Here’s a full breakdown of opportunities, events and content available in Dundee over October! Subscribe to our News Mail Out and receive updates each month.
- Artist Jo Craig will be back with her Drawing Club at EH9 Espresso on Thu 2, 16, and 30 October! Join her for a cuppa and enjoy the comfy, friendly vibes for a relaxed drawing session.
- Start your month with Elfie Pickett at the next Blether on Fri 3 October where they’ll be joined by local actor and writer Jade Anderson-Ford sharing a reading of her new theatre piece ‘Mary’.
- Last chance to vend DD Dragon’s previously unreleased, dark and gritty EP ‘if you’re cold I’ll bring the sun closer’ at Volk Gallery until Sat 4 October!
- From Tue 28–Thu 30 October, visit ‘Surrounding‘ an immersive exhibition facilitated by How it Felt, sharing dioramas, clay sculpture and textile artworks exploring this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival theme.
Events
- Bring your friends, family and potluck dish along to the City Flowers Garden Studio Autumn Gathering on Sat 4 October and enjoy music, open mic performances, and exhibition ‘Celebrate Vulnerability’.
- JEM Dundee (aka Jewellery Exhibition for Maggie’s) returns on Sun 5 October, showcasing contemporary handmade jewellery and Scotland’s best independent jewellery designers.
- Celebrate the creepiest time of the year at DCA Cinema with Dundead Halloween! Enjoy a special line-up of horror classics, forgotten gems, and live performances including The Phantom of the Opera accompanied by a live score from Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman on Fri 31 October!
- V&A Dundee are opening after-hours for one-night-only nightclub takeover Night Garden, inspired by their Garden Futures exhibition! Join them for a night of DJs, immersive installations, live performances and more on Fri 31 October.
Workshops
- Dundee Changemakers Hub welcome author and Transition Network founder Rob Hopkins to Dundee on Wed 15 October for a dynamic, hands-on workshop exploring How to Fall in Love with the Future.
- On Tue 21 October join ScrapAntics for their next Re/Shape workshop – a new series offering relaxed and mindful creative sessions! This month they’re exploring Character Design to create charming characters that are unique to you.
- Budding animators aged 8+ (and their grown-ups!) can join the Discovery Film Festival fun with a Stop Motion Kitchen workshop on Sat 25 October. No animation experience needed – just bring your imagination!
- Head to the Maxwell Garden to explore the beauty of the natural world and learn how to make casts of plants with their free Plaster Casting with Nature workshop on Tue 28 October.
Opportunities
- The Culture Collective Fund is opening for a new round of funding on Tue 7 October. The fund is designed to support creative organisations in developing projects collaboratively with artists and communities, to make a positive impact locally and nationally.
- Applications for Cryptic Glasgow’s Cryptic Nights 2026 are open! They want to hear from emerging artists combining original sound or music with performance, installation, screen-based art or technology. Deadline Mon 13 October.
- Sustrans ArtRoots funding is currently open for proposals to enhance local, traffic-free National Cycle Network routes with community-led art projects. Apply for grants up to £6,000 by Wed 15 October.
- VACMA is back! Applications for the first round of this year’s Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards close on Tue 21 October with bursaries of £500 and £1000 available.
Exhibitions
- Original Copy Collective showcase emerging talent from DJCAD with their annual ‘Freshly Pressed‘ exhibition! Join them for the opening night celebration on Thu 2 October.
- Cooper Gallery’s five-chapter exhibition and event project The Ignorant Art School culminates with ‘Sit-in #5: Compassionate Rebels in Action‘ by award winning artist, filmmaker and writer Grace Ndiritu. Running from Fri 10 October.
- Exploring publishing and exhibiting as interconnected practices, ‘Unfolding ~ Correspondent‘ brings together a group of artists, writers, designers, and printmakers to respond to DCA’s 2024–2025 exhibition programme. Opening Sat 11 October.
- Visit Ninewells Community Garden from Mon 20 October for ‘Making Sense‘ a collaborative textile exhibition from artist Anna Rooney and patients and staff of the Carseview Centre at Ninewells Hospital.
Content
- Decolonising the Outdoors are expanding the work of their Edinburgh Art Festival workshops and want to hear your answers to the question ‘What does reclaiming the outdoors mean to you?’. Respond to the open call until Fri 31 October
- Go behind the scenes of Dundee Rep’s current production of ‘The Glass Menagerie‘ in a new video with designer Emily James and learn more about bringing Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece to life!
- The public vote for The Scottish Album of the Year Award is open from Mon 13 to Wed 15 October, so act quick to vote for your favourite from an incredible line-up including Dundee’s Be Charlotte and Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman!
- Following a two-year teacher development programme embedding craft approaches in schools across Dundee, MAKE with the Knit Shop have now released a set of free teaching resources from makers Jolene Guthrie, Kim Norrie, and Kate Scarlet Harvey to support learning with craft in the classroom.
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