Community Post Type: Callouts

In 2027, the Bluecoat marks 100 years as the UK’s first arts centre. As they look ahead, they’re rethinking live programming, partnership and collaboration, and inviting arts and cultural organisations across Liverpool City Region to help shape what comes next.

They’re keen to hear how the Bluecoat is perceived, your own priorities, any anniversaries or celebrations you’re marking, and where there may be opportunities for shared activity.

Take their short survey.

Closes 20 February, 5pm.

 

 

Leap Dance Festival will return later this year and Culture Liverpool are partnering with Leap to offer dance commissions of between £1000 to £2000 in the below 3 categories.

• Work by LGBTQIA+ artists
• Dance film commissions
• Community commission working with global majority women

They are now inviting dancers, dance artists, and organisations from across the Liverpool to be part of the programme. They can’t wait to see your exciting ideas and proposals.

This opportunity has been made possible thanks to support from UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF), Culture Liverpool, LCC in partnership with Leap Dance festival. Homotopia are proudly co-commissioning the LGBTQIA+ element of the commission.

To apply, please complete the form. Please make sure you read the guidance fully before applying, which is embedded in the application form. Please note:

• It is anticipated that 2-4 commissions will be awarded.
• Grants recipients must reside in Liverpool City Council (LCC) area or be able to demonstrate that the creative work and/or activity will be within the LCC area/ impact LCC residents.

Timeline:

• Thursday 22 January: Applications open.
• Thursday 26^th February, 12noon: Deadline (no late submission will be accepted).
• 10-13 March :Applicants notified.
• March/ April: Making of work

 

 

WIN: Overnight Stay for Two at Pullman Liverpool + Cabaret of Dangerous Data Ideas Tickets

Fancy a night away and a front-row seat to some of the boldest ideas about data, AI and the future?

We’ve teamed up with the Civic Data Cooperative and The Pullman Hotel Liverpool to give one lucky winner an overnight stay for two at the Pullman Hotel Liverpool, plus tickets to the Cabaret of Dangerous Data Ideas on 6 February.

For the past five years, the Civic Data Cooperative has been working to make data and AI work better for the Liverpool City Region. From the 5-7 February, The Festival of Data, will be marking the end of the ambitious 5-year programme of work and the Cabaret of Dangerous Data Ideas forms the finale to the full day conference Public Service Transformation Through Data. 

More details about the Festival of Data – the conference and the Exhibition of Art, Data and You can be found here festivalofdata.co.uk. There will be lots to see and engage with through the Festival including, artworks commissioned and delivered by professional artists working with school children and free fun activities for all the family. The conference will bring together thought leaders, practitioners, and community members to discuss how data and AI can create meaningful impact for cities like Liverpool.

For one night only they’re handing the microphone over to you.

The Cabaret of Dangerous Data Ideas invites the audience to share their most controversial, curious or downright uncomfortable ideas about how data and AI will shape our lives.

What counts as a “dangerous idea”?

Maybe ChatGPT would make a better Prime Minister.
Maybe the number of social media followers should be mandatory on job applications.
Or maybe AI will end up doing absolutely nothing at all.

Whether you’re brave enough to take the stage or prefer to watch the sparks fly from the audience, this is set to be a provocative, funny and thought-provoking night.

The Prize

• One winner will receive:
  Overnight stay for two at the Pullman Hotel Liverpool on 6 February
  Tickets to the Cabaret of Dangerous Data Ideas
  A perfect excuse for a city break with a difference

How to Enter

• To be in with a chance of winning, share your dangerous idea with us here.
• Competition closes 30 January 2026.
• The winner will be contacted directly.

All About Futures need more volunteers to help make this day as amazing as possible for the students in the LCR to explore the creative sector.

If it’s a date you’re available, but you are unsure how or if you can support, please reach out and they can help. You might also find it easier to team up with another organisation to deliver if you work in similar roles, or you might have staff internally who would be keen to support but don’t know how to get started.

Each day is curated by All About Futures, including risk assessments/safeguarding/school and student onboarding making it as easy for you as they can.

Venue :Liverpool Hope University, Eden Building, L16 9JD

When: 6^th March, 9am – 3pm

Who: 125 students, Year 8/9 plus their educators from schools in the modern work experience pilot

What: An experience of the workplace event with 5 organisations representing music, film and the arts. Each activity is repeated 5x throughout the day with approx 25 students a time.

How: They’ll support you to develop a task or activity which fits in the equalex framework and supports modern work experience and explores your role or sector.

Contact: jemma@allaboutfutures.co.uk

You can also join the employer network here: https://lcrcareershub.co.uk/employers/the-lcr-employers-network/

The Employer Network is a membership service that supports businesses to engage with schools and colleges in the Liverpool City Region. This could be through work experiences, talks and visits or strategic support. No matter the barrier, they will help to make it work.

As part of a continued and shared commitment to supporting local artists in Liverpool and across Merseyside, Liverpool Biennial and SEVENSTORE are joining forces to offer three bursaries of £3,000 each for artists and creative practitioners between April – July 2026.

Liverpool Biennial is the UK’s largest and longest running free festival of contemporary visual art in the UK. For our next festival in 2027 we will work locally and internationally to co-commission work with young people, explore development opportunities in the creative sector, and commission artists from around the world to make and show work in Liverpool. Though the festival will be made with, by and for children and young people, our intention – as with each edition – is to create a Biennial for Everyone.   

As part of our work in the lead up to our 14th edition, we will collaborate with SEVENSTORE to offer three bursaries of £3,000 to locally-based artists and creative practitioners. These bursaries are open to artists and creatives whose practice is informed by the experiences of children and young people. This may mean, but is not limited to, artists or creatives reflecting on their own lived experiences as young people (in the past or present); artists or creatives interested in exploring the civic rights of children and young people; artists or creatives who are parents, carers, or guardians; and artists or creatives interested in exploring wider, global understandings of family and community.    

The Biennial will support the recipient artists to develop their practice through self-determined professional development activity that responds to their own unique needs. Artists will benefit from dedicated time with the Liverpool Biennial programme team, plus assistance from the wider Biennial team to support their research and development, help make connections, and to work with SEVENSTORE to create opportunities for the sharing or showcasing of their work or practices.

INFORMATION 

Who can apply?  

Liverpool Biennial x SEVENSTORE Bursaries are open to artists and creative practitioners who are specifically informed by the experiences of children and young people. This may mean, but is not limited to:  

• artists or creatives reflecting on their own lived experiences as young people (in the past or present)  

• artists or creatives interested in exploring the civic rights of children and young people  

• artists or creatives who are parents, carers, or guardians  

• artists or creatives interested in exploring wider, global understandings of family and community.    

We welcome applications from artists that meet the following criteria:  

• Living and working in Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral or Halton.  

• Consider themselves emerging in their professional art career (We invite artists to define this for themselves – it may be helpful to consider things like:  

• If you have limited / inconsistent Exhibition history   

• If you are in the early stages of developing your creative practice / have a smaller body of work  

• If you are in the early stages of building public awareness of your practice   

• If you have had gaps / barriers in your artistic career that have prevented you from advancing your professional status   

• If you have had limited professional opportunities  

• No formal education or qualifications are necessary   

• Any form of visual art medium is welcome to apply, including (but not limited to) sculpture, painting, printmaking, audio, film, live art, illustration or photography  

• Are able to demonstrate a clear rationale for why they’d benefit from the bursary   

Unfortunately, we are not able to accept applications from:  

• Organisations or companies  

• Full-time students   

• Artists living outside of the UK  

• Individuals who have received any Liverpool Biennial bursary since 2021  

Artist collectives are welcome to apply, but please note that only one bursary will be allocated per successful application. We cannot accept multiple applications from the same collective or project. 

How much can be applied for?   

There are three bursaries available at £3,000 per recipient.  

What activity can be supported?  

Liverpool Biennial x SEVENSTORE Bursaries are intended to support the professional development of your artistic career. This bursary seeks to support the development of new skills, knowledge and networks that will benefit your career and professional development in the short and long term.   

We ask that each artist recipient uses part of their bursary and/or time to share their work or work in progress with the public, which should take place during the bursary period. This activity can be anything from an informal sharing or discussion, an online screening or blog post and can take place either digitally or in person.   

This activity should be self-directed and self-produced, however the Liverpool Biennial team will support all recipients to develop and create a showcasing opportunity that is responsive, appropriate and comfortable for you and your practice. This support may include help with finding a temporary activity space and in-kind digital marketing of your activity, as well as connecting with other Liverpool-based organisations and events if appropriate.   

Please note that any artist who is proposing to work with children and young people as part of their bursary will be asked to undertake a Safeguarding Risk Assessment to ensure appropriate measures are put in place.   

There is no expectation to complete a finished piece or body of work as part of this bursary. Bursary activity might include, but is not limited to:  

• Making and sharing work with audiences  

• Research and development costs for a new way of working or collaboration  

• Learning new skills through professional training, courses, peer-to-peer learning with visual arts or non-arts experts  

• Mentoring, coaching or curatorial feedback  

• Networking with artists, galleries, organisations or other groups of interest  

• Visiting national or international conferences, biennials, exhibitions, organisations, cities or any other specific location or event relevant to your practice  

Alongside the activity itself, the £3,000 bursary can also be used to support:  

• Fees to cover for your own time  

• Materials (should not be more than 50% of the total)  

• Associated national or international travel costs, accommodation and subsistence  

• Contribution to caring costs and any access needs  

Examples of activity that can’t be supported include:  

• Applications made only for the purchase of materials or equipment, however this could be included as part of a broader application where learning through making is vital and clearly beneficial in the long-term. Material or making costs should not be more than 50% of the total amount asked for  

• Applications made only for goods or services e.g. paying a contractor for a website to be built, unless this is part of a broader application where other learning or skills building for the artist is included  

• Applications that fund the making of new or unfinished work or projects for exhibition, art fair or sale, however this could be one element of a broader application  

• Applications that are dependent on other unsecured funding  

What is the selection process?  

Applications will be reviewed by a selection panel including Liverpool Biennial and SEVENSTORE. Bursaries will be awarded at their discretion.   

All applicants will be notified of the outcome by 31st March 2026  

Other requirements  

Bursary recipients will be asked to:  

• Provide information including an artist’s bio and media of past work and participate in marketing and communications activity where necessary  

• Produce a blog or social media post about their activity for use on the Liverpool Biennial website or social media channels. These can be completed by text, video, audio and/or images  

• Contribute to an evaluation of the programme.  

HOW TO APPLY

Applications should be submitted via online application form no later than midnight on 15th February 2026. 

If for access reasons, you prefer to submit by video (no longer than 3-5 minutes) please send as an email attachment or file transfer service to bursaryapp@biennial.com. Emails should include the subject line ‘SEVENSTORE BURSARY APPLICATION’.  

The application form or any alternative format submission should cover the following:  

• Provide a short overview of your proposed bursary activity (up to 40 words)  

• Please provide an outline of your artistic practice (up to 100 words)  

• Provide an explanation of how your proposal relates to practice that is informed by the experiences of children and young people (up to 100 words)  

• Provide a full description of your proposed bursary activity (up to 150 words)  

• Outline your budget (up to 100 words)  

• Why is the opportunity crucial to your professional development at this time? (up to 150 words)  

• Additional Links / Website  

Please also complete our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form which is anonymous and will not be used in the selection process.  

For more in-depth guidance on how to answer these questions, please refer to the FAQ section in the information pack.  

Unfortunately, we are not able to provide guidance on individual applications, however if you have any questions that aren’t covered in the guidance in the information pack or if you require the application form in an alternative format you can contact us by email via bursaryapp@biennial.com.

Download the information pack

For more information about Liverpool Biennial visit biennial.com.

Are you an SME, Charity or Public Sector organisation looking to hire graduate level talent in 2026?

LJMU are inviting you to collaborate with them to develop a talent pipeline through the recruitment of our final-year undergraduate students!

Why Participate?

Through the Discovery Internship programme, LJMU will fund 140hrs of salary so you can gain access to enthusiastic individuals who can add value to your business and meet your recruitment needs.

You can help bridge the gap between education and employment, giving students invaluable hands-on experience that could lead to you finding your new employee.

What Are We Looking For?

Submit project ideas that:

• Have potential to lead to meaningful employment for successful candidates.
• Provide soon to be graduates with relevant learning and skill development opportunities.
• Address specific needs in your business.
• One of the key criteria for this cohort is for the potential of this internship role to develop into a graduate position or longer-term internship. (Subject to the company funding additional hours beyond the 140 that will be funded by LJMU). The process for extending the internship is straightforward – Unitemps will invoice you for hours worked.

The project form is now open for an anticipated start date on Monday 11^th May 2026. If you want to get involved, please ensure you complete all company appraisal questions at the beginning of the project form and meet the eligibility criteria.  The anticipated timeline can be found below:

• Monday 23^rd February 2026 – Internship adverts launch to students
• Sunday 15^th March – Adverts close to students
• Week commencing Monday 30th March – Applications to employers sent
• throughout week
• Monday 11^th May 2026 – Internships start
• Friday 10^th July 2026 – All hours to be completed by this date

The project form can be found here. Please complete and submit this project form by midday on Friday 6th February 2026.

Project eligibility criteria:   

• Will add value to the organisation and skills development of the final year student.
• Hours not used to cover the role of another employee.
• Hours not used to take away the role of another employee.
• Potential for internship to develop into a graduate role or extended internship beyond the LJMU 140 funded hours.

Organisation eligibility criteria (negotiable based on project):   

• Ideally 250 employees or less
• Not owned by LJMU staff
• Ideally based in the Liverpool City Region

Businesses and organisations that have participated in our internships programme before are welcome to reapply although we are especially keen to support partners who are yet to benefit.

Prior to completing this form, if you have any questions or queries, please email internships@ljmu.ac.uk

The Waterfront Walk was first inspired by the homeless charity’s Outreach Team, who are out every morning come rain or shine from 6am, walking around the city streets to find and help people who are sleeping rough.

You can show your support by taking part in the 5 mile walk starting on Mann Island in Liverpool City Centre, walking along the Otterspool Promenade and ending at the Sitting Bull statue in Aigburth. The event can be enjoyed by all ages so get the whole family, office, school or college involved to do their part to help end homelessness in Liverpool.

While strolling along the promenade participants get the opportunity to meet new people and chat to friends in this relaxed, friendly event. At the finish line you will be rewarded with a delicious breakfast butty to celebrate.
This is a fundraising event and each participate will be asked to raise sponsorship.

Timings: Registration from 6.30am, Walk starts at 7am with sunrise at 7.30am
Start point: Nova Scotia, Mann Island, L3 1BP
Finish point: Sitting Bull, L17
Tickets: £5 per person, all welcome
Sponsorship target: £50 per person

https://www.whitechapelcentre.co.uk/waterfront-walk.html

Turn Manchester’s open call dance platform returns to Contact in 2026, and North West* dancers and dance-makers (aged 18+) are invited to submit proposals of short pieces of work, works-in-progress, or extracts of longer works for inclusion in this annual event.

To get a feel for it, have a look at the 2025 programme + image gallery and 2024 programme + image gallery.

Turn 2026:

An open submission dance platform for North West* dancers and dance-makers on Fri 20 March:

– short finished pieces of work;
– excerpts or extracts of longer works;
– works-in-progress;

Plus an artist day on Sat 21 March.

Proposals should be for pieces with some live presence, 20 minutes maximum for show-type work, technically simple, adaptable to quick turnarounds, and suitable for showing alongside other pieces.

They are looking for dance in any form which uses the artists’ creativity, has strong concept, original choreography, and professional aspiration.

They welcome work which explores forms beyond Contemporary — including radical re-imaginings of classical non-western and urban forms; and we are particularly interested in contemporary work which explores the boundaries between dance and Live Art.

Priorities are for high quality and exciting dance-based work by North West* artists, which has not been seen in Manchester before.

For full information and to apply to Turn 2026: https://turnmcr.posthaven.com/

Proposal Deadline: Friday 16 January 2026, 5pm.

Acclaimed writer Hayley Schiffer is seeking Directors and Actors for a new theatre production, Iss Right!

Her debut play titled ‘Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire’, has been performed at Bush Theatre, Young Vic, Actors East and ultimately programmed at the Union Theatre earlier this year. She starred, co-directed and produced the piece. ‘Liar, Liar Pants on Fire’ was longlisted for the Mustapha Matura Award 2024.

Hayley has just wrapped on a short film titled WAVES written and directed by Kosar Ali. Her latest play is called ‘Iss Right!’, (Long listed for the Mustapha Matura 2025)

Synopsis for Iss Right!/ more info on the piece:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DM-bF6FApti/?img_index=3

DIRECTOR CALL OUT!

THIS IS A PAID OPPORTUNITY.

SECOND SKIN THEATRE IS DEDICATED TO INCLUSIVITY, SO THEY ARE LOOKING FOR SUBMISSIONS FROM THEATRE DIRECTORS (BASED IN LIVERPOOL OR LONDON), TO BE INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PLAY ISS RIGHT! EARLY IN THE NEW YEAR THIS PROCESS WILL LEAD TO A STAGED PRODUCTION LATER IN THE YEAR.

They are particularly interested in hearing from directors with a tie to Liverpool and people of colour BUT anyone can apply!

Please send CVs to infohayleyschiffer@gmail.com

CASTING CALL:

PLEASE SHARE! CASTING CALL! If you or someone you know first the brief, they’d love to hear from you.
‘TOM’ (17) – MALE – AGED (19-24) – SCOUSE ACCENT, WHITE – UK BASED (LIVERPOOL OR LONDON) TO EXPRESS INTEREST, PLEASE SEND SPOTLIGHTS/ CVS TO: INFOHAYLEYSCHIFFER@GMAIL.COM

WOMAN’ (30+) – FEMALE – AGED (30+) – SCOUSE ACCENT, FROM GLOBAL MAJORITY BACKGROUNDS. UK BASED (LIVERPOOL OR LONDON). TO EXPRESS INTEREST, PLEASE SEND SPOTLIGHTS/ CVS TO: INFOHAYLEYSCHIFFER@GMAIL.COM

THEY ARE SEEKING ACTORS TO PLAY THE ROLE OF ‘TOM’ and ‘WOMAN’ IN ISS RIGHT’ A NEW PLAY CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT. THE ACTORS WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE WRITER/DIRECTOR DURING A DEVELOPMENT PERIOD IN THE NEW YEAR. THIS PROCESS WILL LEAD TO A STAGED PRODUCTION LATER IN THE YEAR. THESE ARE PAID ROLES

To apply please send over CVs/ Spotlights to infohayleyschiffer@gmail.com – any questions also send an email! In combination, they’ll also be engaging with the Liverpool acting community in different ways to fill these roles!

To apply for DIRECTOR or ‘Tom’ or ‘Woman’ please send over CVs/ Spotlights to infohayleyschiffer@gmail.com – any questions also send them an email!

https://www.instagram.com/secondskintheatre/