Open Call Scout nights

The Open Call Scout nights takes place on the basis of the Talent Development Grant Scheme. The scout nights are specifically intended for designers and makers who have not followed regular art education in the Netherlands or abroad.

Through the scout nights, self-taught designers and makers can gain access to the second round of the Talent Development Grant Scheme. In this way, the Fund enables designers and makers from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds to professionalize their design practice and develop it further artistically.

The scout nights are for designers and makers who are not currently enrolled in any training programme, nor have they completed a design study at a higher professional education level. In recent years they have built up an individual or collective practice in the (sub)disciplines of design, architecture, digital culture or the crossovers between them.

Through the Open Call Scout nights, you can apply to the Talent Development Grant Scheme for a grant to invest for a year in your own development. The grant consists of three parts: a freely disposable part intended for your own artistic and professional development, a part for the professionalization of your own practice, and a part for presentation purposes.

The selection for a talent development grant is made in two rounds.

scout nights
The first selection via the scout nights is made on the basis of portfolio, CV and pitch. There are five scout nights – in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Zwolle. On the basis of portfolio, a maximum of ten makers are invited to pitch for each scout night. The jury selects a maximum of five candidates per scout night.

second selection round
The final selection for the talent development grants is made on the basis of the development plan. After you have been selected during the scout nights or in the first selection round of the Talent Development Grant Scheme, you will receive € 1,000 for drawing up this development plan that will be assessed in the second selection round.

In order to prepare the application, it is important for you to acquire the right information based on the following documents:

Open Call Scout Nights
Applications are assessed on the basis of the Open Call Scout nights. This states the objective, conditions, phasing, criteria and procedure.

Talent development Grant Scheme
The open call takes place within the framework of the Talent Development Grant Scheme. Read the regulations with a view to the second round in which the final selection for the talent development grants will be made. The regulations state the conditions, criteria and objectives.

Each scout night has its own jury, consisting of three members. The composition of the juries will be announced to the participants after the closing date, as will the pitch locations. The juries will make the selection during the scout nights, based on the criteria below:

- quality of the work;
- awareness of the environment and positioning;
- development capability;
- distinctiveness.

There is a scout associated with each scout night. If you have questions, contact the scout from the city where you would like to pitch your work. These are:

Wouter Pocornie, Amsterdam
Shirin Mirachor, Rotterdam
Jess Oberlin, Eindhoven
Saïd Belhadj, Utrecht
Philip van Vorstenbosch, Zwolle

acceptance
On the basis of your CV and portfolio, the Fund together with the scouts will check whether your application matches the objectives of the open call.

assessment
Per city, a maximum of ten designers/makers can make a pitch. The selection for this is made by the scout of the respective city. Applicants will be informed at least two weeks before the scout nights if they are allowed to make a pitch.

selection
The final selection is made by the scout of the respective city. Up to five participants per city can be selected. Those selected will each receive € 1,000 for drawing up a development plan to be submitted for the second selection round. The final selection for a talent development grant will be made based on the development plans of those selected from the first selection round and the 25 development plans of those selected from the scout nights.

follow-up
If you are selected during one of the scout nights, you will receive € 1,000 to write a development plan for a grant of € 25,000. This plan will be assessed in the second and final round of the Talent Development Grant Scheme by the advisory committee of this scheme, together with the plans of makers it selected in the first round of the Talent Development Grant Scheme. The committee ultimately selects a maximum of 50 makers for a talent development grant.

Open Call Scout nights
FAQ Talent Development