VACMA Panelists

Live Borders, Dumfries and Galloway Council, and partners, on behalf of Creative Scotland VACMA Fund

Deadline: Friday 5 September 2025

Call out for two Visual Art or Craft specialists to be commissioned as Panel Members – South of Scotland Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) 2025-26 scheme:

1 specialist from the Scottish Borders

1 specialist from Dumfries & Galloway

Fee: £250 per panel meeting

An opportunity exists for 2 professional creative practitioners to become part of the assessment panel for the South of Scotland VACMA awards.  Applications are invited from practitioners living and working in Dumfries and Galloway and The Scottish Borders.

Panel Member Roles

A key element of the panellist’s role is the ability to be objective. Panel members are ineligible to apply for awards and must be clear not to anticipate conflicts of interest, if possible, such as those regarding friends, family or colleagues intending to apply to the award scheme. We are aware this can be difficult in rural areas, and aware that we seek an understanding and knowledge of the local context and sector, but please consider this when applying for the role.

We welcome interest from individuals who can illustrate:

• Depth of experience in a visual arts practice or craft practice
• Knowledge of a wide range of visual art practice or craft practice
• Understanding of the Visual Artist and Craft Makers Award Scheme (VACMA) or other creative funding sources.

Experience of decision making, commissioning or other similar panel/team roles in an arts context would be an advantage.  Personal experience of being the recipient of an award previously would also be an advantage.

A fee of £250 is payable per panel meeting to cover preparation and participation at the panel meetings. There are generally 2-3 panel meetings annually with meetings online.  Panel members are required to review applications ahead of the panel meetings. The two successful panelists will be required for up to a maximum of two VAMCA rounds, with a maximum period to be agreed upon commission.

The deadline for submissions, which should include your CV and a cover letter detailing how you meet the criteria for panelists by Friday 5 September 2025. 

Background

The South of Scotland VACMA scheme is jointly funded and delivered by Dumfries and Galloway Council and Live Borders with support and matching funds from Creative Scotland.  The scheme is administered by the Arts & Creativity team, Live Borders on behalf of the partnership.

The scheme is aimed at individual artists and makers living and working in the Scottish Borders or Dumfries and Galloway. Artists and makers are eligible to apply for awards towards the cost of developing their creative practice and must be able to demonstrate a commitment to their work, whether they are at an early or established stage of their practice, and to advancing their skills and ideas. Individual bursaries are offered at 2 levels:  £1000 and £500 (Early-career bursaries) to assist artists and makers to develop and extend their own personal practice.

Key partners on the scheme in Dumfries and Galloway are DG Unlimited, Upland, and CABN in The Scottish Borders who help ensure the scheme is promoted and supported in Dumfries and Galloway. DG Unlimited Chairs the panels and field and direct enquiries from D&G, and Upland and CABN provide advice to applicants in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders respectively.

For this 2025-26 South of Scotland VACMA scheme, the application deadlines for the VACMA bursaries are set as:

Round 1 deadline:   5pm 21 October 2025

Round 2 deadline:  5pm 3 February 2026

With provisional dates for panel meetings set as:

Round 1 panel meeting: week of 3 November 2025 tbc

Round 2 panel meeting: week of 16 February 2026 tbc

Please return your submission to the email address below, which should include your CV and a cover letter detailing how you meet the criteria above by Friday 5 September 2025. 

If you would like to discuss the role before applying, please contact Jason Moyes, Head of Arts & Creativity, Live Borders on artservice@LiveBorders1.org.uk

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