The content on this page is also available in a Google doc which has large print and alternate colour versions. Applications are made by Google form. We are a small, part time team of freelancers so we prefer applications in this format to minimise administration, but if this is not accessible for you, please email your answers to hello@kinfolkfamilies.info as a Google doc, with “application to ADP” in the subject line.
Artist Development Programme for
Parents & Carers
Applications open: 7 July 2026
Deadline: 2 August 2026
Programme dates: 3nd November - 20th November
We are looking for six artists who are parents or caregivers to join an international online Artist Development Programme (ADP) —
a three-week opportunity designed to inspire, affirm and professionally support artist parents and caregivers across Scotland, England and Germany.
The ADP is designed around the real conditions of a creative life that also includes care. All participants will receive an £330 honorarium to support their participation in the programme.
About the programme
The ADP brings together a small cohort of six artists — two each living in Scotland, England and Germany — for a supportive, care-informed and creative development experience, delivered entirely online.
Over three weeks in November 2026, participants will take part in group sessions, receive and respond to creative prompts and time-bound tasks, one-to-one mentorship, and critical feedback from all three partner organisations. The programme is structured to be artistically demanding while remaining accessible: there is no travel required, no extended time away from home, and the schedule is designed with caregiving responsibilities in mind and in response to the collective needs and time commitments of the participants. The ADP may be delivered during unusual hours e.g. 8pm onwards, to accommodate parents and carers who have daytime and evening commitments around care schedules. We will ask you to provide details of your availability during the application stage.
The ADP explores radical care and matricentric feminism as both subjects and lived conditions — deepening participants' understanding of how these concepts relate to their own practices, and opening space to experiment with new ways of working, new research directions, and new forms of presentation.
The programme culminates in an online public showcase with invited industry professionals, at the end of November 2026, where participants share work-in-progress and reflections from the three weeks. A small publication documenting the themes, process and learning will follow, along with an online reunion session in February 2027 to support longer-term connection and impact.
Who is this for?
This programme is for artists who are parents, carers or family-makers — people who have often been structurally excluded from international development opportunities that assume freedom to travel, extended availability, or financial flexibility.
We embrace an expansive understanding of these identities, including those who have experienced pregnancy or child loss, infertility or who form family in atypical ways e.g. through kinship care, chosen family etc. We also include those who are caring for family or friends of any age.
We welcome applications from artists working across visual art, performance, socially engaged practice, and interdisciplinary work. We are particularly interested in applicants whose practice engages with themes of care, caregiving, identity, labour, or family — though this is not a requirement.
The opportunity is open to people at any stage of their creative journey. We do not expect you to have a fully realised practice or an established arts career. We are interested in what this development programme will bring to you as a creative practitioner.
We are seeking artists based in Scotland, England or Germany (two places available in each country).
What participants can expect
A three-week online programme in November 2026, combining 1 x live group session per week with independent creative tasks
1:1 mentorship and critical feedback from Rebecca Livesey-Wright, founder of Kinfolk Families (Scotland), Magdalena Kallenberger, artist, researcher and co-founder of MATERNAL FANTASIES (Germany) and Millie Walton, founder of Babe Station (England)
Connection with a peer cohort of five other artist parents and caregivers across three countries
An opportunity to test and develop new work within a supportive international context
Participation in an online public showcase in November 2026
Inclusion in a publication documenting the programme's themes and learning
An online reunion session in February 2027
An honorarium of £330 to support participation in the programme
About the partners
Kinfolk Families, founded by Rebecca Livesey-Wright is a Glasgow-based arts organisation working across professional practice and community arts. We support more inclusive, equitable cultural participation by centring parents, carers and family-makers who are often structurally excluded from the arts. We work with artists, communities and organisations to develop care-informed creative practice through participatory projects, mentoring, consultation and training.
www.rebeccalw.com www.kinfolkfamilies.info
@rebeccor_blimey @kinfolk.families
Magdalena Kallenberger is an artist, writer, and researcher whose work investigates feminist practices, radical care, and the in/visibility of care labor and motherhood(s) within the arts. Working across video, performance, installation, photography, and text, she combines feminist theory, historiography, and autobiography, with performative elements and collaborative methodologies. She is the initiator and co-founder of MATERNAL FANTASIES, based in Berlin, Germany, and brings eight years of experience organising intergenerational residencies and collaborative artist-led research projects focused on care, labour and motherhood in the arts.
www.mkallenberger.de www.maternalfantasies.net
@magdalenakallenberger @maternalfantasies
Babe Station, founded by writer Millie Walton and based in England, is an artist-led organisation that explores the relationship between making art and the maternal experience. It embraces an expansive understanding of motherhood and works with artists who self-identify as mothers across diverse lived experiences. Through exhibitions, workshops, talks, live events and research, Babe Station creates opportunities for artistic development, visibility and community
www.millie-walton.com www.babestation.org.uk
@milliewalton @babe___station
The Artist Development Programme is delivered by Rebecca Livesey-Wright (Kinfolk Families) in partnership with Millie Walton (Babe Station) and Magdalena Kallenberger (MATERNAL FANTASIES) and is funded by the Four Nations International Fund through Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Wales, Creative Scotland and Wales Arts International.