Scott Creative Arts Foundation (SCAF) invites emerging artists living or working in Yorkshire to submit a proposal for an original artwork responding to this year’s theme: HERITAGE. Shortlisted works will be exhibited as part of our 2026 Emerging Artist Award.

Emerging Artist Award 2026 Brief: HERITAGE 

Art is inseparable from Heritage.

Each act of creation is shaped by what has come before it: by the stories, materials and traditions that form our identities and cultures.

Heritage is often deeply rooted in people, place or ritual. It shapes how we express ourselves and can determine how we connect our past with our present and, in turn, what we carry into the future.

This year, the theme for our Emerging Artist Award is Heritage.

We are inviting artists to reflect on and respond to the stories, identities, and influences that shape who we are.

Your work might explore personal memories, cultural traditions, social history, architectural legacy or anything else that speaks to what we inherit and what we choose to pass on.

We invite you to draw from the legacy of your communities, ancestors, environments and experiences to reflect on the past and how you use it to inform the future.

Concepts of heritage to consider may include:

• Objects, qualities or traditions passed down through generations
• Places and people that hold ancestral or historical significance
• Moments of transformation where past and present intersect
• The preservation of endangered stories or cultural practices
• New interpretations or challenges to inherited narratives
  
  

We are proud to announce that the 2026 Emerging Artist Award exhibition will be displayed in Doncaster.

A city teaming with architectural and industrial heritage, from its Roman walls and medieval castles to its key role in Britain’s railway industry.

Doncaster is also a proudly multicultural city, shaped by generations of migration and community, where diverse voices and lived experiences continue to influence its culture, identity and creative spirit.

We welcome proposals from a diverse range of contemporary practices.

Please note:

Due to exhibition space restrictions, we cannot accept live performances, video projections, or sound-based artworks unless audio is played exclusively through headphones

Award Process

There are three stages to the award process:

1. Proposal – Submit a proposal using words and images to describe an original artwork you would create specifically for this award. (If shortlisted, you will be invited to become a finalist and to realise your proposal.)
2. Creation – If selected, produce the artwork according to your proposal. Final works must be delivered to SCAF by Saturday 4th July 2026.
3. Judging and Exhibition – The shortlisted artworks will form the Emerging Artist Award 2026 exhibition at Danum Gallery, Doncaster. A prize-giving will take place during the Open Evening on Thursday 23rd July 2026, where the winner will be selected and announced by our panel of judges. The exhibition will remain at Danum Gallery until 20th September 2026 before touring to Scott Creative Arts Foundation.
   
   

Please visit our Emerging Artist Award website to read our Terms and Conditions and to see examples of our past finalists.

Emerging Artist Award 2026 Judges

Dr Sue Armstrong - Trustee and Artistic Director of the Scott Creative Arts Foundation

Shirley Hudson - Artist: Painter and Sculptor

Mouse - Artist: Sculptor

Lou Hazelwood - Winner of the SCAF Emerging Artist Award 2025

About Us

The Scott Creative Arts Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award has been created to acknowledge emerging artists, of all ages, who are living or working in the Yorkshire region.  

The award aims to spotlight outstanding contemporary artists in Yorkshire who are in the early stages of their career or have yet to gain recognition among art buyers, collectors, and critics.

SCAF will host the Emerging Artist Award 2026 exhibition to showcase the work of ten shortlisted artists at Danum Gallery, Library and Museum, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BZ.  

The EAA 2026 exhibition will then travel to Scott Creative Arts Foundation, York Road, Thirsk, YO7 3AD in North Yorkshire, where it will be on display for two weeks in October, further extending the reach and visibility of the finalists’ work.

All exhibiting finalists will receive a prize sum of £175, with the exception of the winner of the Emerging Artist Award 2026, selected at the Open Evening, who will receive a prize sum of £1000.

The winner will also receive an offer from SCAF to purchase the winning artwork for our own collection.

All ten artists will receive a permanent artist page on our website and benefit from access to SCAF facilities, free membership to the Sustainable Artist training programme by Ola David, and inclusion in SCAFFOLD, our alumni collective.

Scott Creative Arts Foundation, The Art House, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3AD

SCAF is a charity registered in England and Wales - Charity number 1168545.  

www.scottcreativeartsfoundation.org.uk

https://www.scafemergingartist.co.uk