Are you a visual artist looking to exhibit your work and be part of a creative
community this winter?
Applications for the Lighthouse Open Call 2026 are now OPEN!
To apply, please complete the form below by midday on Thu 13 Aug 2026: APPLY NOW
Please note, applicants must be 18 on or before the deadline and can expect to receive a response by the end of September.
All things must rest to grow!
Last year, local self-taught artist Carmel De’Lisser’s interactive installation, The Wintering, transformed the Main Gallery into an organic woodland over the winter months, creating a space to “exhale.” You can read more about her exhibition in an interview HERE.
This winter, the Main Gallery will once again become a creative sanctuary for visitors during the festive season.
Lighthouse Poole invites visual artists at any stage in their creative career – whether that’s emerging, mid-career or established – with a connection to Dorset to respond to this year’s open call theme: BURROW.
Alongside the selected artwork on display, expect a season of creative workshops, events and activities on offer in the burrow through the exhibition run.
Lighthouse understands that cost should never be a barrier to accessing the arts, therefore BURROW is both free to apply and free to attend. BURROW is open to your interpretation and welcomes ALL artforms, practices, and mediums.
You may want to consider the many meanings of the word itself:
– To dig a hole in the ground to hibernate in over winter
– To search for something
– To move yourself into a position where you can feel warm, comfortable, or safe
We encourage applicants to submit work that:
– Demonstrates an awareness of space and experiments with scale. We recommend visiting the Main Gallery to understand this best.
– Explores themes of the season and how creative health & wellbeing might be used to look inward this winter.
– Uses sustainable processes and materials to bring the outside world in. Whether that’s reusing an old canvas or repurposing found material from the locality.
KEY DATES:
Install: Mon 9 – Wed 11 Nov 2026
Exhibition run: Thu 12 Nov 2026 – Sat 27 Feb 2027
Private view: Thu 12 Nov 2026, 6-8pm
Deinstall: Mon 1 March 2027
Lighthouse Poole is dedicated to platforming our diverse creative community here in Dorset. Therefore, submissions will be judged alongside a local panel reflective of this.
Judges to be announced shortly. Watch this space!
If you have any questions about the application process or how best we can accommodate your access needs, please email Nyah Boston-Shears (Creative Engagement Producer) on nyah.boston-shears@lighthousepoole.co.uk.
We look forward to seeing your artwork!
BURROW Application Form
