The Bureau Postcard Exhibition 2026
Open for artists submissions: Monday 23rd Feb - Monday 23rd March
Exhibition Open: Thurs 2nd April 2026
Exhibition duration: Thurs 2nd April - Saturday 25th April 2026
This exhibition is a fundraiser for The Bureau Centre for the Arts CIC, an independent community arts centre in the centre of Blackburn.
This will be our very first postcard exhibition and we are hoping that lots of you lovely artists are going to help support the work we do by donating a postcard size piece of original artwork to us. Each of these pieces will then be sold, and proceeds used to help us with the ever increasing challenge of keeping our doors open.
Each piece of postcard art will be sold at £20 each (& £3.50 UK postage), and will be bought without knowing who the artist is. That information will be on the reverse of the postcard and you won’t know who has created it until you receive it!
Why get involved?
‘The Bureau is a space where all ages and backgrounds can meet and engage with the arts, and access creative, inspiring and innovative artistic programme across a range of art forms. We are passionate about this being accessible to all, and enable people facing multiple deprivations, by providing free, low-cost and subsidized opportunities. We are passionate about changing and improving the world we live in, challenging norms and making a difference to peoples’ lives. We feel that this can be done through connection and by building stronger communities from the roots up.
The Bureau isn’t just an arts centre it is a community arts centre, a place of nurture and growth’.
- We hope that you also see the importance of keeping the doors of arts centres like ours open. So many have shut over recent years, and many of us are only just hanging on in there. We need your support.
- You will get the opportunity to have your work exhibited in our gallery space for the duration of the show, alongside the work of other artists.
- Exhibiting artists will have their names, and one social media handle, shared towards the end of the exhibition on our social media platforms.
- It gives all art lovers the opportunity to buy a piece of original artwork at an accessible price.
- It will help us to develop and continue to be embedded in our community.
Information for artists regarding the artwork
- We would like all artwork to be of a high quality and be well presented... we ultimately want people to buy them.
- This exhibition is however open to everyone and we will happily accept artwork donations from all artists and supporters no matter what their status is.
- The postcard needs to be a A6 postcard sized (measuring 148x105mm) piece of work. They can be portrait or landscape, and can be any medium… drawing, painting, print, textiles, photography, Please attach work to a piece of stiff paper or card if it is flimsy.
- It MUST be original artwork, no photos or photocopies of artwork.
- Please do not sign the front of the artwork.
- On the reverse side of your artwork please add your name, signature and email. You can also also include the title and what medium has been used, and your social media handles and website.
- You can donate up to 5 postcard pieces.
- Artwork needs to be posted and therefore needs to fit the Royal Mail small letter guidelines (be no thicker than 5mm including envelope)
- Artwork can be submitted from Monday 23rd Feb and the deadline is Monday 23rd March
- Artwork can be dropped off in person during our opening hours, or posted to:
Leonie Stephenson (pcards)
The Bureau Centre for the Arts CIC
5 Exchange St
BB1 7JN
How will they be sold?
- The postcards will be available to be ‘bid’ on through Instagram.
- They will be £20 each plus £3.50 (UK postage). Postage needs to be paid for each piece of artwork and cannot be (a) purchased without postage, or (b) combined. All artwork will be sent out 2nd class, collection is not an option.
Selling process:
- On the night of the opening, there will be posts on Instagram with photos of available postcards, and they will be dealt with on a first come basis. The first person to comment on the Instagram post is the successful ‘bidder’.
- You can ‘bid’ on up to 5 postcards by stating in the comments the number of the postcard you are bidding on. You MUST make a note of that number, you will need it at checkout when you make your purchase.
- Once you have made your ‘bids’ you will need to head over to the website immediately to secure your purchase by paying for them. Any delay may result in the selected postcards being available for others to buy.
- You can ‘bid’ on and pay for up to 5 postcards in one transaction. If there are others you would like you can then head back to ‘bid’ on others.
- Postcards will be sent out after the exhibition has ended. We will do this as quickly as possible, but please be patient.
Things to be aware of:
- This is our first attempt at doing this…we are likely to get some things wrong, and will take these mistakes as learning opportunities. If we do get it wrong, let us know, but please be patient.
- We are hoping that lots of you will get involved, and hope to have lots of artwork to deal with… we therefore may not be able to respond to individual messages.
- Keeping track of all pieces might be a challenge, so we might not be able to let you know if we have received your envelope, or if yours has sold or not. Please keep your eye open on socials @bureaublackburn, we will keep giving updates on there.