We are inviting applications for a small grants scheme to support participatory arts projects taking place as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF). In 2025, grants will support projects taking place in Aberdeen, Dundee, and towns and rural areas across Scotland.

With funding from the Baring Foundation and Creative Scotland, we are offering grants of between £750 and £1,250 to support regional participatory arts projects in areas currently underrepresented in the SMHAF programme.

This year, we will have a strategic focus on Dundee, Aberdeen, and towns and rural areas across Scotland. The fund will support between six and eight projects overall. 

Projects should respond in some way to our theme, ‘Comfort & Disturb’, and the work should be showcased during this year’s festival dates, 20 October to 9 November 2025.

Funding guidelines

The SMHAF Regional Participatory Arts Fund is open to individual artists, organisations, or artists working in partnership with an organisation, but the project must be led by a named artist working across any artform (including, but not limited to, music, film, writing, visual art, theatre and dance).

By ‘Participatory Arts’ we mean projects in which the audience or community is actively involved in the creative process, becoming co-creators alongside artists. Participatory arts projects involve collaboration and shared decision-making, and should empower those taking part to express themselves creatively with guidance from a lead artist. 

Projects should, as much as possible, respond to our festival theme, ‘Comfort & Disturb’. One of the things we want to explore with this theme is the various ways in which art can comfort and disturb, often at the same time, and the challenges involved in finding a balance between the two. You can read more about the thinking behind our 2025 theme here.

In addition to prioritising applications from Dundee, Aberdeen, and towns and rural areas across Scotland, proposals should also directly engage people with experience of mental health problems or who are are most at risk of experiencing poor mental health. These include families and young people at elevated risk, refugees and asylum seekers, people living with long term conditions, and people from racialised communities. Where relevant, we expect applicants to consider safeguarding for themselves, audiences, and anyone else involved in the creative process, particularly when proposing to work with challenging material. 

The fund can support both new projects and ongoing work. We anticipate supporting projects across a range of regional areas and communities.

Successful applicants should showcase output from their project during SMHAF 2025, from 20 October to 9 November, although, as with all of our funds and commissions, we are willing to be flexible in how this is done. We understand that participatory arts projects often require building a relationship of trust between participants and the lead artist and that this can take time. We also appreciate that the timescale of a project involving participants is not always within the control of the lead artists, particularly when working with vulnerable people. However we would expect participants to anticipate this and to have a clear plan in place for sharing the work in some form during our festival dates.

Members of the SMHAF team will be available during the creative process for advice and consultation. We would generally expect to meet artists working on participatory arts projects 2-3 times in order to monitor the progress of the project.

Why Dundee and Aberdeen?

Having recently secured Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland, SMHAF is planning more focused outreach activity over the next three years, with a different priority area each year. We know that access to funding can be a barrier to the growth of festival programmes in many regions of Scotland, and by taking a more strategic approach we hope to establish new and sustainable SMHAF networks across Scotland. It is important to state that while our strategic focus will be on different areas in 2025, 2026 and 2027, we remain committed to working with festival partners across the whole of Scotland.

How to apply

Applications should be submitted through our online application form. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 18 June at 23.59pm.

Applicants will be notified of decisions no later than Monday 30 June. Please be aware that our copy deadline for the printed festival programme is Monday 14 July and that if we are to include your event in the printed programme, we will need you to provide details by that date.

If you have any questions about the application process, please get in touch at smhaf@mentalhealth.org.uk.

About the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival

Now in its 19th year, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival takes place across Scotland and is led by the Mental Health Foundation. It aims to provides a platform for everyone to create and share art inspired by mental health and explores how the arts and creativity can support people to live mentally healthier lives.

By engaging with artists, connecting with communities and forming collaborations, we celebrate the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health problems, challenge stigma and perceptions, and encourage participation in the arts to promote good mental health for all.

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2025 takes place across Scotland from 20 October to 9 November, exploring the theme ‘Comfort & Disturb. Find out more here.