Thinking of becoming a North East Open Studios member? Here you’ll find answers to the questions asked most often by people applying to be members of North East Open Studios. Sign-up for our emails to make sure you don’t miss sign-up dates. Remember …always check your junk folder!
The dates for 2026 are 12th – 20th September 2026.
Membership of North East Open Studios is open to artists, makers and craftspeople whose main residence and practice is within the North East of Scotland geographic area and defined as north of a line drawn from Montrose to Inverness.
Artists outwith the area cannot participate in North East Open Studios unless they are sponsored by another North East Open Studios member and they can demonstrate a strong professional or ancestral connection with the North East Open Studios area. This is at the discretion of NEOS.
This form must be completed and submitted for approval by North East Open Studios.
This website is open for sign-up from the 1st to 31st March EVERY year. The application dates have not changed in 23 years!
An entry fee must be paid to become a North East Open Studios member and join the annual event; the Membership Fees page provides details. Entry fees must be paid in full within the sign-up period.
Membership runs March to the last day of February and is not recurring. Some people take part every year, every other year, every few years and some years life gets in the way. This means our membership changes significantly each year. Historical participation does not automatically grant you membership the following year. This keeps the event fresh, fair and flexible.
It is an Open Studios event so members should be sharing the creative spaces that they normally work from, as this is most interesting for our visitors. We do recognise this is not always practical or possible. If sharing your studio or workspace with the public is not an option, and for good reason, North East Open Studios members can share a space or venue.
As North East Open Studios is all about engaging with visitors and bringing them into your creative process, please find a venue which will allow you to do demonstrations and/or allow visitors to ‘have a go’; see sketches, tools, brushes, mucky aprons, palettes, pigment, stories about an editing process or shots you decided not to use… it doesn’t have to be a workshop, complicated or a complete replica with expensive equipment, just genuine, engaging and not purely sales focused.
Simply having a table displaying your products in a market stall or craft fair style set up, is not acceptable. If you have problems finding somewhere suitable, North East Open Studios can help to connect artists with appropriate studio spaces and venues. NEOS are not responsible for a member’s studio, venue or relationship with venues.
The North East Open Studios event runs for 9 days in September. If you say that you are open, you must be present, or you risk not being able to take part the following year, especially if visitors feedback that there was no one from the listing present when they visited. Your opening dates and times will be published in the book and on the website; you must be present in your studio or venue at those times with exigent circumstances and exceptions at the sole discretion of NEOS.
No. Exceptions are made at the discretion of North East Open Studios and all decisions are final.
Potential venues should work with artists and makers to have a dedicated space for demonstrations and provide the ‘open studio experience’, that is not filled with sales stock from people who are not fully paid-up NEOS members.
Artists and makers must be present throughout their advertised open hours, provided in their application in the NEOS book and website. Rotas are not acceptable. Members using this system may not be able to take part the following year if visitors tell us people they went to see were not there.
If it’s a poor grainy image, collage, logo or picture of a building, it will be rejected during the application process. When a participant supplies an image for entry into the North East Open Studios Book, they are agreeing to it being used for NEOS publicity and we will not use images that are poor quality or do not represent of NEOS values.
This does not affect your copyright ownership. When we update the website in anticipation of the next NEOS event, it will be deleted.
Apply early and prepare your application well in advance of sitting down to do it. We advise that you apply on a computer screen – if you can – and take the time to fill it out in full. As you would be expected to do with any other application for an arts organisation.
If you are experiencing problems or have any concerns, you can contact our co-ordinator who will aim to get back to you within 72 hours. Please be aware that our team receives a high volume of enquiries during this period.
We want to help you. Persistently emailing, messaging or posting on social media will not get you a response more quickly and will not be favourable in your application. The responsibility is on you to fulfil the administration of your application form and provide the information we need to run the event.
Failure to do so may affect your application acceptance.
This year we have designed a very clear process for you, and to reduce administrative burden on NEOS.
North East Open Studios does not have a selection process based on artistic judgement. We DO have a selection process based on administrative criteria. Once your application has been received by NEOS you will receive one of the following notifications by email (please check your junk folder):
There are a number of reasons your application may get declined. It is not – and will never be – curatorial.
If you have applied in good faith, are a member in ‘good standing’ and have filled out your application in full, you will be notified if we have reached a cap on the applications and will be placed on a waiting list. We will notify you of this. Please be patient. Due to some major organisational changes we may increase the 300 cap but this is at the sole discretion of NEOS based on capacity.
All members will be subject to the Code of Conduct on joining and agree to abide by our Respect Charter at the time of application – regardless of whether you are accepted or not.
Members agree to open their studios or venues to the public on the published dates and times and understand that any attempt to circumnavigate these conditions between NEOS and members, may result in being removed from the directory without warning, and you may not be able to take part in future NEOS events.
All work exhibited during North East Open Studios must be of original design or pattern and created by the fully paid NEOS member from concept to final work. No exhibited items may be sourced from third parties, or exhibited on behalf of people who are not members at the time of the event.
Members are ENTIRELY responsible for their online North East Open Studios application content and must ensure all details are correct at the time of application. No further amendments will be made after application acceptance and payment received. North East Open Studios takes no responsibility for typos or poorly written content of a member’s artist statement, extended bio, book description, opening hours changing after registration closes, incorrect addresses or map placement after book proofing – all of which will affect your footfall. Time stamped records are held for all administrative stages.
Members must be present in their studio space or hired venue to speak to visitors about their work during their published Open Studio hours.
Members take responsibility for promoting themselves in their local region in print, press, radio and online. NEOS agrees to provide you with books, signage, posters and from time to time some other materials (print and online assets for promotional efforts), at their discretion and within their capacity to do so.
Members are expected to promote their own studio or venue through their contacts and networks. North East Open Studios is only responsible for marketing the event overall.
Members are responsible for the management of and public access to their studio space or hired venue.
The public will expect studios and venues to be accessible at the times advertised and published in the North East Open Studios Book.
Members should be fully aware that North East Open Studios does not take responsibility for their studio or venue, their local publicity or the content of their online statements.
Members are responsible for their own Insurance and we will not advise on insurance, legal matters or anything pertaining to law and insurance, under any circumstances.
Insurance is sometimes is included in the Membership Fee of some Artists Organisations such as SAU and A-N.
A good place to start is a-n The Artists Information Company.
