Art Testers Programme Call for Proposals, Academic Year 2026–27

The Art Testers cultural education programme is once again seeking new art experiences for Year 8 pupils. We welcome works and productions created by professional artists that surprise, provoke, move and amuse during the 2026–27 school year.

The call for proposals will take place in the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s online application system from 5 to 19 November 2025. A link to the application system will be added to this page before the call opens.

Applications are welcome again this year from both the performing and visual arts. The available art forms in the application are: visual arts, photography, film, dance, theatre, circus, music and multidisciplinary arts.

Each visit package must also include audience engagement work aimed at this age group – i.e., pedagogical materials used to prepare the pupils for the experience and to process it afterwards. Programme selections will emphasise both artistic quality and the relevance and effectiveness of the engagement work for Year 8 pupils. 

Application information sessions on Teams

We will hold application info sessions (hakuinfo) for the Art Testers programme on Teams in Finnish and Swedish. The same Teams link is used for both.

• Programme call info session for the 2026–27 school year – Tue 7 Oct 2025, 14:30–15:00 (in Swedish)
• Programme call info session for the 2026–27 school year – Thu 9 Oct, 09:15–09:45 (in Finnish)

There is no need to register, and the sessions are open to everyone interested in applying. They will be recorded and the recordings published on the Art Testers YouTube channel.

Ordinary is not enough – the magic of engagement work

Art Testers offers Year 8 pupils memorable art experiences that may even spark a lifelong interest in the arts. How young people are welcomed and cared for during their visit matters enormously. A standard museum tour, concert or theatre visit is not enough – arts organisations are expected to show particular hospitality and to deliver carefully designed engagement work.

Audience engagement work should prepare young people for the artistic experience and give them tools to process it and form a reasoned opinion about it. It is worth bearing in mind that the world of art is unfamiliar to many lower secondary pupils and their teachers. Engagement activities should therefore be pitched at a level appropriate for beginners – and take into account that even the teacher may not be an expert in artistic content.

Further guidance for designing engagement work is available here: Audience Engagement and Working Processes in Art Testers (Finnish).

Please note that materials produced by selected arts organisations for school groups must be completed and published no later than 1.5 months before the first Art Testers visit for the given art experience. If visits start within the first six weeks of the school year, the materials should be ready by the start of term. 

Evaluation

After the visit, young people are asked to evaluate the art experience on the Art Testers evaluation website. The results are published at taidetestaajat.fi. Arts organisations may use the feedback to develop their activities and youth content, and may share it on their own channels.

Capacity

Each visit must be able to accommodate at least one class. The organisation must be capable of receiving a significant portion of the region’s Year 8 pupils – that is, hundreds or even thousands of young people over the course of one school year. Visits must take place during school hours.

Legal status

Applicant organisations must have legal capacity. Eligible applicants include registered associations and foundations, as well as municipal and state-funded arts institutions. Private individuals and working groups are not eligible to apply.

Costs

For organisations selected for the programme, tickets will be purchased at the following rates based on the actual number of visitors:

• Art museums, films and other visual arts: €12.60 per ticket
• Concerts, theatre and other performing arts: €18.90 per ticket
• Opera and other large-scale productions: €25.20 per ticket

Prices include VAT where applicable.

Visits must take place within the school day and during the 2026–27 academic year. The preliminary number of tickets will be negotiated with selected organisations before agreements are made, and the applicant must include in their application the minimum number required for participation.

Practical arrangements

Practical arrangements such as scheduling visits and arranging school transport are handled by the Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centres. Arts organisations are independently responsible for the artistic content and delivery of the engagement work. Art Testers coordinators support the organisations in planning engagement activities and liaising with schools. Read more in the How It Works guide in Finnish!

The last programme call?

The Art Testers programme is currently funded by private foundations, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Svenska kulturfonden. The foundations hope that funding will be transferred to the state budget and have announced that they will discontinue funding after the 2026–27 academic year. If replacement funding is not secured, this autumn’s call will be the last, and the Art Testers cultural education programme will end in spring 2027.

Now more than ever, we need arts organisations to help make the case for the continuation of the programme, so that funding can be found and we can launch another call next year – ensuring that every Year 8 pupil can continue to experience art in the future!