beta art, is in the making. This floating festival will take place in April and will visit four cities: Amersfoort, Zwolle, Groningen and Dokkum. Artists who want to participate can register now.

Kaalstaart about this open call:

“Kaalstaart is a festival organised by artists. Together we ensure a great weekend and a good stage. Inspiring for each other and the audience. What does Kaalstaart have to offer artists:

• A stage for artists and the audience focused on art, technology and science;
• A diverse mix of exhibition spaces on board a number of inland vessels and on the quay;
• Documentation in the form of photos of the works, a review and video report;
• PR on Mastodon, Facebook, Instagram and the Kaalstaart website, among others;
• An artist dinner on the Friday evening before the festival;
• 💰 A subsidy has been requested to be able to provide travel or presentation compensation. If we succeed, we will share the available resources among all participating artists;
• And of course an unforgettable Kaalstaart!

The rules

• Your work fits within the theme ‘science art’;
• Your submission preferably does something with the input of the scientists;
• Your submission has not been seen at Kaalstaart before;
• You are present (as much as possible) during opening hours for interaction with the public;
• Kaalstaart is an event for experiment and exhibition, not for selling your work.”

⏰ There is no hard deadline for this open call, but registration before April would be most appreciated.

ℹ️🧑‍💻 For more information and the registration form, go to 👉 Kaalstaart

Open call — Folly Art Norg 2025 — Norg

Folly Art Norg about this open call: 

“Folly Art Norg is an annual event where (building) art, architecture and design come together in the form of unconventional structures, so-called follies. These follies form a 7.5 km long walking route through the beautiful nature around the Drenthe village of Norg. We invite artists, architects and creative thinkers to design and realize their interpretation of a contemporary folly. Participation offers the chance to win a unique experience and the jury prize of € 5,000!

Folly Art Norg welcomes designs that fit within the broad definition of a folly. This Open Call is open to everyone with an original and feasible design: from professional to amateur, from artist to architect, from self-taught to creative spirit outside the traditional art disciplines or from construction team to soloist.

Project participation + participation conditions

♻️ Design criteria: The design must fit within the broad definition of a ‘folly’. Choice of materials is free, but we encourage the use of sustainable, environmentally friendly, circular and/or reused materials.

💰 Budget: the construction budget is €650.

📐 The dimensions are at least 3 m² and maximum 25 m² with a height of up to 4 m.

🦺 Safety: The construction must be sturdy and safe for the public, suitable for at least 10,000 visitors, or vandal-proof.

🗓️ Construction period: The construction will take place on site from 18 to 25 July 2025.

⏰ Submission deadline: No later than 28 February 2025.”

ℹ️ For all information and conditions, go to 👉 Open-Call-FAN25-incl-Engels.pdf

Open call — Seed Grant — Stichting Stokroos

Visual artists, designers, painters and craftsmen can now (27 January 2025) apply for a Seed contribution from Stichting Stokroos.

The contribution is intended for unusual maker practices: unconventional ideas and an original use of techniques, materials and crafts are paramount.

The budgets that are made available are:

💰 €5,000 for an individual;
💰 €7,500 for a collaboration.
💰 Total budget: €120,000 per half year

The Hanzenfonds of the Cultuurfonds contributes to the budget. Stichting Stokroos divides this contribution over plans in which craft training and deepening play a role.

⏰ There is no deadline for applying for a contribution, but responding quickly pays off: gone is gone.

🧑‍💻 You can start your (trial) application here

ℹ️ For all information and conditions, go to 👉 Seed – Stokroos

❓ Do you have any questions?
☎️ Call Stichting Stokroos during the telephone consultation hours, every Monday from noon – 1.00 p.m.: +31 (0)6 – 811 077 21
📧 Or send a message to mail@stokroos.nl.

Open call — Exhibition ‘Verdwalen’ (Getting Lost) — MOW / Museum Westerwolde

For the exhibition Verdwalen (‘Getting Lost’), expected in May 2025, the MOW challenges artists to work on the theme of walking; walking as a form of slow and therefore intimate way to experience the landscape.

Sensory experience

By walking through the Groningen countryside, you experience your surroundings with all your senses. Every season offers new experiences, every path new discoveries, even when you always choose the same roads. Walking is an intense way to experience the landscape in all its fullness and diversity and to become familiar with your natural environment.

Contact with the land

The Verdwalen exhibition is about walking without a systematic approach or predetermined goal. Walking as a journey of discovery in itself. Getting lost takes you to unexpected destinations and also makes you curious. How did the country become the way it is, what is its history, what are the stories?

Registration and deadline

🧑‍💻 Artists can register with recently existing work or with a description/sketch of new work via the registration form on the museum’s website (www.hetmow.nl)

⏰ Deadline for registration is Sunday 23 February.

ℹ️ For more information, go to 👉 Verdwalen | Het MOW (and scroll down)

Open Call – Op Woeste Gronden – Fruithof Frederiksoord

🔍 Op Woeste Gronden is looking for professional artists from Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen for an event in July and August 2025 at the Fruithof in Frederiksoord, Drenthe.

On the central terrain of the Fruithof, an 8-hectare park with over 800 fruit trees, there is a canopy (pagoda) of six canopies. There is space under the canopies for art by as many artists.

Each canopy has a ground surface of 6 × 6 meters. Under each canopy there is a low plateau of a maximum of 4 × 4 meters, on which the images, compositions or installations are exhibited. The works are therefore not inside, but outside, despite the protection of the canopies and the yet to be added shell of wind cloth around the entire pagoda.

ℹ️ Are you interested or curious?
📧 Mail to info@opwoestegronden.nl and you will receive more information about the concept, what the terrain looks like, the pagoda and the floor plan.

🧠 Good to know:

• There is no deadline for this open call;
• You can also find this open call via 👉 Open call | Op Woeste Gronden
• Op Woeste Gronden endorses the Fair Practice Code and has therefore included the Fair Pay principle in the budget.

Open Call – International FiKVA Prize for Painters 2025 – online

Figuratieve Kunst Vandaag (Antwerp) about this open call:

“The FiKVA Foundation proudly presents the 3rd International FiKVA Prize for Representative & Figurative Painters – a unique opportunity for artists worldwide to gain international recognition, share their talent worldwide and win great cash prizes. The entire competition is online – so there is no need to send or hand over your work!

💰 Submit your best paintings from the past two years, and you could win cash prizes of up to €5,000, high-quality art supplies and a 6-month gallery representation or an online exhibition!

The International FiKVA Prize for Painters is open to all artists aged 18 and over. The FiKVA Prize accepts all styles of realistic painting – modern and classical realism, imaginative realism, hyperrealism, photorealism, luminism, surrealism, etc. – as long as the artwork is realistic and not stylized or abstract. If your work captures the essence of the world and reflects your unique artistic voice, we want to see it!”

Key dates:

⏰ Open call deadline: April 15, 2025, 11:59 p.m.
🗓️ Top 100 announcement: May 1, 2025
🗓️ Winners announcement: May 15, 2025
🗓️ Online Exhibition launch (Top 35): May 20, 2025

ℹ️ For all information, go to 👉 OPEN-CALL-FiKVA-2025-English.pdf

Open call – Artist in Residence AnnAtopiA – Het Goordonk (North Brabant)

Professional artists, poets and writers can apply for a working period in AnnAtopiA AiR.
​It is possible to work as an artist in residence in the Boshut and to stay in the Boshuis.

Disciplines
All visual and performing arts, creative writing

🗓️ Residence
Minimum of one week

📍 Locatie
AnnAtopiA
Het Goordonk 15
5111 GG Baarle-Nassau

💸 Cost
The cost for the stay of 1 week are €250 (Excl. costs for living). In consultation there is a special rate for students, starting artist and the less wealthy.

Admission guidelines
– professional art education / CV / portfolio
– motivation and global work plan

Description of the program
– introductory meeting
– filling in and signing the user agreement
– discuss motivation and work plan
– discussing and recording conversations about work process coaching, press moments and the like.
– closure with reflection report

Desired result of stay
– positive contribution to the development of artistry
– at least one work in the discipline (s) of the artist

📧 You can send your motivation, plan, portfolio and CV to AirAnnAtopiA@gmail.com
✉️ Or send it directly to:

      Stichting AnnAtopiA
      Vondelinghof 2
4908 DV Oosterhout, The Netherlands

ℹ️ Request more information for the different options via: AirAnnAtopiA@gmail.com

Open Call – Pop-Up Art Rental Groningen – Vapiano Building (Nieuwe Markt)

Kunstpunt has settled in the heart of the city! Our pop-up of the Kunstuitleen is now located in the former Vapiano building, diagonally opposite Forum Groningen.

Would you like to show your work at this busy location? Then participate in this open call, and who knows, your work might soon be in the window at the Nieuwe Markt! From Thursday, May 16, we will give a new artist a stage here every two weeks.

This is what we ask of you:

• You are a professional visual artist, working or living in the province of Groningen;
• You can register by emailing a photo of the work you want to show to info@kunstpuntgroningen.nl, stating the title, technique, size and sales price;
• The work must be available and suitable for lending; the work must be equipped with a hanging system at the back;
• The size of the window in which the work will be displayed is 319 cm high x 148 cm wide (good to know: it is a window on the shady side, so no sunlight shines on your work);
• You arrange your own transport to and from Vapiano, after coordination with Kunstpunt;
• We select works from all registrations; the artist is then told if and when the work will be shown;
• If a work is loaned, it is for a minimum of six and a maximum of twelve months (longer in consultation)

🗓️ From Thursday 16 May we will start showing selected work. We will do this at least until March 2025. Would you like to have a chance to show your work to the public at this unique promotional location? Then sign up quickly!

ℹ️ If you have any questions or comments, please email info@kunstpuntgroningen.nl

Open Call – Pakje Kunst – MOW / Museum Westerwolde

Since September 24, 2023, there has been a Pakje Kunst vending machine in the museum shop at the MOW. Pakje Kunst presents works of art the size of a pack of cigarettes in an old mechanical cigarette vending machine. A box costs only € 6,- and you can find every form of art in it. The proceeds go almost entirely to the participating artists.

For the machine, MOW is always looking for artists from Westerwolde, Oldambt, Pekela, Veendam and Stadskanaal who enjoy to surprise, confuse, move or slightly irritatate people with works of art the size of a pack of cigarettes.

ℹ️ For more information, visit Pakje kunst | Het MOW