The SCAF Emerging Artist Award has been created to acknowledge up and coming artists of all ages who are living in the Yorkshire region. The intent of the award is to bring recognition and awareness to outstanding visual artists in the region who are at the early stages of their career or who have not yet established a reputation as an artist amongst art curators, buyers and critics.

/ This years subject:

Scott Creative Arts Foundation invites emerging artists to respond to the theme of Tension. The theme of Tension emerged whilst reflecting upon the legacy of the Dean Clough Mill, the hosts of the Emerging Artist Award 2027 and once the largest Victorian carpet manufacturer in the world.

We imagined the tension of the threads woven into carpets; the rhythms and strains between workers and machinery; the tensions experienced by those of the fading textile industry in the area as well as the mill's transformation into the thriving mixed-use building that we know, today.

Tension can be either a condition, a process or a lived experience. Tension is a force held between bodies, materials, systems, histories and futures. It is both structural and emotional. Tension can be the pull that stretches and resists or the force that binds, forges and overcomes limits.

Tension also plays a role in artistic labour, imbedded within the rhythms of work and the pressures of production. It can be cumulative, invisible or striking.

Scott Creative Arts Foundation invites emerging artists to respond to the theme of Tension.

Artists might consider:

The physical properties of tension
The body under pressure and
Institutions or systems of production
Biological and physical tension
Social and political tensions
Emotional or psychological tensions
Acts of holding together or pulling apart

We encourage responses that engage with materiality and its social context. Artists may choose to work with traditional techniques, disrupt them or translate their ideas into entirely different forms such as through sculpture, image, sound, moving image or graphics. Please note that all audio must be made accessible through headphones due to limitations of the space.

This brief remains intentionally open. Proposed artworks may seek to reveal tension, embody it or attempt to resolve it. Rather than defining tension, we invite you to capture and reveal it to us, through your materials, your methods and your experiences.

/ Final Awards & Exhibition

There will be 10 awards overall with the first prize winning artist receiving £1,000 and 9 prizes of £175 each to the remaining shortlisted artists. The awards will be presented to the recipients at the opening of the SCAF Emerging Artist Award Exhibition 2027 at Dean Clough Mill.

/ Eligibility for Artists & Artworks

There is no restriction on the artist regarding training or nationality.

The artist must be aged 16 or over.

You must be living within the Yorkshire region at the time of entry.

All types of art welcome, except live performances, video projections, or sound-based artworks unless audio is played exclusively through headphones.

The artist must not have exclusive representation, to enter this art competition.

Artwork size must be less than 150cm x 150cm for artworks to be hung on the wall including frame, and less than 150cm cubed for sculptures. If you are unsure, please contact us on 01423 314 103.

For more information and the Award Terms & Conditions please click here,

/ Timetable

The award consists of two stages.

Proposal for completed artwork and supporting images should be entered online using the link on this page. Deadline for entries is 11:59pm 31st October 2026. Shortlisted entries will be announced on 5th January 2027, following which the successful entrants will be invited to produce and submit their completed original artworks based upon their successful proposal by 21st May 2027.