Dorset artists are being called on to help create a festive sanctuary at Lighthouse this winter.
Applications are open now for visual artists at any stage in their creative career – emerging, mid-career or established – with a connection to Dorset to respond to this year’s theme BURROW and become part of a creative community at Lighthouse.
“Last year, 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,” says Nyah Boston-Shears, Creative Engagement Producer at Lighthouse.
“This winter, BURROW will be a creative space in which visitors can again find some respite from the festive season.”
BURROW is open to interpretation and welcomes all artforms, practices, and mediums. Artists 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 into a position where you can feel warm, comfortable, or safe.
Alongside the selected artwork on display, throughout the exhibition run there will be a season of creative workshops, events and activities in the BURROW.
Lighthouse understands that cost should never be a barrier to accessing the arts, therefore BURROW is both free to apply and free to attend.
Applicants are encouraged to submit work that:
- Demonstrates an awareness of space and experiments with the scale of the Main Gallery at Lighthouse.
- Explores themes of the season and how creative health and wellbeing might be used to look inward this winter.
- Uses sustainable processes and materials to bring the outside world in, such as reusing an old canvas, or repurposing found material from the locality.
Lighthouse Poole is dedicated to platforming Dorset’s diverse creative community. Therefore, submissions will be judged alongside a local panel reflective of this – artist Carmel De’Lisser; Curator and Collections Manager at the Museum of East Dorset, Mille Lake; Creative Director of Dorset Visual Arts Paul Newman and Tom Pouncy, co-founder of AUGER Collective CIC, a community-focused arts organisation developing embedded exhibition infrastructure within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
“I’m really excited to see work that is out of the ordinary and explores the many different ways in which the theme can be interpreted,” says Carmel.
“Celebrating creative health and wellbeing is a vital strand in our own programming and we know how important it is to shine a light on this,” adds Paul Newman.
Key Dates:
- Install: Mon 9 – Wed 11 Nov
- Exhibition run: Thu 12 Nov – Sat 27 Feb
- Private view: Thu 12 Nov, 6-8pm
- Deinstall: Mon 1 March
Lighthouse Poole is dedicated to platforming the diverse creative community in Dorset.
For any questions about the application process, or how best Lighthouse can accommodate access needs, please email Nyah Boston-Shears at nyah.boston-shears@lighthousepoole.co.uk.
Applications are invited here: Lighthouse Open Call 2026 | BURROW
Closing date: noon, Thursday 13 August.
We look forward to seeing your artwork!
(NC)