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An image of a few figures huddled together under warm light, carefully inspecting a series of objects in a wood-clad studio space. A row of odd, multicoloured books runs along a wood partition, decorated with small, paper prints. The space, open plan and airy, is partially painted with a warm, sunny yellow. The floor is concrete, with soft signs of industrial use.
A landscape image of Grand Union's studio space. Wooden rooms have been built within an old, industrial space that is flooded with natural light. Several figures are partially visible through a doorway into one of the wooden rooms, artworks and various objects can be seen outside the rooms.

Grand Union, December 2025. Image courtesy of Nina Bailie.

An image of a few figures huddled together under warm light, carefully inspecting a series of objects in a wood-clad studio space. A row of odd, multicoloured books runs along a wood partition, decorated with small, paper prints. The space, open plan and airy, is partially painted with a warm, sunny yellow. The floor is concrete, with soft signs of industrial use.

Grand Union, 2023. Image courtesy of Nina Bailie.

A landscape image of Grand Union's studio space. Wooden rooms have been built within an old, industrial space that is flooded with natural light. Several figures are partially visible through a doorway into one of the wooden rooms, artworks and various objects can be seen outside the rooms.

Grand Union, 2023. Image courtesy of Nina Bailie.

Open Call: BCU Graduate Studio Programme

29 June – 31 August 2026

Birmingham City University is working with Grand Union and Contemporary Other, to offer three recent graduates free co-working studio space for 12 months.

The graduates will be based within Grand Union’s artist studios, which includes Contemporary Other’s co-working studio and Modern Clay, an artist-led ceramics facility.

The aim of the free studio programme is to embed BCU graduates into Digbeth’s artistic community and provide support and mentoring at the early stages of your career.

Graduates selected for the programme will benefit from:

  • Free, shared work space for twelve months.
  • 3 x mentoring sessions per graduate across the year, with experienced professionals at Grand Union and Contemporary Other.
  • Access to BCU School of Art facilities.
  • Opportunity to showcase work at Grand Union’s annual Open Studios event.

All spaces are 24/7 access. Please note that both studios are on the first floor with no working lift access.

How to Apply

To be eligible to apply, you must have graduated from BCU’s School of Art and Design in the last three years (earliest graduating in 2023). This can be from any course within the School of Art and Design.

You will need to be able to demonstrate that you want to continue a creative practice and why you feel shared work space with Grand Union and/or Contemporary Other could be beneficial to you at this point in your career.

To apply, please send:

  • An overview of you and your practice
  • How you would benefit from shared work space with Grand Union and Contemporary Other.
  • How you envisage using the work space.
  • Who you are interested in connecting with during your residency (this could be individuals, programmes or organisations).
  • Up to 5 images of recent work or web links.
  • You application should be in PDF format (no more than 2 pages of text) or/and a video format (no more than 5 mins)

Please send your applications to: info@grand-union.org.uk stating ‘BCU Graduate Studio Programme’ in the subject header.

Deadline for applications is Monday, 31 August 2026.

Click here to download our Application Pack (PDF) →

Grand Union x BCU Graduate Studio Programme

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