Small Works CIC is delighted to be working with CUH Arts to curate a group exhibition for Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge that responds to the theme of SEASONS. Please read the full description for more details.

Small Works CIC is delighted to be working with CUH Arts to curate a group exhibition for Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge that responds to the theme of SEASONS.

This exhibition pairs with the launch of the newly refurbished Neurological Critical Care Unit (NCCU), featuring a bespoke commission by Monica Perez Vega.

We are looking for artist submissions for artwork to display for sale at The Addenbrooke’s Gallery through the Autumn and Winter of 2025.

The brief for the NCCU Re-design was developed through artist-led creative consultation with staff, patients and their families, facilitated by artist Hannah Jane Walker.

The engagement explored how individuals would want the NCCU to feel, and what would be needed from the artwork.

Clear themes emerged that highlighted an interest in artwork with natural rhythms and calm escapism.

The underlying sentiment was the desire to feel connected to nature and the need to heal and come to terms with change.

For this open call, we are looking for work that reflects the seasons through the feelings or gestures they evoke, such as:

Winter - quiet, introspective, strength, resiliency

Spring - bright, optimism, renewal, joy

Summer - light, escapism, warmth, freedom

Autumn - calm, hearth, community, gathering

Artists are invited to submit 2D artwork in response to a particular season and may submit up to four works, one per season. All work will be available for sale with a 25% commission going to CUH Arts. 

Deadline to submit is 20 July 2025.

Submission Guidelines

• Open to artists based in England and the wider UK, though we particularly encourage submissions from those based in the East of England.

• Artists may submit up to 4 artworks- one artwork per season.

• We are accepting original, unique works including painting, drawing, printmaking and mixed media (as well as poetry, see below.)

• All work is to be submitted in a display and sale-ready state, preferably framed, with mirror plates.

• Works on canvas or panel do not require frames, but must have mirror plates. 

• Maximum size of artwork is 80x80cm (incl. frame)

• With each artwork, please include your name, title, media, year and price (incl. 25% commission).

• Please also include a (non-AI-generated) artist statement, including which season the work represents and how it relates.

• Additionally, we welcome poetry submissions on the theme. (Poetry does not need framing, digital submissions are sufficient.)

• The exhibition will run from 6th October 2025 to 30th January 2026. Please ensure your work is available for the duration.

• There will be an opening event with an artist talk, date TBA.

• Please also note that this exhibition will take place in a working hospital, and while we welcome all 2D submissions on the theme, do take into consideration the sensitivity of the audience who will be engaging with this work. 

T&C’s

• Please note, while it is free to submit, artists will be responsible for the delivery of their work. We will follow up with selected artists with delivery dates and locations.

• Artists have the option to offer their work for sale. In case of sales, CUH Arts will arrange delivery with buyers. However, if work is unsold, artists understand they are responsible for collecting their work (date and location TBA).

• Artists acknowledge that work is sent at their own risk, and while Small Works CIC and CUH Arts will take the utmost care of work while in our possession, ultimately, we are not liable for missing or damaged work due to shipping or other unforeseen circumstances.

• Artwork exhibited at the hospital is done so at the artist’s own risk. CUH Arts will make every effort to ensure that the artwork is protected from damage or theft, however, artwork displayed temporarily at the hospital is not covered under any insurance or indemnity provision. Artists are responsible for insuring their work, which can be done through A-N, Axisweb,  Artists’ Union,or CuratorSpace. It is worth noting that in over 15 years, no artwork in the hospital’s gallery spaces has been damaged, lost or stolen. The gallery is lit, publicly accessible and patrolled by security 24 hours a day.

• Artists agree that Small Works CIC and CUH Arts shall have the non-exclusive, unlimited right to reproduce their artwork in the advertising and promotion of the event, including on our websites, via printed promotion and/or through third-party websites or applications (such as Instagram). 

• All other rights to the work are reserved by the artist. The artist retains copyright to the work.

• Artists also agree to receive updates via the Small Works newsletter, but can opt out anytime.

About Us

Small Works CIC is an artist-led curatorial platform led by Monica Perez Vega and Sylwia Narbutt. We launched as an online gallery in 2020 as a platform to sell small artworks by emerging and established artists based in and around the UK.

It was originally designed to help fill gaps left by COVID at a time when opportunities for artists and access to galleries had become limited. The digital platform has since evolved into a physical collaborative space for artists, curators and educators.

SMALL WORKS has gone from a description of an object to a statement of proactivity. Small works. Full stop. Do what you can, work with what you’ve got.

The online shop is a platform to champion the work of hustling women, carers, educators, and others we’ve met along the way, who inspire us through the continued dedication to their practice in spite of all that tries to tug them away.

With an emphasis in painting, we are interested in nature-led, curiosity-driven, and materially-playful work.

Website: www.smallworksartgallery.com

Instagram: @smallworksartgallery

CUH Arts is Cambridge University Hospitals’ arts-in-health programme, dedicated to shaping care through creativity.

We strive to promote wellbeing, distract from illness and improve the hospital experience by providing excellent creative and cultural opportunities for its patients, staff, visitors and wider community. 

Embedded within one of the world’s leading hospital trusts, our diverse, person-centred multi-disciplinary programme of live, participatory and visual arts is facilitated and managed by a specialist team of arts professionals. 

CUH Arts is generously funded by the kind supporters of Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust.

Website: https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/about-us/our-structure/other-departments/cuh-arts/

Instagram: CUH Arts (@cuhartsnhs)