Event Type

Maker Opportunities

Please browse our opportunities listings for the craft sector. This section includes news, opportunities, commissions, calls for makers, awards and funding opportunities.

To submit an opportunity to be listed on the website, please complete the submission form.

Click here for submission form.

Materials Hard + Soft International Contemporary Craft Competition and Exhibition

Awards & Competitions04-Jul-2020 - 30-Sep-2020

The Greater Denton Arts Council presents the 34th annual Materials: Hard + Soft International Contemporary Craft Competition and Exhibition.

Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2020.
QEST Reminder

Funding & Grants14-Jul-2020 - 24-Aug-2020

Deadline reminder: applications close at 5pm 24 August 2020
Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open 2021

Awards & Competitions03-Aug-2020 - 26-Aug-2020

Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open 2021 is a major award for five early-career UK-based artists and makers to develop and present ambitious new works.

Deadline: Wednesday, 26 August 2020, 5pm.
Rural Business Development Grant Scheme

Funding & Grants03-Aug-2020 - 11-Sep-2020

Scheme open for applications 3 August to 11 September 2020 via local councils.
For Sale: Jewellery Supplies

Classifieds20-Jul-2020 - 31-Aug-2020

For sales: Jewellery supplies including semi-precious beads, gemstones, enamel powders and more.
Call for Participants - Share your craft voice with August Craft Month

Community22-Jul-2020 - 25-Aug-2020

As part of keeping the profile of NI craft and makers high, particularly during August, we’d love to see some clips from makers on these themes:

Craft in 5 words or favourite craft object.
Call for Applications: Cork Craft and Design and Craft NI Sustainability Exhibition

Calls for Makers29-Jun-2020 - 09-Jul-2020

EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITY CRAFT NI AND CORK CRAFT & DESIGN

As part of August Craft Month NI and Cork Craft Month, Craft NI and Cork Craft & Design are collaborating on a maker exchange with retail and exhibition opportunity.

Deadline: Thursday, 9 July 2020, 5pm
Open Call: August Craft Month Exhibition

Calls for Makers25-Jun-2020 - 27-Jul-2020

Taking centre stage in August Craft Month 2020, the UNLOCKED exhibition will showcase the work of NI makers with a physical exhibition in the Craft NI Gallery accompanied by an online version.
Call for Submissions: Backstage Craft Special Issue for Decorating Dissidence

Calls for Makers26-May-2020 - 10-Jul-2020

Decorating Dissidence is an interdisciplinary project exploring the political, aesthetic & conceptual qualities of craft from modernism to the contemporary. The project brings together art practitioners, makers, curators, activists and academics to break down disciplinary boundaries and find new ways to critically engage with feminist art history.

Deadline: Friday, 10 July 2020.
Call for Expression of Interest: Belfast PEACE IV

Calls for Makers25-May-2020 - 01-Jun-2020

Creative Communities artist-in-residence project is part of Belfast’s PEACE IV Action Plan which is financed through the European Union and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
Creative Communities is an engaging and exciting creative arts and heritage programme taking place as part of Belfast’s PEACE IV Action Plan and aims to bring people together from all sections of the community to engage in a wide range of bespoke arts or heritage projects. Creative Communities has been working across 8 themes and areas of the city to co-design these projects with various groups and individuals, and are now at an important stage of the process in which they are ready to recruit Artists-In-Residence for some of these themes / areas.

Deadline: Monday, 1 June 2020.
Call for Applications: The Great British Sewing Bee S7

Calls for Makers11-May-2020 - 07-Jun-2020

Call for Applications: The Great British Sewing Bee S7
"We’re looking for the next collection of talented home sewers for the seventh series of The Great British Sewing Bee.

We hope that it will be safe to film The Great British Sewing Bee later in the year as planned and we are still encouraging applications. Filming will only take place when it is safe to do. We are closely monitoring the situation and following the advice of Public Health England. As a result, we may adjust how or when we carry out auditions. The safety and welfare of everyone involved in our productions is always paramount."

Deadline: 7 June 2020.
Call for Jewellers: Hand Medal Project

Calls for Makers11-May-2020 - 30-Oct-2020

Hand Medal Project

"As we witness how health professionals give their best to the community, risking their lives for us, we want to find a way to honour them. They should receive a medal, an offering given in gratitude and devotion. At some point this crisis will pass and there will be time to thank them for everything they did.

We intend to present as many healthcare workers as possible with a medal inspired by a traditional ex-vote to also mark that moment when we can glimpse the future."
UKNA City Takeover: Leicester 2021 Micro-Residencies

Calls for Makers12-May-2020 - 01-Jul-2020

UK New Artists is seeking up to 70 new artists from across the UK to takeover the city of Leicester for a long weekend.

Exhibitions, performance, music, writing and film will animate cultural spaces and unusual places, presenting the work of emerging practitioners at the leading edge of contemporary arts.

Deadline: 1 July 2020
UKNA City Takeover: Leicester 2021 Presentation

Calls for Makers12-May-2020 - 01-Jul-2020

UK New Artists is seeking up to 70 new artists from across the UK to takeover the city of Leicester for a long weekend.

Key Dates:

Applications open: Thursday 30 April
Deadline for Applications: Wednesday 1 July at 5pm
Selected artists notified by: Friday 28 August 2020
City Takeover: Friday 26 Feb - Monday 1 Mar 2021
Launch night for artists: Thursday 25 Feb
Call for Applications: Craft Council Nederland - HOW & WOW Linen

Calls for Makers20-Apr-2020 - 10-May-2020

Crafts Council Netherlands presents: HOW&WOW Linen

This is an open call for designer makers, museums, organisations and collectives to apply to be part of presentation during Dutch Design Week 2020. The aim of the presentation is to showcase surprising ways in which flax and linen can be seen. This will be showcased during Dutch Design Week 2020, depending on COVID-19 developments.

Deadline for proposals: Sunday, 10 May 2020.
ACNI Artists Emergency Programme

Funding & Grants27-Apr-2020 - 31-May-2020

The Arts Council has designed this programme to support individual artists, creative practitioners and performers.

This is a rolling programme.

Deadline for applications: Ongoing
Handmade Chelsea - Open Call for Makers and Artists

Calls for Makers03-Mar-2020 - 30-Apr-2020

Handmade Chelsea - Open Call for Makers and Artists
Deadline: Thursday, 30 April 2020.
Call for Applications: Rosy James Memorial Trust Award

Awards & Competitions16-Mar-2020 - 24-Apr-2020

This unique award is directed at makers steeped in practice using materials singly or in combination. Such materials might include fired clay or glass; fine or base metals; textiles using any kinds of applications; wood; plastics; paper or other materials not included in this list, where the emphasis is based upon the transformation of materials through the use of sustained practice towards a series of critical outcomes.

Deadline: Friday, 24 April 2020.
AUGUST CRAFT MONTH 2020

Calls for Makers23-Mar-2020 - 12-Jun-2020

At the time of writing, Northern Ireland’s festival of craft is due to return this August, funding permitting and public health permitting. While we can’t say with certainty that August Craft Month will go ahead, we hope that it will. If it does not, we will work with funders, makers and other stakeholders in the sector to develop alternative plans to promote and showcase craft at a regional level across Northern Ireland this year.

Deadline for event submissions: Friday, 12 June 2020.
Handmade in County Down Exhibition

Calls for Makers13-Mar-2020 - 01-May-2020

South Down Craft collective is seeking expressions of interest from County Down based artists and makers to submit work for an August Craft Month exhibition at Down Arts Centre titled ‘Handmade in County Down’

Deadline to apply: 1 May 2020
Future Makers Award

Calls for Makers10-Feb-2020 - 31-Mar-2020

Awarding makers, designers and craftspeople who will shape the future.

Future Makers is a Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) initiative. It offers a range of awards and supports to students and emerging makers. It is one of the largest prize-funded award programmes in Europe.

Deadline: Tuesday, 31 March 2020.