NEAC Artist Scholarships

Free to apply. Sponsored by Sir David and Lady Clementi.

Early-career artists* working in figurative painting, drawing or original printmaking are invited to apply for the NEAC Artist Scholarships 2025-26 worth £6,000.

The three annual scholarships are aimed at individuals who have not historically benefited from many opportunities to engage with the NEAC and aim to support those who face financial barriers in pursuing the arts in a professional capacity. There's no application fee.

*Early-career artists include anyone who feels they are at the beginning stages of their professional artistic career, regardless of age (although applicants must be aged 18 and over and living in Great Britain).

The successful applicants will benefit from a scholarship prize to support artistic development, the opportunity to attend NEAC classes and workshops for free, and the chance to develop mentoring relationships with the talented members of the NEAC. It is hoped that successful applicants will continue to engage with the club beyond the scholarship year.

It's free to apply but you will need to answer a set of questions to say how you would engage with the opportunity and share examples of your best work. You must also be prepared to travel to London (reasonable travel costs up to a maximum of £150 will be reimbursed) if selected for interview.

The £5,000 award offers:

• £5,000 scholarship prize, paid in two instalments, to facilitate the artistic development of an early career artist

• A year of close mentorship with leading figures of the NEAC

• Free entry to all courses, classes and workshops run by the NEAC Education Programme

• A selection of work created during the scholarship year will be showcased in the NEAC Annual Exhibition at Mall Galleries in 2026

The two £500 prizes offer:

• £500 scholarship prize

• A year of mentorship with leading figures of the NEAC

• Free entry to all courses, classes and workshops run by the NEAC Education Programme

• A selection of work created during the scholarship year will be showcased in the NEAC Annual Exhibition at Mall Galleries in 2026

You will need to log into your Google account to access the form (you will be asked to log in if you're not already). If you don’t have a Google account, you will need to create one. Once logged in, please complete the form and upload your application portfolio.

Portfolio Instructions and Guidelines

You can create your application portfolio in any suitable program/app you are familiar with (e.g. Word, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Keynote, Canva) then save your presentation as a PDF (max file size 10MB). When you save the file, please use the following naming convention: surname-firstname.pdf. If your file is over 10MB, please resave it at a lower resolution. The judges will view the applications on screen so it doesn’t need to be print-resolution. We recommend you make your presentation landscape format as most of the judges will be looking at the applications on a desktop computer. 

The first page of the PDF should include your name and your answers to the following questions:

1. When did you first start drawing, painting, or printmaking with a view to possibly taking it further?

2. How much time are you able to find for your artistic practice every week and what difference would winning this scholarship make to your current situation?

3. How would you spend the scholarship money and where do you hope to see your artistic practice developing over the next few years?

4. What in particular about the NEAC drew you to apply for our scholarship? 

Maximum combined word count for all questions is 350 words.

The subsequent pages should feature images of up to 6 examples of your work:

• One image per page (nice and big please so the judges can see it clearly)

• You may (if you wish) add a short caption under each image (e.g. title, medium, brief description)

• Maximum of 6 images, so your PDF should be no longer than 7 pages (i.e. 1-page text + 6 images)

Artists must be aged 18 or over, based in Great Britain and working in figurative painting, drawing or original printmaking.

Deadline for applications: 12 noon, Friday 16 May 2025

Submissions open: Friday 21 March 2025, 12 noon

Submissions close: Friday 16 May, 12 noon

Invitations to interview: Friday 30 May, approx 12 noon, by email. (If you have not heard from the NEAC by end of day on 30 May, it means you have not been selected for interview on this occasion).

Interviews: Thursday 5 June, 10am to 5pm, at Mall Galleries in London

Notification of selected artists: Friday 6 June, by email

Awards ceremony: Wednesday 11 June, 7:30pm, during the Private View of the 2025 NEAC Annual Exhibition at Mall Galleries

We are grateful to Sir David and Lady Clementi for sponsoring the NEAC Artist Scholarships.

If you have any questions, please contact the New English Art Club.