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.
- Happy birthday, Generator Projects! The artist-run space turns 30 this year and they’re celebrating with a week-long programme of events from Mon 5 October, including an anniversary exhibition, workshops, performance night, and ending with a big birthday bash on Sat 10 October.
- Illustrator Laura Darling has teamed up with Aitken’s for a Sketch & Sip evening of wine tasting and drawing on Thu 8 October! Bring along your sketchbook, explore and sketch the store with Laura’s guidance, and enjoy some delicious wines.
- The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival begins on Mon 19 October, celebrating it’s 20th anniversary! In Dundee, you can join Amps How it Felt, Caishnah Nevans, and DCA for exhibitions and screenings exploring this year’s theme ‘Reflections’.
- Dundee Rep Theatre are looking for a new Costume Deputy! If you’re a highly organised, collaborative worker with the alteration and construction skills to support costuming across the organisation, they want to hear from you before midday, Mon 2 November.
Events
- It’s a bumper month at DCA cinema! Dundead Halloween is back to screen the spookiest films across the month, beginning on Fri 9 October with ‘The Phantom of the Opera‘ live scored by Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman! Then Discovery Film Festival takes over from Sat 31 October bringing the best family films from around the world to Dundee with Donate What You Can tickets.
- Join Cooper Gallery from Fri 9 October for ‘Jamming the Ignorant Art School‘, en experimental exhibition and event project bringing together the artists, provocations, and ideas that shaped their landmark five-year programme ‘The Ignorant Art School: Five Sit-ins Towards Creative Emancipation’.
- Head to CANVAS on Thu 15 October for a night of music and promised rocking and rolling from Dundee’s Holy Snakes and Glasgow bands Hound and Homework.
- Join Scottish Dance Theatre on Sat 31 October to celebrate 40 extraordinary years with a special Anniversary Gala, bringing together artists, audiences and communities for a joyful evening of dance performances from across the company’s history.
Workshops
- Give hand-building a shot and create your very own spooky, little ghoul with Dundee Ceramics Workshop’s seasonal beginners class Hand-building Ghosts on Sat 10 October!
- There’s a few days left to nab a spot on the latest course from The Acting Lab starting on Sat 10 October! Acting is a Team Sport is a fun and friendly team-focused workshop designed to boost your confidence, acting skills and creativity.
- Emerging theatre-makers aged 18–28 can join Scottish Youth Theatre on Wed 14 October and Wed 4 November for the final two webinars in Fundamentals:ONLINE – a series helping you to upskill and learn from experts on the practical ‘business of theatre’.
- Explore free-form quilting with artist Amy Jones and learn how to make your own mini quilted wall hanging at DCA’s final Craft Sunday workshop of the year on Sunday 25 Oct.
- Black and Global Majority early-career journalists can join Arusa Qureshi for From Pitch to Publish: Music, Arts and Culture Journalism in Practice on Tue 27 October. This two-hour online workshop will share practical lessons on finding stories, developing contacts, and building your voice as a journalist.
Opportunities
- Hospitalfield are searching for ceramicists, artists and potters to participate in this year’s CLAY Market on Fri 4–Sun 6 December! They’re looking for a wide range of approaches, skills, and knowledge to working with clay. Applications close Thu 8 October.
- Applications close on Mon 19 October for Edinburgh Fringe’s Made in Scotland Showcase Fund! They’re looking for music, theatre and dance productions from Scotland-based artists for the 2027 showcase with funding up to £25,000 available to support the presentation of your work.
- VACMA is back! Applications for the first round of this year’s Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards close on Tue 20 October with bursaries of £500 and £1000 available.
- Luminate Scotland have launched a new round of small bursaries for artists aged 50+ who are in the early stages of a new artistic career, with £500–£1000 available to support artistic development and learning. Applications close on Thu 22 October.
- Applications are open for the Dundee Musicians’ Award 2026/27 with grants of up to £1000 available for the costs of creating new work, research or professional development. Apply before Fri 30 October.
Exhibitions
- Last few days to catch Steven Sinclair’s exhibition ‘Landskein‘ before it closes on Sat 10 October. It marks his first solo show and nine months of creative exploration and connection to nature, capturing landscapes from across Scotland.
- Showing at Nomas* Projects until Thu 15 October – Joy Jennings’ ‘Nought from Nought‘ brings together a collection of new figurative sculptures exploring the perpetual forming of the Self in experiences, relationships, and others.
- Visit Lagos Crown throughout October for ‘Black Excellence‘ a pop-up exhibition of artworks celebrating the rich and diverse heritage of black artists in Scotland.
- Opening on Thu 9 October at CANVAS, Original Copy’s ‘Freshly Pressed‘ returns to celebrate the emerging artists of DJCAD with an exhibition showcasing painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and film.
Content
- It was wonderful to hear that the University of Dundee’s DJCAD Collection was recently formally recognised as a collection of national significance! Looked after by University Curator Matthew Jarron, the collection holds 8,000 artworks and artefacts including the work of alumni and staff, and is used for research, teaching and public exhibitions. A small showcase of the history of the art college and its collection is now open on level 2 of DJCAD’s Matthew Building.
- The public vote for The Scottish Album of the Year Award is open from Sat 10 to Mon 12 October, so act quick to vote for your favourite from an incredible line-up including Dundee’s Andrew Wasylyk – then book your tickets for the award ceremony at Caird Hall on Thu 5 November!
- The good chat continues on The Scottish Art Show as artist Katie McGroarty interviews guests including Dundee Community Craft, comedians Scott Redmond and Luis Alcada, and local artists Luck Burt and Laurie Lindow about their creative practice, work, motivations and more.
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