Our latest roundup of local and international funding, support & opportunities for NI creatives

01. Illustrators North Smile Please Exhibition

Illustrators North are super excited to announce that they are doing their very first Illustrators North Annual exhibition celebrating their fantastically talented members and friends, here in Northern Ireland!

The exhibition is happening on December 4th Late Night Art Belfast at the Black Box Belfast from 6pm onwards!

02. WeBuild Programme

WeBuild is open to applications from across the island of Ireland. WeBuild is for ambitious women founders and entrepreneurs who have identified a significant problem with global potential and are developing tech-powered products or platforms to solve it.

Closing date: Tuesday 9th December 12pm

03. Creative Ireland Programme

The Creative Ireland Programme is delighted to announce three new funding calls to a combined value of €4.6 million supporting creativity, connection and wellbeing across the island of Ireland

04. Belfast City Council Vacant to Vibrant

Belfast City Council has secured an additional £700k in capital funding to extend the Vacant to Vibrant Citywide scheme (excluding the city centre). Please note that the scheme operates citywide but excludes the city centre boundary.

Applications are now open for this new round of funding, contact vacanttovibrant@belfastcity.gov.uk to request an application pack.

05. Design Generators Funding

Apply for funding to combine design-led interventions with arts and humanities methodologies to make positive contributions to the green transition.

Opening date: 2 February 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date: 9 April 2026 4:00pm UK time

06. Creative Lives Micro Grant

Creative Lives’ latest micro-grant competition is all about the power of networks, and how partnerships can help groups achieve things they couldn’t on their own.

Tell them your story, and they will give a £250/€290 micro-grant to their favourite! They are particularly keen to hear from grassroots, community-led creative groups who, through a partnership, have been able to carry out projects previously out of reach.

Deadline: Friday 12 December 2025

November was another busy month for us at Blick. 

We started the month by facilitating a Finance Fair for the @artscouncilni on Friday 7th November in the MAC. 

On Wednesday evenings we hosted @homewerk.project for their Creative Adventure Club in our Hill St studios 

We worked with @kitschsistersbelfast to put on a Creative Affirmations Cards workshop for creative women. 

We finished the month with taking part in an Ideas Lab panel discussion in Ulster University Belfast for their Students as Entrepreneurs programme.

It was also @irishdesignweek from 17th - 21st November. For that we worked with @belfastdesignwk @onebite.design and @futureislandisland to put on a series of design talks on the theme Islands of Design in Belfast School of Art.

We worked with Future Island-Island and Belfast Design Week to organise a design workshop for architecture students from both Ulster University and Queens University facilitated by onebite design in the beautiful Kitsch Sisters Workshop Space in Olive Tree House.

We also helped organise a popup design exhibition of Future Island-Island design fellows work alongside 10 emerging designers on the ground floor of Belfast School of Art and the @architecturenorthernireland Design Box that ran throughout Irish Design Week.

https://blickstudios.org/blog/last-month-at-blick-november/

Last month at Blick. We have loads of great things coming up this month too which you can find on our website

https://blickstudios.org/events/

** SHARED CREATIVE WORKSPACE - 1 DEDICATED DESKSPACE AVAILABLE HILL ST CATHEDRAL QUARTER **

We have one dedicated deskspace available in our beautiful Hill St studios from 1st November

– £165 per calendar month

- All inclusive prices (rent, rates, utilities, broadband) no VAT

– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract

– 1 months rent required as a deposit

– Cathedral Quarter location

Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit our website for more information. Link below and in profile

�https://blickstudios.org/locations/hill-street-belfast/

Another chance to read our interview with BBC Radio Producer Owen McFadden ahead of his Creative Audio Workshop in our Hill St studios tomorrow morning

You can still grab a ticket to his workshop via the link below or in our profile

https://blickstudios.org/events/digital-brunch-creative-audio-for-beginners/

Our latest roundup of local and international funding, support & opportunities for NI creatives

01. Individual Artists Digital Evolution Awards

Programme Objectives
Upskilling NI artists in the use of new, emerging and immersive technology
Creation of excellent Digital Art

Programme Priorities
Creation of digital arts
Creating opportunities for audiences to experience digital and immersive arts
Encouraging cross-sectoral collaboration

Closing date: Thursday 27th November, 12:00PM

02. Digital Arts Studios Home Residency

The DAS Home Residency provides four months for you to develop a project of your choice, expanding your skills and practice.

Open to artists across Ireland and the UK, we welcome proposals from artists whose work employs digital technologies to challenge artistic boundaries and reimagine the cultural landscape.

Closing date: Sunday 16th November, Midnight

03. Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics – Call for Events

The Imagine! Belfast Festival returns during 23–29 March 2026 and they are once again inviting you to send them ideas for an event as part of the festival.

Closing date: Friday 7th November

04. Vault Christmas Market Call For Stallholders

This year’s Christmas Market is taking place on the first weekend of December (Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th) in Carlisle Memorial Church.

Closing date: Monday 27th of October

05. Belfast City Council Social Economy Incentive Fund

Apply now if you have a new or early stage social economy or co-operative business and want support to grow your venture further. The
fund can provide between £1,000 and £10,000 to help with things like equipment, skills development, set-up costs and specialist support.

Closing date: Tuesday 11th November 2025, 4pm

06. Craft NI Call For Facilitators

Craft NI is seeking expressions of interest from practitioners or facilitators who can deliver professional development sessions for craft
makers across Northern Ireland.

Closing date: Sunday 2nd November

Full listings including links on our blog (link below and in profile)

https://blickstudios.org/blog/13044/

Some pics from our last creative talk with Ciaran Crudden founder of @lastbrand.studio sharing his creative story!

Some photos from our Retail Ready Fieldtrip for Ulster University Enterprise Placement Year students that we led on Friday 10th October. Starting in our Hill Street studios before visiting @wearebornandbred_ @hunterpaperco and @storyboxni

With the students all learning about how to get their creative products ready for retail with Linzi Rooney founder of Born and Bred, Emma Johnston founder of Hunter Paper Co and Rachel McIlgorm founder of Story Box NI all sharing their stories, thoughts and experiences.

Such a great day with loads of brilliant insights and tips that we will share in a blog in coming weeks!

Thanks to Linzi Rooney, Emma Johnston and Rachel McIlgorm for very kindly giving up their time to meet with the students and share their experiences and thanks to Jackie Smyth from Ulster University for inviting us to be part of their programme we loved it!

Some pics from our `Creative Brunch With Innovate UK Business Growth` earlier this month, event writeup and resources coming soon!

Some more weekend reading. This time an interview with radio and audio producer Owen McFadden from WhyFi Productions (Radio 2, Radio 4, Radio Ulster and more) who is facilitating our `Digital Brunch Creative Audio for Beginners Workshop` next Saturday morning

https://blickstudios.org/events/digital-brunch-creative-audio-for-beginners/