Next Level - Young Person's Art Exhibition
Tuesday 3rd February - Sunday 22nd February
At Three Storeys we want to provide young artists with a space to display their creativity, show off their imagination, and communicate, visually, the things that are important to them. Art can bring people together from all walks of life, and galvanise change. So, with the help of Stroud district Council, we are bringing back our hugely popular Next Level exhibition solely for young people aged 4-19, living or attending school/college within 10 miles of Nailsworth.
This time we have a theme to our exhibition; ‘Our Natural World’. This can be interpreted in many ways. You might want to celebrate what you love about the natural world, locally or globally, or perhaps you want to focus on sustainability and climate change. This year we will only be taking in work that responds to the theme.
What is your personal connection to nature and your natural environment?
You can use any media; paint, crayon, clay, collage, textiles… whatever you like. It is completely up to you as the artist, 2D or 3D work can be entered. If you're making your artwork over the holidays, remember that your work should respond to the theme of the natural world and should not be Christmas themed.
We will be awarding prizes for each age category, as decided by a panel of local artists. The winners will be announced at a private view event on Tuesday 10th February.
We will also be choosing a selection of artworks to make into greetings cards that will be for sale in the gallery, with the profits going to charity. Those selected will also get 4 copies of their card to give to friends and family, and their artwork will be named/credited on the reverse of the card.
How to apply:
Entries can come from the parent/carer of the young person, or directly from the artist if they are old enough to complete the application form below.
Please click on the link, download and save the form to your computer, and then fill it out. Then you can email the completed form with a good quality photograph of one piece of artwork, to info@threestoreys.co.uk. Applications close on 12th January 2026.
It is essential the photo is high quality, so please take a photograph straight on, in daylight, against a white background, where possible.
This year we will only be accepting one submission per person.
On receipt of your application, we will confirm we have received it by email and then later, whether we can accommodate the artwork you have submitted. We will try to accept every child's artwork but have some limitations on space. If we have lots of entries, we will display some work on a screen/showreel. In our confirmation email we will let you know how the work will be displayed and therefore whether we need you to drop the physical work to Three Storeys.
If we confirm we would like delivery of physical work:
If we have let you know we would like to have your work, the gallery will be open for you to drop off artwork on Tuesday 29th January 2026, between 1pm-4pm. If you need to deliver on a weekend, you can drop off a little early to the café, on Sunday 25th January 10am-12pm, but you will need to let us know of this in advance.
When we receive the artwork we will make sure we have all your details to display it correctly, and contact details to remind you when to collect it at the end of the show.
We can take artwork framed or unframed. Please note, to display your unframed 2D work we may have to attach it to another surface (such as a card backing). Your artwork may be hung by bulldog clips or be pinned to a fabric surface. We will always endeavor to return work undamaged but if you prefer to frame pieces in advance, please ensure you use picture wire or string across the back, rather than mirror plates, because the gallery has a hanging system using hooks. Framing artwork can really help us out!
We also have gallery plinths, tables and windowsills to display 3D work.
Work must be of a good enough presentation standard to be shown; for example, if submitting a drawing please avoid creasing the paper.
If you want to sell the artwork submitted, you are welcome to indicate a sale price that we can display in the exhibition. However, we will not handle any sales. If someone is keen to buy, we will ask them to leave their details with us at the café, and we will pass these on to the relevant parent/carer to arrange a transaction between yourselves. It is our expectation that most artists will want their work back at the end of the show.
Items are left/displayed at the artist’s own risk. We have CCTV but will not be actively stewarding the exhibition. The adjacent café is staffed when the exhibition is open.
After the exhibition closes on Sunday 22nd February 2026, work will need to be collected between 3pm-4.30pm. After this time work that has not been collected cannot be stored, so please make sure you make a note of these collection times or make a prior arrangement with us if these dates are not possible. We reserve the right to discard/recycle artwork after this time if no prior arrangement has been made for alternative collection.