Open Call Guidelines for Schools

Schools with pupils aged 4 – 21 years old within the Cambridge City Council wards can apply with a selection of 10 artwork entries from their school student cohort.

Children and young people aged 4 – 21 years old living and/or attending school within the Cambridge City Council wards can also submit their work independently. Please refer to more information in the Open Call section of the website.

Keen to participate? Read these FAQs first – make especially sure to check our size and material guidelines. Then have fun supporting your pupils to create their artworks! We want all artworks to express what matters to children and young people in Cambridge today, and we hope you enjoy the process of making artworks together.

Once you’ve made your artworks, complete our online entry form. Kettle’s Yard aims to respond within two working weeks to all entries.

If you’ve heard back with a confirmation from us that we will be displaying your artwork, we’ll provide next steps on how to hand in or deliver your art to us. The exhibition will be open from 26 February to 9 March 2025 – be sure to keep these dates free and you can come and see your artwork on display at Kettle’s Yard!

Paint What Matters! will display all your fantastic submissions across the two main gallery spaces of Kettle’s Yard, as well as the walls between the gallery spaces. Each artwork will be fixed to the gallery walls within a huge grid, so we can display as many artworks as possible. We think it will look spectacular!

Kettle’s Yard curators will be responsible for positioning all the works in the exhibition. Young artists will not be required to be present during the installation.

Kettle’s Yard reserves the right to refuse an artwork should it not comply with our guidelines or values.

To enable a variety of children and young people to submit work for exhibition, we are only able to accommodate a maximum 10 artworks per school, submitted as one single school entry. The artworks can be created by pupils across year levels, provided they meet the age bracket (4 – 21 years). Schools are also welcome to submit artwork(s) created by more than one pupil, i.e. a collaborative class entry.

We encourage you to get creative as possible and let your ideas run wild. However, to display as many artworks as possible, we can only accept artworks which comply with our guidelines and values. Read on to check what types of artworks we can accept and remember to keep these guidelines in mind as you get making!

Your artwork can be any size up to 40 x 40 cm, or A3 sized paper (29.7 x 42 cm). We won’t be able to accept works for exhibition that are larger than these dimensions.

Your artwork can be square, rectangular or any other shape that you would like. Just keep the dimensions in mind (no larger than 40 x 40cm or 29.7 x 42 cm).

• Use light weight paper or card (no thicker than as used for a cereal box).
• Please do not mount or frame any of the artwork.
• Please do not use canvas.
• The artwork created must be 2-dimensional so it can be easily fixed to the gallery wall.
• Please do not use glitter – it gets everywhere!

You are welcome to use paint, pastels, crayons, collage etc to create your artwork. We encourage you to use colour, and to be as bold and expressive as you wish. We are excited to see what you make!

We are looking for artworks created especially for the exhibition in 2024 or 2025 by children and young people because the exhibition aims to spotlight what matters to children and young people in Cambridge today.

If your pupils have made artworks that follow our size and material guidelines, we can’t wait to see them. Submit your school’s entry online via our website between 14 October and 20 December 2024. We encourage you to submit your entry as soon as possible as entry spots are limited and will be filled on a first come first served basis. Remember that each school can submit up to 10 artworks.

Click here to complete the online entry form for school submissions.

The entry form asks for digital photos of the artworks, contact details and other information to assist us with coordinating the project.

We will ask for the following information:

• School contact name
• School contact email address
• School contact phone number
• School name
• Postcode of school
• How you heard about Paint What Matters!
• Permission for the young people and their artwork to be a part of the Paint What Matters! project and exhibition

These details will not be shared publicly and are stored only for the purposes of this project in line with our privacy policy.

We will also ask for information for each artwork submitted:

• Young artists’ given and preferred first names (this can be initials only if required)
• Young artists’ ages
• Digital photograph of the artwork entry
• Title of artwork
• Artwork statement (up to 10 words about the artwork, optional)
• Artwork medium (what was used to make the artwork, e.g. paint on card)
• Artwork size

This information will help us plan and install the exhibition.

In an ideal world we could exhibit thousands of artworks, but unfortunately our spaces don’t quite stretch that far. The Open Call for Schools is open from 14 October to 20 December 2024, unless we fill all the allocated entry spots prior. We would encourage you to submit your entries as soon as possible, as spots will be filled on a first come first served basis.

Once you have submitted the entry form, we will review your entry and confirm whether your artwork will be displayed. We will do so on a rolling basis until submissions for schools close on 20 December 2024. We aim to respond to all applicants via email within two working weeks of submission. 

Heard back from us with a confirmation that we will be displaying your school’s artwork? Kettle’s Yard will be holding a drop-off weekend for Paint What Matters! on Saturday 1 February and Sunday 2 February 2025, when will be open for you to drop-by and hand in your artwork to us. We look forward to meeting you and seeing what your pupils have created!

When you arrive at Kettle’s Yard, come to the Information Desk and a member of staff will help you find the Clore Learning Studio – our drop-off area for Paint What Matters!. The Studio is located on level -1 and is accessible via stairs or lift.

Handing in your artwork should only take a few minutes. To make the most of your visit, why not pair dropping off your artwork with a visit to the Kettle’s Yard house, our exhibition, or our shop and café? Plan your visit here.

If you have, or foresee, any difficulties with accessing Kettle’s Yard for the Paint What Matters! drop-off days or submission please contact us at paint@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk   We would be happy to assist.

If we have confirmed that we would like to display your artwork(s), and you are unable to come to Kettle’s Yard to hand these into us, you can deliver your artworks in the post at your cost. Please ensure the artwork arrives to Kettle’s Yard before Wednesday 5 February 2025.

Please address the post to:

Kettle’s Yard
Re: Paint What Matters! artwork entry
Castle St
Cambridge
CB3 0AQ

Please ensure you pay sufficient postage as we will be unable to pay any postage remaining charges. Please include a labelled return address envelope or post bag so we can post the artwork back to your school following the exhibition period.

It is free to submit an entry for the Paint What Matters! exhibition. You will, however, need to factor in any costs involved in bringing your artwork to Kettle’s Yard on the Paint What Matters! drop-off weekend (Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 February 2025) and collecting your work at the end of the exhibition (Saturday 15 & Sunday 26 March 2025), or in posting your artworks to Kettle’s Yard.

No, there is no special selection or judging for Paint What Matters!.

Our entries are open for submissions between 14 October 2024 and 27 January 2025, unless all entry slots are filled prior. All entries will be reviewed against our exhibition guidelines and organisational values, and decisions made by Kettle’s Yard regarding whether an artwork can be displayed or not will be final.

There are no prizes for this exhibition, just a big celebration of young people’s voices, creativity and what matters to them!

Kettle’s Yard will not facilitate the sale of any works submitted for or presented in the Paint What Matters! exhibition.

Yes! Please come and collect your artwork from Kettle’s Yard on our Paint What Matters! collection weekend: Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 March 2025. Kettle’s Yard will be open between 11am – 4pm this weekend for artwork collection.

When you arrive at Kettle’s Yard, come to the Information Desk and a member of staff will help you find the Clore Learning Studio – our drop-off area for Paint What Matters!. The Studio is located on level -1 and is accessible via stairs or lift.

If you have posted your school’s artworks to Kettle’s Yard and included a labelled return address envelope or post bag, we can post the artwork back to your school following the exhibition period.

After 9 April 2025, work that has not been collected will not be stored. If you have, or foresee, any difficulties with accessing Kettle’s Yard for the Paint What Matters! collection days please contact us at paint@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk to discuss alternative arrangements.

Missed the submission deadline and wondering if there is a waiting list? Yes, we have a waiting list in case of last-minute entry cancellations or exhibition changes. Please email paint@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk with your contact details, and we will be in touch if the opportunity to submit arises.