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.
Updates, features, and insights from the visual arts community.
We are thrilled to share that artist Rita Pena, winner of CVAN EM's Bigger Bursary in Partnership with QUAD, will open her solo exhibition in QUAD's Montage Gallery on 21 November 2026. This exciting partnership brings together CVAN EM's commitment to artist development with QUAD's renowned expertise in contemporary photography and lens-based practice. Rita receive a £2,500 bursary from CVAN EM, alongside £2,000 of support from QUAD.
I’ve been working with a lightweight 30 micron material. It isn’t glamorous, but it does something very interesting. Light passes through it. It diffuses colour. It disappears when the light changes. It folds. It catches air. It’s so thin, it can become almost nothing, and then suddenly become a large glowing form.
SCORE is an evolving practice for noticing how listening is organised across cultural organisations and exploring how it might be composed differently. It can be used within governance, staff and organisational life, curatorial and artistic relationships, and public programmes.
Discover exhibitions, workshops, talks, performances events and creative activity across the region.
Leicester Print Workshop are delighted to offer a real exploration of type in all its formats across a huge range of projects that come together to create a comprehensive toolkit for any artist interested in beginning or developing their Letterpress practice. The course is designed to build understanding of the detailed nature of Letterpress through monthly sessions which will work best if extended by using the free membership that goes with this course.
West Sussex-based woodturner Ian Payne presents handcrafted bowls, tall forms and decorative fruit, made from a mix of local and sustainably sourced hardwoods. Exploring flared and straight-sided forms, his work highlights the natural flow and beauty of the material. https://www.ianpaynewoodturning.com/
Eren Armitage is a ceramicist originally from Yokohama, Japan, now practicing in the English countryside. She draws on her Japanese heritage and the natural rhythms of her adopted home to create stoneware and porcelain vessels that balance form and surface, inviting quiet reflection and a contemporary sensibility. Her practice bridges tradition and experimentation; the precision of Japanese making meeting elemental forces of nature expressed through quiet materials, measured rhythm, and a sense of enduring presence.
Funding opportunties, residencies, creative roles, commissions, open calls, and professional or creative development.
I am the curator of @the_assembly_room, a petite gallery (80cmx80cmx30cmDeep) in Long Buckby showing contemporary art to a rural public. Our next exhibition (working title: Oops… that did not work!) is about the unplanned results of ceramic making. We're looking for works where the process did not go to plan and where accidents led to unexpected results, works showing mis-timing, clash of material, mis-application, mishaps of some sort. Works that despite those ‘errors’ did not end up on the scrap pile. Would you have kept any such results and if so, would you consider loaning a small piece for this exhibition? I will take care of all the arrangements for collection and return of the piece. If you are interested, please could you email a couple of photos of the work with work details for consideration. Thank you.
We’re seeking an artist with digital editing and moving image skills to support an Arts Council England funded project across three Leicester City libraries. You’ll co-deliver two 2-hour workshops at each library, introducing smartphone filming, storytelling, digital collage, sound, animation and free editing apps. Sessions will explore identity, place and representation, using local environments to create collaborative “Leicester Idents”. You’ll support participants with little experience, bringing your own moving image practice and expertise. A third session will focus on final edits, feedback and preparing work for public exhibition. You’ll also spend two days editing final pieces into branded showreels/slideshows for Leicester City centre screens in January alongside New Media Art Club’s COMPUTALA Digital Arts Festival. Apply with a CV, cover letter and links to relevant digital/moving image work. Interviews: Zoom, 29 October. Decision: 6 November. Sessions start from mid-November.
The Building & Operations Manager oversees the day-to-day operation of BACKLIT’s new ground-floor public facility and is responsible for the safe, efficient and well-maintained operation of Alfred House.
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