Bioregioning Tayside – Reimagining Tayside as a Living Bioregion
Open Call: Artist/Illustrator Competition £1000 prize & commission contract
Opens 10am, 4th March, closes 5pm, 10th April 2026
We are launching an open competition to find an artist or illustrator who can help shape a distinctive visual language for Bioregioning Tayside, one that grows from the land itself. We are seeking work that listens to the river, the soils, the coastlines and hills; that recognises the intricate patterns of watersheds, food webs, seasonal cycles, and human communities woven together across the Tay catchment. This is an invitation to interpret Tayside not as a map of administrative borders, but as a living, breathing system, dynamic, interdependent and alive.
Bioregioning Tayside is new organisation that aims to build community resilience through the concept of a Bioregion. A bioregion is defined not by political or economic boundaries, but by its natural characteristics – its geology, topography, climate, soils, hydrology and watersheds, agriculture, biodiversity, and the plants and animals that live there.
What We’re Looking For
This new visual language will help us tell the story of the Tay Bioregion in a way that is grounded, hopeful and regenerative. Its imagery should evoke the flow of the River Tay from source to sea, the richness of farmland and forest, the diversity of species, and the communities who care for this place.
This work will give conceptual direction and atmosphere for our public-facing materials. We are looking for imagery that feels rooted yet contemporary, capable of holding complexity while remaining accessible, bold and inspiring. This is not a corporate rebrand. This is a cultural and ecological translation exercise.
Submissions do not need to be entirely new or fully finished. We are happy to see re-contextualise earlier work for this brief, combination of old and new material into a single narrative. Show thinking, process, and curiosity.
Submission Information
- No more that a 4 page PDF,
- Written Statement (200-300 words)
- Submit by email, upper limit of 25MB or other file sharing service if larger
- Your full name and contact details.
- 2 relevant links to online websites or socials you think best represent your work
- Opens 10am, 4th March, closes 5pm, 10th April 2026. With the winning artist/illustrator to be informed by early June 2026.
The winning submission will win a cash prize of £1000 and a paid commission contract to further develop the visual language and other digital assets that can be used for storytelling and public outreach. (Details on fee, timeline, and deliverables will be agreed with the selected artist.)
Download the full proposal here, which includes the brief, guidance on submissions, and where to send your work.
