OPEN CALL: Members Development Bursaries

Yes, as long as you justify this in terms of your ongoing creative and professional development. This might relate to new experience or new artistic mediums.

If you say “I’d like to use it to go on a hot air balloon ride because I’ve always fancied it” then you won’t be successful. If you say “I’ve always been a painter but I just haven’t been able to capture the land from the air, so I request this bursary to go on a hot-air balloon ride to attempt some new paintings” you’d stand more chance. 

Yes, if certain criteria are met. If you live outside the North of Tyne (NoT) area, you will need to demonstrate how the bursary will be of benefit to the North of Tyne area. This might be via the work taking place in your studio in the Shieldfield Centre, through cementing or fostering relationships in the NoT area, or by commissioning other artists who live in NoT.

We need you to complete a simple evaluation form in early December 2025 to tell us how you have spent the money, and how it has supported your development.

If you are applying for up to £1000 for a collaboration, an individual can be lead applicant.

If you are applying for £1000 per collaborator, all applicants would have to be equally strong. 

Not necessarily, but you should register as self-employed with HMRC for any income over £1000. This bursary might be catalyst for you becoming self-employed. NewBridge staff can advise on this, and we do an annual event on it as part of the Kaleidoscope Network that you can attend.

No, the money needs to be paid via invoice to the recipients of the bursaries.

It’s up to you. It is good practice to consider this, and as advocates for paying artists fairly we encourage it. In reality, you might want to spend the £1000 on materials or tools and be happy not receiving a fee. Everyone’s circumstances are different. If you are paying other people for mentoring or assistance, then factor them in at industry guideline rates.  

NewBridge works with artist union rates, adopting the highest hourly rate for artists with 5+ years’ experience. This is £43 per hour, or £345 for a day rate.
 

We have decided not to adopt a graded scale of fees (where the starting point is graduating from higher education and goes up by years of experience). This is to acknowledge the important contribution that artists without formal education make at NewBridge.

Of course. Let us know in the application this is your intention, as it helps us to understand the larger aims or potential impact of the bursary.

If you are applying for other funding this summer, remember to refer to the bursary as “anticipated”, “unconfirmed” or “pending application”, until you hear from us about the outcome. 

Please note that some funders may not want to support projects that are already underway. If you’re planning to use this bursary to unlock further funding, make sure the timelines are clearly distinct — for example, use the bursary as “seed funding” for a “phase one” or “pilot” stage. 

Also, let us know how you would use the bursary if your larger funding application is unsuccessful. 

Please note: the bursary must be spent by December, and you’ll need to complete an evaluation form by then stating how the funding was used. We’re not able to release the bursary in advance for a project or purchase that might not happen for years — it’s intended to support work that takes place in the next few months.

Yes, that’s fine. For example, you might put it towards an international research trip or a costly piece of equipment. You’ll just need to make sure you can cover the full cost (e.g. through other funding, personal savings, etc.). 

Please note: the bursary must be spent by December, and you’ll need to complete an evaluation form by then stating how the funding was used. We’re not able to release the bursary in advance for a project or purchase that might not happen for years — it’s intended to support work that takes place in the near term. 

Yes, but this must happen before the submission deadline.

You can apply to be a member here.

No. But email us any questions (dan@thenewbridgeproject.com) with the subject line Development Bursary Query, and do keep checking this page, as we will add additional FAQs for any things that come up at the Open Day.

No. We’ll be commencing the selection process the day after the deadline. We know hard deadlines don’t work for everyone, so we’ve factored in a five weeks to get applications together, attend the Open Day, ask us questions etc. If you want to set yourself a soft deadline, we can recommend a week before our official deadline. We set the submission time of 5pm so you aren’t panicking into the night.

Firstly, a NewBridge staff member will whittle the applicants down to a longlist by disregarding anyone not eligible: 

• people who aren’t NewBridge members 

• people who haven’t supplied the information we ask for  

• applications that are unrealistic or are unrelated to creative practice and professional development. 

Then we’ll shortlist (two to three staff members) using the following criteria:  

• Do we understand fully what is being proposed? Is there detail, specificity and minimal blanks for us to fill in? 

• Is this pushing this person’s practice/allowing them to do something they currently are unable to do? 

• Is this realistic/achievable/viable? 

• Does it relate to their practice/are any new avenues justified and evidenced? 

• Do we trust that this will happen if we give them the money? 

• Are all our questions answered fully? If there are question marks over any element we won’t be in touch for clarification – you’ll most likely go in the “no” pile. 

Then we’ll decide on the distribution of the £10000. This will likely be a mixture of qualitative (fully understanding the details and how it fits into the narrative of your artistic progression, will you do what you say you’ll do) and quantitative (scoring people based on the above criteria). 

We won’t select based on our favourite art forms, and we won’t prioritise one form of development over another (e.g. we don’t value mentoring differently to buying some materials or paying yourself for a mini-project).

We’ll then contact the successful applicants, issue a simple letter of agreement and commence the payment plans.

We will make payment on receipt of an invoice, and we can supply a template if needed.

Unless otherwise agreed we will pay 75% on receipt of a signed letter of agreement, and 25% on the receipt of a completed evaluation form in December.

We can pay the instalments differently to this if you require (e.g. you plan to spend the money later or need all the money up front to afford what you have outlined). This will be agreed ahead of signing the letter of agreement.

Not in any detail. We’ve put a lot of effort into explaining the process of applying, demystifying what we are looking for and suggesting good approaches, and are anticipating high demand.

NewBridge staff do offer NewBridge members support with future applications (not limited to NewBridge opportunities), references, 1-1 guidance and we are more than happy to apply learning from this process to things you apply for in future.