CamCreatives Art Show 2027
8-19 February 2027
Part of Cambridge Arts Festival, 8–19 February 2027
Calling all Cambridge creatives
The CamCreatives Art Show returns for the 2027 Cambridge Arts Festival, and we’d like to see what you’ve been making.
The festival runs from Monday 8 to Friday 19 February 2027, and we’ll once again have exclusive use of a showroom in the Grand Arcade, in the middle of town. It’s free to visit. Thanks, as ever, to the team at Cambridge BID for making it possible.
Whether you work in visual art, craft, digital design, photography, jewellery, sculpture, animation or something we haven’t thought of, we want your work on the wall – or the plinth, or the table.
Two ways to take part
1. Submit your work in the usual way
Anything you’ve made, any medium, no theme. This is the main show and it’s how most people take part.
2. Take on Cover Versions!
For 2027 we have a themed strand running inside the show, with a challenge attached and two prizes funded by Cambridge BID. Entirely optional.
You could submit work for both paths, but there’s a limit of 3 pieces of work for review whether you take the first path, the second path, or do both.
There’s no fee for submitting or for being displayed. If your work is selected you’ll need to prepare it for display, deliver it to the Grand Arcade at the agreed time, and collect it after the show closes.
This opportunity is for CamCreatives members only. If you’re passing this on to someone outside the group, do let them know it’s free to join us on Meetup first.
Cover Versions
So what is Cover Versions? For 2027 it’s an opportunity to visualise the sounds of the 1970s.
The challenge is simple: take a 1970s album and reinterpret its LP sleeve.
Choosing your record
You can choose your own
A 1970s LP that means something to you.
You can let us choose for you
Tell us the sort of music you like and we’ll pick a 1970s album you might never have reached for. We’ll send you the album title and artist, with a Spotify link if that’s useful.
You don’t need Spotify to take part: get it from the library, borrow a copy, listen to it online elsewhere, or maybe even buy a copy in a record shop.
Either way, it’s important to remember you’re responding to the music, not copying or amending the existing cover.
Voting and prizes
Visitors to the show will be invited to vote for their favourite Cover Versions piece, one vote per person. Votes are counted by a panel from CamCreatives and also Cambridge BID, organisers of Cambridge Arts Festival.
The overall winning entry receives £250.
The panel will also pick out a favourite from the “let us choose for you” route. The most surprising, interesting, or powerful response to a record the artist didn’t choose. That entry receives £50, announced separately on Saturday 13 February so it gets a moment of its own.
Prizes are funded by Cambridge BID.
Making your piece
The artwork doesn’t have to look like the 1970s. We’re not after retro pastiche. This is about responding to sound, memory, mood and format.
Size and format
Work to a square format. Pieces are displayed at 12 × 12 inches (30 × 30 cm).
Medium
Any medium, as long as the piece has a square face and can be mounted on a wall. Painting, print, collage, textile, photography, ceramic tile, relief, mixed media.
Pieces must arrive ready to hang, with fixings on the back. If you work in three dimensions and the square doesn’t suit you, the main show welcomes sculpture and object-based work with no such constraints. Or talk to us before you start and we’ll see what’s possible.
Framing
It’s not a requirement, unframed work is welcome as long as it is ready to hang.
Time
This doesn’t have to take over your life. Some people will live with a record for weeks; others will hear it once and know exactly what they’re making. A piece made in an afternoon is as welcome as one that took months.
Originality
All work must be original. It must not reproduce, trace, copy or directly replicate existing album artwork, photography, logos or typography.
Ready to sign up?
Sign-ups close at 11:59pm on Monday 16 November 2026.