Where's Your Head At?

‘Where’s Your Head At?’ is a Children and Young People’s Open delivered by The Box in partnership with Arts University Plymouth. It invites young artists aged 0–25 to submit original work exploring the theme of ‘art and emotion’. Entries close at 5pm on Sunday 3 May 2026. Prizes up for grabs include £150 to spend in The Box’s shop and the chance to have your work displayed at The Box this summer.

A summer season shaped with young people

Selected entries will be shown at The Box alongside a major presentation of works from the Government Art Collection (20 June–20 September 2026). The exhibition has been shaped through conversations and workshops with teenagers and young adults from across Plymouth and will pair artworks by artists such as Alvaro Barrington, Barbara Hepworth and Alberta Whittle with honest reflections from young people aged 13–25.

What does ‘Where’s Your Head At?’ mean?

Sometimes a feeling is obvious. Sometimes it’s complicated, messy, or hard to explain. This year’s theme asks you to respond to the feelings you notice in yourself or others, and then translate it into an original piece of art.

What can I submit?

You can submit a work in any medium: drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, photography, digital art, sculpture, textiles, mixed media, design, illustration, or film.

The only stipulations are that the entry must be sent to us digitally (therefore a high-quality photograph must be taken and sent if you’ve produced a drawing, painting, sculpture, collage etc), and it must be an original work created by you. Entries created using AI image generators won’t be accepted.

Who can enter?

Anyone aged 0–25 living in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset or Dorset can submit an entry.

There are four categories:
• Early Years (EY)
• Primary school (P)
• Secondary school (S)
• 18-25 years (YP)

How do I take part?

All you need to do is email a high quality photograph or scan of your artwork (minimum 300dpi where possible) or a copy of your film to [email protected]. Please put 'Children and Young People’s Open 2026' in the subject line.

Label your file with your initials, the date, the category and the first part of your postcode. For example: the label for Joe Smith, aged 20 from central Truro who submits an entry on 24 March would be JS240326YP-TR1 (see the category codes above).

Please check our Terms and Conditions before submitting your artwork.

The closing date for all entries is 5pm on Sunday 3 May 2026.

Arts University Plymouth Workshop

Alongside the open call, Arts University Plymouth will host a making workshop with lead artist Joe Lyward in March 2026 for Extended Diploma and Foundation students at its Pre-Degree and Sixth Form campus, supporting practical exploration of the ‘art and emotion’ theme and helping young creatives develop ideas and confidence.