Artists of the Year 2026 FAQs

The programme requires a significant commitment and participants are expected to dedicate as much time as reasonably possible. The programme is designed to support artists in developing sustainable careers and offers unique opportunities and support to help artists progress towards full-time creative practice, so applicants should be able to demonstrate a genuine commitment to making the most of the opportunity. For more information, please see the webinar link on the Tees Valley Artists of the Year page FAQs from 38:08mins.

The programme requires a significant commitment and participants are expected to dedicate as much time as reasonably possible. The programme is designed to support artists in developing sustainable careers and offers unique opportunities and support to help artists progress towards full-time creative practice, so applicants should be able to demonstrate a genuine commitment to making the most of the opportunity. For more information, please see the webinar link on the Tees Valley Artists of the Year page FAQs from 38:08mins.

Yes, applicants are encouraged to apply again in future years if they are unsuccessful. Applications, artistic practices, and ambitions often develop over time, and previous Artists of the Year have been successful after applying more than once. As artists continue to grow and strengthen their work, they may submit a more compelling application, and the programme welcomes applications from artists across the region who are committed to developing their practice. For more information, please see the webinar link on the Tees Valley Artists of the Year page FAQs from 38:08mins.

Applicants are not required to select a single artistic category. Instead, they can describe their practice in their own terms within the application. Applications will be grouped by the Creative Place team to ensure they are reviewed by appropriate panel members, while recognising that many artists work across multiple disciplines. This approach has been introduced to better reflect the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary artistic practice and to avoid limiting applicants to a single category. For more information, please see the webinar link on the Tees Valley Artists of the Year page FAQs from 38:08mins.

There are no formal quotas for disabled or other underrepresented artists within the selection process. However, the programme aims to ensure that the cohort reflects the diversity of the Tees Valley’s artistic community and population. A range of accessibility measures and support are in place to help remove barriers for applicants with access needs to enable them to submit their application. We aim to make the process as inclusive and accessible as possible. Please get in touch via creativeplace@teesvalley-ca.gov.uk if you have specific access requirements you wish to discuss. For more information, please see the webinar link on the Tees Valley Artists of the Year page FAQs from 38:08mins.

Yes, practical support is available for applicants with access needs related to administration, paperwork, or reporting requirements. Participants receive ongoing support from the Creative Place programme team, including regular check-ins with designated staff members who can provide assistance with monitoring forms and other programme-related tasks as needed. Additional access budget can be used where additional support needs to be bought in.

The example of writing can be from a completed or exisiting project, or can be something you're working on now. This is an opportunity to showcase your work to the panel, so whatever you feel best represents you and your work can be included.

Yes, the Artists of the Year webinar is now available to view on the link below.

If you are the main driver/creator of the work then you should apply as an individual and within your answers in A), C) and D) make reference to how your team supports you. You are able to use the development budget to support paying people to work with you.

A link to the Equal Opportunities form can be found on the final page of the application form. You can also access it directly here.

To ensure fairness, we are unable to accept appendices or additional application text in the submission section, as this space is to show examples of your work and evidence of professional recognition. As you are applying as an individual, while the appraisal panels will be interested in who you work with, the application should focus on you and your ambitions and plans, it does not necessarily need to have detailed information about collaborators.

The application questions are available to view on the offline application form which is available on the website here.

Yes, you can upload the video response and still upload 7 files to the submission section. You do not need to embed images of your work into your video. The video should just be of you speaking, answering the questions in the application form.

It is up to you if you would like to talk about your engagement in the ASPire programme, you could mention that you were shortlisted in a previous year, if you think that it is relevant and supports your application and ambitions going forward. Previous ASPire activity is not a criteria that is considered in the appraisal process (i.e. it does not automatically give you an advantage or disadvantage if you have been shortlisted previously.)

A creative partnership can apply, with multiple artists named. If successful, the bursary is paid to a single recipient who enters into the grant funding agreement with the Combined Authority and accounts for how the funding is used. In practice that means the partnership having a vehicle that can hold the funds and be party to the agreement, for example a company or partnership with a dedicated bank account for the business. If a partnership isn’t set up that way yet, there’ll be time to put that in place before the programme starts. How the funding is then allocated across the partnership is a matter for you to agree and we’d suggest you take your own tax advice on that basis.

As the reference is part of the appraisal process, your application would be marked down for that section if no reference was included, but the application would not be completeley discounted. You would still receive a score for all other sections. To ensure fairness, we are unable to accept any late submissions of information.