Freelands Studio Fellowships 2027

Fellowships were once a staple of the art education landscape, providing a vital first step in many artists’ careers by enabling them to develop their own practice within an educational context that embeds making alongside learning and teaching. 

Since 2021, the Freelands Studio Fellowship has continued this legacy by offering early career artists the opportunity to undertake a one-year, full-time, paid studio residency. This allows them to immerse themselves within the academic community and artistic ecology of an art school, in one of seven participating universities across the UK.

For the artist on the fellowship, working alongside art students and a faculty of tutors, lecturers and technicians, encourages them to examine their own practice, responding to tools and thoughts available within (and at times unique to) an educational context, while building their own approach to teaching.

Find out more about the Fellowships in our long-read: 'The case for artist fellowships in art schools', and discover a range of resources from our past fellows on our website. 

All Fellows on the programme will receive:

• Access to a studio space and a range of research, technical and workshop facilities to develop and diversify their practice. 
• Dedicated mentorship.
• The opportunity to develop a teaching practice, working alongside staff and supporting students through workshops, crits and tutorials. 
• The opportunity for a solo presentation of their work, such as an exhibition, either onsite at the university or at another nearby location arranged by the university.
• A £28,000 bursary and further support towards their creative and professional development, including spending a day at another partner university as a visiting lecturer.

This opportunity is open to artists with a studio-based practice or a practice that would benefit from full-time studio space, working in any medium, and who have received an Undergraduate or Master's degree from one of our partner art schools: 

• Bath School of Art, Film and Media, Bath Spa University.
• Birmingham School of Art, Birmingham City University.
• Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff Metropolitan University.
• Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee.
• Falmouth School of Art, Falmouth University.
• Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
• Belfast School of Art, Ulster University.

Please note, those with a PhD/ doctorate are not eligible. For full application guidance and eligibility criteria, download the application guidance document below.

You can also check your eligibility via the online checker here.

To prepare your application, please read the guidance document below.

To submit your application, email your completed Application Form to [email protected] by 12pm on Thursday 15 October 2026.

If you have any questions related to eligibility or the application process, please contact [email protected].

Freelands Foundation is committed to making the application process for our grants as accessible as possible. Please refer to the Guidance Document for access support provisions. 

If you require additional assistance or information please email [email protected] with the subject line ‘Freelands Fellowship 2027 – Access’ or call 0203 598 7081.

Application Information Sessions

To support you with the application process, there will be two online information sessions, co-hosted by regional contemporary art networks.

• The first event is co-hosted with CVAN WM (Contemporary Visual Arts Network West Midlands), joined by artists Lou Blakeway and Ellie Spink, and will take place 1pm, Wednesday 16 September. Register here.
• The second is co-hosted with VASW joined by artists Kelsey Cruz-Martin and Alice Corile, and will take place 1pm, Tuesday 29 September.

Each event will include current and former fellows sharing their experience and an opportunity to ask questions. More information and registration links coming soon.

^{Header image: Still from Jennie Bates at Birmingham City University. Freelands Studio Fellowship 2025. Filmed and edited by Robert Alexander.}