For the first time, Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival are also offering artists aged 18-25 an opportunity to apply for a new young artist commission, supported by Corra. The fee is £1,000 inclusive of materials.
As with their regular commission opportunity, this is open to artists based anywhere in Scotland and working in any discipline, as long as the work addresses mental health and responds to this year’s theme of Reflections.
It is expected that applicants will have experience of making creative work but this does not need to have been in a professional or formal education setting.
To be eligible, artists must be:
- Aged 18 or over by the application deadline, Fri 8 May 2026.
- Aged 25 or under on the closing date of the festival, Sun 8 November 2026.
Reflections
The 2026 festival theme, Reflections, is an invitation to slow down in a world that is moving so fast it can feel impossible just to keep up with events. How do we take time to reflect when each day’s headlines seem to bring fresh news of political, economic and environmental upheaval? How can we properly understand our own needs when our lives are seldom calm and charged with uncertainty?
The theme also offers the chance to explore the ways that art reflects and shapes the world around us, offering joy, discomfort, catharsis, awe, confusion and clarity.
In SMHAF’s 20th year they are also reflecting on what has shifted in the mental health landscape since the first edition in 2007. Read more about their festival theme here.
Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme in any way that they choose, and we are open to proposals in any artform. The strength of the idea is what counts.
Find out more at https://www.mhfestival.com/2026/04/smhaf-2026-commissions-call-for-artists-to-respond-to-theme-of-reflections/.
