Community Post Type: Callouts

The team are seeking local artists from the Liverpool City Region to work with us to co-produce a series of commissioned artworks that creatively represent data about the region.

These commissions will form a participatory programme leading up to their showcase at the Festival of Data in February.

Project Summary

They are commissioning up to 8 artists to:

● Collaborate with local children (aged 10-12 years old) to explore and present data through a participatory art activity on Day 2 of the Festival

● Create art commissions that tell compelling data stories from the activity.

● Present the in progress or complete work on Day 3 of the Festival of Data in February.

Who Should Apply

They welcome applications from:

● Artists living and working in the Liverpool City Region.

● Creatives working in any medium (e.g., painting, sculpture, digital art, film, performance, sound, etc.).

● Artists with an interest in community engagement, data storytelling, or participatory practice

How to Apply

Please submit to hello@louisegarforth.com by 17 October 2025

1. A short proposal (max 2 pages) outlining your interest, initial ideas, and relevant experience.
2. A portfolio or examples of previous work.
3. A brief CV or artist bio

Liverpool BID Company is launching its third year of the Arts & Culture Fund for projects and events taking place in Liverpool city centre.

The fund has two levels of grants; one for small grants of less than £5,000 which can cover 100% of the project, and a larger grant which can cover up to 50% of the total cost of the project which has a maximum cap of £10,000.

Eligible projects should align with Liverpool BID’s objectives, including driving footfall to the city centre, improving the city perspective, showing innovation and helping to showcase Liverpool as a thriving city, ensure the arts have a future in the city, meet both sustainable and ESG objectives, identity a commitment to equality and diversity.

Applicants can be levy payers, or non Levy Payers. This can include charities, CICs and CIOs committed to increasing public access to the arts. Organisations can include, but are not limited to, museums, galleries, historic houses, archives, libraries, agencies, local authorities, and festivals. After a successful year of funding in 2024, where we have seen local arts groups, city-wide dance projects, exhibitions, walking tours and more funded.

The next deadline is:

• 26th September 2025

To download the Arts Funding Support Pack and to apply, visit here

Timo Tierney started life at The Florrie in February 2016 as a volunteer and has remained there ever since. Hailing originally from local bands The Maybes and latterly The Tea Street Band, Timo knows music inside out and he initially offered his acumen to lead The Florrie’s guitar class which quickly flourished, leading to him establishing the full programme of Community Hub activities at The Florrie.

And now, with almost a decade of Community classes at The Florrie their importance to the Dingle and wider Liverpool community is essential. Helping to combat social isolation, improve cognitive function and to have fun, learn and create, underpins the 19 different classes every week at The Florrie. The scale and variety of these classes has grown each year, covering art, men’s walks, gardening, ukulele, Tai Chi, history, autism support, genealogy and many more, with tens of thousands of people attending since the classes began. For Timo, whose guitar class is the longest running, the Community Hub shows how essential they are to the Dingle community and wider city. He regards the incredible diversity of attendees as testament to the importance and positive impact each class has.

The classes have always been free for anyone to attend, and The Florrie are dedicated to maintaining this, too. But increasingly it’s becoming harder – there’s increasing competition for grants and funding and more people who need support than The Florrie can manage. Rising costs from utilities and suppliers also threaten the classes’ future unless more money can be raised by Christmas 2025. The Florrie relies on donations, fundraisers and sponsorship, but needs more support than ever. The target to keep our classes free for 1 year is £25,000.00.

Timo says: “Our weekly timetable is made up from what volunteers can offer at The Florrie. We never underestimate the importance of volunteers here and if we didn’t have people kindly offering their time, we would not have such a great timetable of classes each week. Because the classes are free we’re able to welcome everyone. When I started here almost ten years ago, the aim was to help combat social isolation. Then in lock down it was to keep people safe, and now we are back in full flow with the activities that improve people’s lives in meaningful ways. The Florrie brings people together from all different ages and backgrounds, from the Dingle and wider community. The classes are always inclusive, never exclusive, and it’s heartening to know just how much they’re valued. But we’re facing huge challenges, and we need to raise money and get further sponsorship for the classes by this Christmas for the classes to stay free. 

The Florrie team are focused on keeping the Community Hub activities free for all, with exciting events and fundraising activities planned for the rest of 2025 and into 2026. The Florrie’s Big Guitar-In is back on Thursday December 11th and recent fundraising events include the Celebration of Southend Football and The Magical History Tour family day event. 

Timo adds: “I’ve been here close to a decade now – The Florrie has evolved in so many amazing ways. It’s a very important place to so many people. I am a friend, social worker, carer, doer and the ‘fella who learns you how to play guitar’ – a forever charging power bank that so many people plug into. I am more than happy when I’m at work, and so The Florrie and everything I do and people I work with mean so much to me. I care endlessly in improving people’s lives.​ To keep this going as we want it to, we need as much support as possible on top of what we have got planned from The Florrie, including the Big Guitar-In.”

Direct donations can be made here: https://www.theflorrie.org/support-us/donate/ and for further info on how to sponsor a Community Hub activity, please contact Timo at community@theflorrie.org 

Future Yard is a community music venue in Birkenhead which doubles as an artist and live music industry training hub. Our role is to create rich and rewarding pathways into all aspects of the live music industry, from performers to technical staff. Sound Check is this flagship training programme, which was worked with over 300 young people from across the city region since 2021, kickstarting careers for them in the live music industry.

Sound Check focuses on three key aspects of delivering live events: event management, live sound and live lighting. Sound Check equips people with a passion for music with the skills needed to make a start in this industry, and does it through a 7-week programme of taught classes, live work experience opportunities and employability focus. Future Yard is now an independent training provider in its own right, delivering this programme as a Skills Bootcamp in partnership with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

We are offering places on the Sound Check course to staff of all member organisations in The Culture Network. We have ringfenced a number of places for our partners, for their staff or participants, who they would like to put forward for the course to improve their technical event literacy and/or experience.

Sound Check runs on rolling cohorts of 20 participants aged 19+, with two daytime sessions per week (Monday and Tuesdays, 9.30am to 4pm). Additional practical live mentor sessions are undertaken on live events, where participants shadow Future Yard’s in-house team of technical and event staff.

Participants do not need any previous experience or qualification to be eligible. Participants do need to be aged 19 as of 31 August 2025.

If you are interested in putting someone forwards for the opportunity, please direct them to the Sound Check website where there are more details on the course, and an application to form to input their details. Please also email chris@futureyard.org once they have applied, so that we know they are from your organisation.

As Black History Month (BHM) 2025 fast approaches Culture Liverpool are inviting you to share your event with them so they can help promote all that is happening .

As last year, they will have a umbrella point on their Culture Liverpool website to share Liverpool’s Black History Month programme, activities, and events. This will help to promote and shine a light on all the thing that might fall into this month and could be linked to BHM.

To be included on the Culture Liverpool Black History Month 2025 page, please submit your planned event or activities via this link: https://www.cultureliverpool.co.uk/submit-an-event/

• Make sure to pre-head the title of your event with ‘BHM25’ so they know it’s to be included as part of the listing.
• For the lead image, they ask that you use photography rather than graphic artwork. (Feel free to send a poster of your event with graphics separately to me and the email below.)
• Please submit your event by ASAP, ideally by 19 Sept to be included on the listing.

Once your submission has been approved, your event will be made live on the BHM25 page and they can look at including your event on our social media schedule.

If you have any questions about uploading your information, please email culturemarketing@liverpool.gov.uk.

Calling all musicians… 📣

Milap are looking to recruit some fresh faces to their three Indian Music ensembles!

Their application and audition process is now open until 20th September.

Head over to the link here to apply today!

Youth Guarantee Trailblazer is a national programme designed to support young people aged 17-21 who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) into employment.

Liverpool City Region is one of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas in the UK. Liverpool Council will lead and manage several programmes of work, including the four grants below.

Find out how to apply for each grant, here

Closing date: 19 September

Get ready to celebrate the heartbeat of creativity across the Liverpool City Region as the Culture and Creativity Awards return in 2026 with FOUR brand-new categories shining a spotlight on even more of the incredible talent shaping our cultural landscape!

New for 2026:

· Live Event of the Year – honouring unforgettable moments that brought people together.

· Excellence in Film & TV – celebrating screen magic made right here in the region.

· Creative/Media Individual of the Year – recognising trailblazing talent.

· Creative/Media Organisation of the Year – spotlighting standout success stories.

They join the coveted People’s Choice Award which is voted for by the public and 12 others categories recognising the use of culture and creativity in areas such as innovation, community cohesion and education.

Nominations are now open, whether it’s a grassroots community project, a blockbuster production, or a game-changing innovation – one great nomination is all it takes. Quality counts, not quantity.

Any arts and cultural events, innovation and creative activity that took place within the Liverpool City Region during the period of 26 October 2024 to 31 October 2025 can be entered. Nominations are completed online and the closing date for entrants and nominations is 5pm, on Monday 10 November.

To nominate, visit here

Knowsley Council is inviting Expressions of Interest from artists, designers and collectives who are interested in creating engaging public murals in Knowsley.

Knowsley Council has a strong track record of commissioning diverse and high-quality public artworks. They are committed to creating new opportunities for local artists to deliver ambitious, meaningful and accessible public art. This includes new mural commissions in towns across Knowsley.

What they’re looking for:

• Mural artists that would work in consultation with Knowsley residents, artists, organisations and communities;
• Artists that would develop ideas that are shared with stakeholders and communities for feedback and approval;
• Original, high-quality artworks that require minimal maintenance and are designed to last for up to five years;
• Murals that creatively respond to and celebrate the culture, heritage, and/or character of the mural’s location;
• Murals that enhance the sense of place within the respective town or area; and
• Where appropriate, murals that support wayfinding through creative and engaging visual approaches.

They are keen to hear from artists, designers or collectives who have a demonstrable record of delivering quality murals.
They particularly welcome expressions from practitioners who live in or are originally from Knowsley or the wider Liverpool City Region.
Selected artists will hold public liability insurance to £5 million.

Budget:

Budgets for commissions will range from £2,000 to £10,000 per mural, depending on the scale, level of detail required and the nature of the site.

A detailed project brief and budget will be agreed upon with the selected artist(s) for each commission. Payment terms will be clearly outlined during the contracting process.

How to apply:

If you would like to be considered to deliver murals in the future in Knowsley, then please email the following documents to jack.welsh@knowsley.gov.uk:

• Your CV or a short artist bio;
• Images of previous works, with relevant captions (such as work title, location, year, commissioner), or up to 5 links to your work, such as a personal website, social media handles, or YouTube channel.

Closing date for Expressions of Interest: 9am, Monday 6 October

If you require this information in another format, or need support in submitting your expression of interest, please email: jack.welsh@knowsley.gov.uk

Additional information:

• They will acknowledge all Expressions of Interest.
• Please note there is no fee at this EOI stage.

Image: John Culshaw mural at Huyton Library

Are you aged 16-25? Do you identify as LGBTQIA+? Do you have an interest in performing?

They’re on the lookout for creative, bold and brilliant performers to take part in Young Homotopia’s autumn panto Alice In Wonderland. Whether you’ve performed before or are brand new to the stage, this is your chance.

Join them for weekly rehearsals in the city centre as they devise a unique retelling of the classic story with a fabulous queer twist. Expect camp chaos, bad jokes (so bad they’re good) and a supportive and welcoming environment.

– Share your ideas to shape the story
– Work alongside a team of LGBTQIA+ creatives
– Perform at this year’s Homotopia Festival

🗓️ Rehearsals: Every Thursday 5 pm – 7 pm (starting from 25th September) with extra full day rehearsals Saturday 1st and 8th November.

🎭 Performances: 12th November at Unity Theatre

Young Homotopia is a creative programme run by Homotopia in partnership with YPAS – GYRO. It is free to join and provides opportunities for LGBTQIA+ teenagers and young adults to explore their identities through performance. Sessions are led by Homotopia’s Development Producer, Ashleigh Owen, and a number of visiting practitioners.

For more information, please visit their website.

📩 Reserve your place by Monday 22nd Sept at 5pm by filling in the form here.