Making Things Move
A Hands-On Robotics Workshop for Makers. What if your artwork could breathe, blink, or hesitate?
Contemporary Visual Arts Network East Midlands
CVAN EM celebrates and supports visual arts and culture in the region, fostering an inclusive long-term future for the sector, emphasising equity and access for all arts workers.
Latest Activity
Updates, features, and insights from the visual arts community.
Better Together #17: From Survival to Strategy | Building Stronger, More Sustainable Arts Organisations
The session will include practical advice, common pitfalls and space for live questions around funding, income and sustainability.
Ode to the Midlands Commissioned Artists Announcement
CVAN EM and CVAN WM are proud to announce the artist and organisation partnerships for Ode to the Midlands (OttM), a major new cross-regional programme investing in artists, organisations, and audiences across the Midlands through digital contemporary art.
19 May 2026
Events & Exhibitions
Discover exhibitions, workshops, talks, performances events and creative activity across the region.
Mon to Sat – 10am-5pm Sun – 10am-4pm Bank Holidays – 10am-4pm
Sofía Barbé: These Friends of Ours
Expressive creatures tell a playful, other-worldly story in this sculptural series by Sofía Barbé. Working with mixed media, including discarded wood cuttings, wire, needle felting, and paint, Sofía creates tactile figures; characters defined by their distinctive poses and expressions. Alongside these are felted wall hangings that tell visual stories, with certain characters reappearing across the works.
28 Mar 2026 - 05 Jul 2026
Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7TW
Mon to Sat – 10am-5pm Sun – 10am-4pm Bank Holidays – 10am-4pm
Raisa Kabir: I only dance, I wish we could sing
Raisa Kabir is an interdisciplinary artist and weaver based in London. Kabir utilises woven text and textiles, sound, video, and performance to materialise multiple concepts concerning the cultural politics of cloth. Kabir’s practice foregrounds excluded narratives and traces the histories of textile technologies originating in East, Central, and South Asia, which have directly influenced European centres of technology and weaving knowledge.
28 Mar 2026 - 05 Jul 2026
Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7TW
Mon to Sat – 10am-5pm Sun – 10am-4pm Bank Holidays – 10am-4pm
Chippy Tea A Seat at the Table
A legacy exhibition dedicated to the community-focused event, Chippy Tea. Chippy Tea is a recurring supper held at the Hub, bringing together people who identify as ‘outsiders’ to share personal stories around identity and belonging. Attendees are welcomed with a portion of chips (and a sauce of their choice) and invited into an informal, welcoming space for conversation, listening, and connection. Over time, Chippy Tea has become a moment of personal and cultural exchange, intergenerational conversation, and community care.
28 Mar 2026 - 05 Jul 2026
Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7TW
Jobs & Opportunities
Funding opportunties, residencies, creative roles, commissions, open calls, and professional or creative development.
£30,000Urgent
The Artist Prize
A new £30,000 open art prize for UK artists. The Artist Prize is a new £30,000 open art prize awarded to a single UK-based artist, alongside a solo exhibition at Firstsite in 2028. There are no nominations and no gatekeepers. Any UK-based artist aged 18 or over can enter, regardless of career stage, location, background, or representation. Twenty shortlisted artists will exhibit together at Firstsite from 30 January to 16 May 2027, with shipping and installation covered and an artist fee of £350 each. A further 200 longlisted artists will be selected by a national network of around 80 curators drawn from arts organisations across the UK, bringing distributed curatorial expertise to bear on what UK artists are making right now. The prize is co-founded by Guy Armitage (Zealous) and Sally Shaw MBE (Firstsite, Museum of the Year 2021).
Deadline: 08 Jul 2026
N/A
0410 COLLECTIVE
0410 COLLECTIVE at Mansfield Museum and Palace Theatre are looking for young creatives aged 16 to 25 to join the next cohort beginning in September. 0410 is a visual arts collective for young and early career artists. Over the 12 month programme successful candidates will have the opportunity to work alongside their peers, shadow established artists, develop their skills and access collections and spaces at Mansfield Museum and Palace Theatre. At the end of the project there will be opportunity for members to secure a micro commission, based on their artform.
Deadline: 16 Jul 2026
N/A
Street Art Open Call
Submissions are now open for our expansive floor-to-ceiling saloon-style exhibition in August. The annual Street Art Fest celebrates the best local, national and international street art. Join us this Summer for a refreshed look at Notts' vibrant alternative art scene, featuring guest speakers, creative workshops, and ground breaking street art. Up to 6 Pieces of work can be submitted per person and they must relate to street art. Prizes TBC. Please bring your submissions to the gallery on the scheduled drop-off date. Application forms will also be available to collect in the Gallery from 5th June! Please check our website for our opening times. Follow the link below to take part.
Deadline: 20 Jul 2026
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