Organizer Information
The Contemporary Art Summer School is delivered by the Royal College of Art (RCA), one of the world’s leading postgraduate institutions for art and design education. The program is led by Dr Despina Zacharopoulou, a performance artist and academic researcher at the RCA, who has directed the summer school since 2017. The RCA has an international reputation for advancing experimental, research-led, and practice-based approaches to contemporary art, and regularly collaborates with leading artists, theorists, curators, and critics.
This summer school is positioned within the RCA’s broader mission of supporting advanced artistic inquiry, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, and offering access to professional-level art education in a flexible online format. It attracts participants from across the globe and integrates academic rigor with studio-based experimentation and critical discourse.
Title & Description
Contemporary Art Summer School 2026 – “What is at Stake?” (Live Online Programme)
This three-week intensive, practice-led online program provides artists and creative practitioners with a structured yet open environment to develop an independent artistic project. The central theme for 2026, “What is at Stake?”, explores urgency, motivation, and meaning-making in contemporary artistic practice. Participants are encouraged to interrogate the driving forces behind their work, question their methodologies, and situate their practice within broader cultural, philosophical, and material contexts.
The program combines lectures, tutorials, group critiques, workshops, film screenings, and reading sessions. It emphasizes individual project development while fostering critical exchange in a multidisciplinary cohort. The structure is designed to help participants refine their artistic voice, expand conceptual frameworks, and produce a resolved body of work by the end of the course.
The learning environment is highly interactive and supported through digital platforms, including Zoom (live sessions), Miro (collaborative visual workspace), Moodle (course materials and resources), and Slack (communication and networking).
Categories
- Contemporary Art
- Visual Art
- Fine Art Practice
- Interdisciplinary Art
- Conceptual Art
- Performance Art
- Research-Based Art Practice
- Digital / Online Art Education
Eligibility
- International and national applicants
- Practicing artists at any career stage seeking to develop their practice
- Postgraduate-level students or final-year undergraduate students preparing for MA study
- Applicants interested in applying to MA/MRes/MPhil/PhD programs in art
- Career changers entering the field of contemporary art
Additional requirements:
- Minimum age: 21 years or older
- Fluency in English (as the course is delivered entirely in English)
- Ability to engage in live online sessions and independent project development
The program is particularly suited for emerging and mid-career practitioners working in contemporary fine art contexts.
Program Benefits & Awards
- Intensive mentorship and feedback from RCA academic staff and invited artists, critics, and curators
- Structured development of a self-directed artistic project over three weeks
- Participation in group critiques, tutorials, and interdisciplinary workshops
- Exposure to contemporary theoretical frameworks and artistic methodologies
- Professional development in presenting and articulating artistic work
- Access to RCA digital learning platforms and resources during the program
- Networking with an international cohort of artists and practitioners
- RCA Certificate of Attendance upon successful completion
- Online visibility through RCA short course channels and case studies (selected participants)
- Technical and academic support throughout the course
This program is designed not as a traditional exhibition opportunity but as an advanced developmental framework to strengthen artistic practice and critical positioning.
Application Fee
- Early Bird Fee: £2,275
- Regular Fee: £2,550
Payment is required in full upon acceptance. No installment plans are available.
Application Requirements
- A 200-word statement outlining relevant professional and/or academic experience
- A 200-word motivation statement explaining interest in the program
- A 200-word project proposal outlining intended work during the course
- Portfolio: five images or five video/web links (max 10MB total)
- CV (clearly named according to RCA guidelines)
All materials must follow the required naming conventions provided by RCA. Incomplete applications or oversized files will not be considered.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 29 June 2026
- Course Duration:
- Week 1: 13–17 July 2026
- Week 2: 20–24 July 2026
- Week 3: 27–31 July 2026
- Daily Schedule: 11:00–15:30 BST (including 1-hour break)
- Notification: Within 2 weeks of submission
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis every two weeks until the deadline or until the program is fully booked.
Location
Live Online (synchronous sessions delivered digitally)
London, England, United Kingdom
Additional Details
The program is structured around 13 live sessions across three weeks, combining lectures, critiques, technical workshops, and screenings. It uses a hybrid digital learning ecosystem including Zoom, Miro, Moodle, and Slack to simulate an immersive studio environment.
The 2026 thematic framework, “What is at Stake?”, draws on contemporary theory and philosophy (including thinkers such as Deleuze, Haraway, and Lyotard) to interrogate urgency, embodiment, and artistic production. However, participants are free to interpret the theme in relation to their own practice.
The course culminates in final presentations and critical feedback sessions, offering participants an opportunity to present developed work in a professional academic context.