CVAN EM AGM 2026: Reflection, Dialogue and Collective Action
Taking place at a pivotal moment for the visual arts sector, the 2026 CVAN EM AGM provided an important opportunity to consider the wider context shaping our work.
20 Apr 2026
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.
CVAN EM is looking for new Steering Group Members
CVAN EM is seeking new members to join our Steering Group at an exciting moment of growth, investment and regional development. Open to Artists and Arts Workers based in the East Midlands.
07 Apr 2026
Better Together #16: Questions to Ask When Working With Others with Beverley Bennett
Questions to Ask When Working With Others is a gathering where artists / arts workers can meet to share their experience/s of challenges related to their practice. Conversations to be centred around, but not exclusive to fractures, expectations and breakdown when working with others. This gathering with be held by artist-filmmaker Beverley Bennett and consist of a series of sharing activities to take place during the session centred around the theme.
07 Apr 2026
Events & Exhibitions
Discover exhibitions, workshops, talks, performances events and creative activity across the region.
12pm - 5pm on weekdays & 12pm - 4pm on weekends
Material Worlds: Contemporary Artists and Textiles
An ambitious group exhibition exploring how artists are using textiles in surprising and radical ways. Illuminating the diverse roles textiles play in contemporary artistic practice, the exhibition brings together artists who take the intimate and domestic quality of textiles and transform them into theatrical, bold, unsettling and humorous artworks that inspire, challenge and offer new ways of thinking.
10 Mar 2026 - 03 May 2026
Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Road, Leicester, LE1 7HA
9am - 5pm weekdays, 10am - 5pm weekends
A Decade of Exhibitions
In 2016, Attenborough Arts Centre opened its new purpose-built galleries, creating a new home for contemporary art in Leicester. To mark this special milestone, we are looking back on both the programme, and also the memories and experiences of all those who have engaged with the range of artists and art we have presented and produced. This exhibition will look back at highlights from the past 10 years while inviting you to share your own stories and reflections.
10 Mar 2026 - 03 May 2026
Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Road, Leicester, LE1 7HA
Thursday- Saturday, 10am-3pm
Phil Root: Flat Earth
Flat Earth is a solo exhibition by Bristol-based artist Phil Root, presenting new ceramic works. Working with foraged and industrial materials—unprocessed clay, wood ash, and brick dust— Root explores the limits of traditional ceramics through experimental casting, glazing and firing, inviting clay to behave on its own terms. Whether casting asphalt textures from outside his studio or firing slabs of raw clay dug from a Bristol building site, he lets materials shape themselves—altered by heat, pressure, and time.
14 Mar 2026 - 13 Jun 2026
Modern Painters, New Decorators. Aumberry Gap, Loughborough, LE11 1DP
Jobs & Opportunities
Funding opportunties, residencies, creative roles, commissions, open calls, and professional or creative development.
FreeUrgent
Emerging Artist Award
Applications are open for Melbourne Festival's Emerging Artist Award 2026. Theme: HUMANITY, NATURE & CREATIVITY Applicants must be living, studying or working in the East Midlands and aged between 17 & 25, or within three years of graduating. PRIZES: The winner will receive £500, artist mentoring and a space on the 2027 Melbourne Festival Trail £250 prize for the runner-up People's Choice Award Commended Artworks HOW TO APPLY: E-mail your proposal with your idea, the inspiration and the medium you will be using, along with three images of your recent work, your contact details and age. FREE TO APPLY! DEADLINES: Deadline is 31 April 2026. Shortlisted artists will be notified by 22 May 2026. Work must be completed by 8 July 2026. Judging takes place on 17 September 2026. The awards presentation takes place on Saturday 19 September 2026, and shortlisted artists are expected to attend.
Deadline: 30 Apr 2026
Judges Prize - £1000. Public Choice Award - £500
Doddington Young Sculptor Exhibition 2026 - Call for Submissions
Doddington Hall quality images of your work, a detailed plan of proposed work, or photographs of similar work; titles; mediums; approximate dimensions HxWxDcm; prices (if applicable); a maximum 400-word statement about the work. Include any relevant social media/website links. Key dates: Deadline - 3rd May Install - 29th June – 3rd July Exhibition open - 8th July - 6th Sept
Deadline: 03 May 2026
£250 per day for a minimum of 15 days’ work until April 2027, a total of £3,750.
Freelance Project Manager: The City Classroom Leicester’s Local Cultural Education Partnership
Attenborough Arts Centre is working with partners in 2026-27 to refresh The City Classroom as Leicester s Local Cultural Education Partnership. The City Classroom s Vision is to ensure that every child and young person in Leicester thrives through rich cultural experiences. Our Mission is to raise the quality, reach and coordination of cultural opportunities across Leicester for school-age children both in school and out of school, in an effective place-based partnership for the city. We are seeking to work with a Freelance Project Manager to help us re-establish The City Classroom as Leicester s Local Cultural Education Partnership. The Project Manager will be hosted by Attenborough Arts Centre s Learning and Communities team and will report to our Learning and Communities Manager. The Freelance Project Manager will ensure the smooth and timely delivery of our Action Plan for 2026-27. This will include managing surveys and consultative processes, establishing new processes and procedures, managing administration for meetings, and organising a number of different events and initiatives. Fee and availability We would like to work with the Freelance Project Manager from 2026 to spring 2027. The fee for the Freelance Project Manager will be 250 per day for a minimum of 15 days work until April 2027, a total of 3,750. The Freelance Project Manager will be engaged on a self-employed basis. Application To apply, please send us: Your CV including the contact details for 2 referees A short covering letter (max 1 side of A4), outlining how you meet the expectations of this role and the shortlisting criteria. Please send applications to Marianne.pape@leicester.ac.uk Marianne Scahill-Pape, Learning and Communities Manager, Attenborough Arts Centre Deadline for applications: Midday, Tuesday 5 May 2026 Interviews will be taking place on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 May For more information on the role and how to apply, download The City Classroom Coordinator Job Specifications by clicking here.
Deadline: 05 May 2026
Stay Connected
Join our mailing list to receive the latest updates on exhibitions, opportunities, and events across the East Midlands visual arts community.