Birmingham Open 25: LIGHT

Birmingham’s Open is back! Following the success of 2024’s inaugural Birmingham Creates: The Open, Colmore Business District in partnership with Central BID are once again holding an open call competition for the city’s emerging visual artists.

Birmingham Open 25 is an open call and competition for all printable forms of artwork. It aims to give a platform to talented emerging artists who are producing exceptional work. This year, the theme is LIGHT.

What?  

LIGHT has been selected as 2025’s theme to coincide with the first Birmingham Light Festival, taking place from 19–22 Feb. An annual multi-day event, it will bring the city centre to life at night through a gallery of illuminated artworks.

Our judges are looking for imaginative responses, that capture light as you see it. Artists may wish to document the festival specifically or frame light in myriad other ways.

Artworks do not need to be produced specifically for this exhibition; it is entirely optional for the artists to draw from their existing portfolio or create new work. However, we do encourage creatives to use this open call as an opportunity to experiment and showcase their skills in response to the specific theme of Light. 

Artists may respond across any form of media, although the artwork must be:

• Two dimensional, suitable for reproduction in print for the outdoor exhibition
• In any two-dimensional medium, including photography
• Not created using generative AI
• Created within the last two years
• Original work
• Submitted in a high res digital format (JPG or PNG at least 1Mb in size) titled ‘Surname-First Name-Title of Work-Medium’.

Please note that only ONE artwork may be submitted by each artist.

Who?

Birmingham Open 25 is open to artists working in a printable format. This includes painting, photography, collage, illustration, and many others. The call is open to artists who are:

• Working and/or resident in the Birmingham area
• In the emerging stage of their career as a practicing artist
• Over 18 years of age

When?

Submissions for Birmingham Open 25 are open now until midnight on Sunday 30 March 2025. Any works submitted after this time will not be considered.

The open call will culminate with a physical outdoor group exhibition in Birmingham city centre (Snow Hill Square, Victoria Square) in summer 2025.

Prizes

There is a competition element to the Open call, with the following prizes on offer:

• Overall Winner:  £2000 cash plus a portfolio review
• Highly Commended:  £1000 cash plus a portfolio review
• People’s Award:  £1000 cash plus a portfolio review

How?

Please submit no more than one artwork using this form.