GRAIN Projects are pleased to announce their new Bursary Opportunity supporting emerging artists working with photography to make new work and develop their practice. They particularly seek to encourage artists exploring new approaches to photography.

Two Bursaries will be awarded to UK-based artists to realise ambitious new works made in the West Midlands. 

Two artists will receive a £2,000 award each with mentoring support from GRAIN Projects to create new work over 8 months. 

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 9^th March 2026 at 12 noon.

The bursary supports artistic development and experimentation and the production of new work.  It offers time to explore processes and try out new ideas.   The applicant must have a photographic practice.  Now in its fifth edition this opportunity is part of a broader series of professional development opportunities conceived and developed by GRAIN Projects, celebrating 10 years as a platform and champion of photography, supported by Arts Council England and Birmingham City University. 

Bursary Award
The full Bursary Award is £2,000.  The selected artists will be paid the Bursary in two instalments to be agreed.

Purpose
The Bursary has been designed to support excellence in photography.  The award of a Bursary is intended to provide artists with time to think, research, reflect and/or experiment with new ideas, to enable the research and development of new work. 

Applicants must demonstrate that they have an established practice and a track record of working at a professional level within the area of interest. They must also evidence a high level of quality, imagination and ambition in their work. The Bursary can support practitioners at different stages in their career (please see below definition of ’emerging’).

Applicants will be asked to demonstrate:

• A strong commitment to working at a professional level
• High quality work
• Ambition for their work and practice
• A clear understanding of the Bursary outcomes they wish to achieve and an outline schedule for the work
• A clear rationale as to why a Bursary would be important at this stage in their practice.

Emerging Artist Definition:
We define ‘emerging’ as a someone who has not yet had a major solo show or a published monograph.

Who May Not Apply
Students in f/t application may not apply and we do not fund any activity which is related to courses of formal education.

When
Deadlines: apply by 12 noon (GMT) on 9^th March 2026
Bursary Outcome:   Any outcomes should be delivered within 8 months of the award. 

How to Apply:                             

• An outline plan and schedule for the activity to be undertaken (max 2 sides of A4)
• Examples of previous work, up to 10 images or examples of projects.  All work should be numbered and include, title, date, dimension and media.   
• An up-to-date CV and Bio
• A simple outline budget showing the main costs that the Bursary is intended to cover over a defined period.
• Please download and complete the Equal Opportunities Form and attach to your application. The form can be downloaded here.
• Please send the above in one PDF.  Please do not send any other additional information as this will not be considered within the assessment process.
• Send to: applications@grainphotographyhub.co.uk Deadline:  12 noon 9^th March 2026

Unfortunately due to high numbers of applications we are unable to offer feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the opportunities please contact stephen.burke@grainphotographyhub.co.uk