Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Award 2026

About the Open Call

The Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Award is an exciting opportunity providing recent graduates from universities colleges and alternative art education programmes with a free studio space, a mentorship programme and production support for one year. The Graduate Award was started in 2010, to help artists who have recently left art school and were faced with an increasingly expensive and difficult task of continuing to make art. As an artist led cooperative, we understand the challenges of sustaining an art practice in London and decided collectively to dedicate one of our studios permanently as a free space for a recent graduate and to fund the project ourselves. We also want to provide more than just a physical space and invite the award holders to become part of our community with peer learning, skill sharing and use of our resources. At the end of the year, the awardee is invited to share the outcomes of their time in Lewisham Arthouse through a public event, such as an exhibition, a workshop, performance, symposium or gig. In 2023 we were awarded an Arts Council England grant to enable an exciting new phase of development. We can now offer, amongst other things - an extended mentorship programme, a stipend and a production budget for the final project. The grant has also enabled us to expand the programme and offer use of our public spaces and funding for projects initiated by the graduates who were shortlisted.

What is Offered

free studio space, a mentorship programme and production support for one year. We provide a £500 studio stipend, £1000 for mentors, and £1000 for your final project. Use of our public spaces and funding for projects initiated by the graduates who were shortlisted.

Requirements

recent graduates from universities colleges and alternative art education programmes (between 2022-2025).

How to Apply

We are now receiving applications! Click here for further information and application form. Please see our Application Sheet before applying for details about the award. For more information about the Arthouse and the expectations from the graduate, please read our information pack. We have a few information videos about the award released through our Instagram. If you have any questions about the award or this form, please read our FAQs. We have both a PDF and word doc of our Easy Read version of this application process. If you have any questions about accessibility, or you need support completing your application, please contact us. We kindly ask you to complete and Equal Opportunities form with your application, the link is included at the end of this document.