20 September - 18 October 2025
Submissions now open
We are delighted to announce the next open call at The Lido Stores is now live.
The Lido Open 2025
The Lido Stores, 2 Ethelbert Terrace, Margate, CT9 1RX
Submissions by 11.59pm Monday, 2 June 2025.
Submissions are free to enter, with shortlisted artists subject to a £30 participation fee.
The Lido Open supports artists in the UK and Ireland by showcasing the very best in contemporary art with a first prize of a solo presentation in 2026 to take place at The Lido Stores Gallery in Margate, Kent. All shortlisted work will be exhibited at The Lido Stores Gallery for four weeks, from 20 September to 18 October 2025.
Shortlisted artists and the prize winner will be selected by artist Sophie Von Hellermann and gallery owner Kristen Healy. The winner will be announced at the exhibition drinks reception on Saturday, 20 September 2025.
This is the fifth Lido Open with over 1200 submissions from across the UK and Ireland being received in 2024.
Open call submissions
● Submissions of original artworks in painting, drawing, printmaking or collage only.
● Works to measure a maximum of 40cm in any direction, including frame.
● Entry is free with a £30 participation fee for shortlisted artists.
● All works must be for sale - The Lido Stores commission rate is 45%.
● The Lido Stores will cover shipping costs of sold artwork only.
● Please do not apply if you have had a solo exhibition at The Lido Stores gallery within the last two years. The Lido Open is committed to showcasing work new to the gallery.
Submission process
● Submissions are accepted by a single email to lidoopen2025@gmail.com, include:
● A brief biography (CV) and artist statement in the third person (Word Docx only)
● Up to three separate art works per submission, with a maximum of 5MB (JPG) per image (total 15MB)
● Each jpeg file to be named in the format: Artist_Name_Artwork_Title_Width_Height_Depth(CM)_Medium_Year_Price
● Please also include the image details in the body of your email
● Closing date for submissions is 11.59pm Monday, 2 June 2025
Key dates
● Online applications submitted by 11.59pm Monday, 2 June 2025
● Selection of shortlisted artists announced by mid-July 2025
● Delivery of works (selected days) between 28 August – 7 September 2025
● Exhibition runs 20 September – 18 October 2025
● Private view and prize winner announced Saturday, 20 September 2025
● Submissions are via email and mediums eligible for submission include Drawing, Painting, Collage and Print with the deadline for submissions at 23.59 GMT on 2 June 2025
About The Lido Open and The Lido Stores
The Lido Stores is a contemporary gallery opposite the iconic Margate Lido. The gallery is situated in the old Lido Stores and Post Office which was formally run by the father of gallery owner, Kristen Healy.
The Lido Stores hosts an exciting programme of solo and group exhibitions showcasing emerging contemporary artists. The gallery focuses on small works that are affordable ensuring artists receive a fair price and collecting unique contemporary art is accessible to everyone.
For more information please head to www.thelidostores.com
About guest judge Sophie Von Hellermann
We are delighted to announce Sophie von Hellermann as the guest judge of the Lido Open 2025. Our fifth Lido Open, we are beyond excited to welcome Sophie to the Lido Stores and look forward to working with her over the coming months.
Sophie von Hellermann (b. 1975, Munich) lives and works in London and Margate. Her paintings recall the look of fables, legends, and traditional stories that are imbued with the workings of her subconscious rather than the content of existing images. Her romantic, pastel-washed canvases are often installed to suggest complex narrative threads. Von Hellermann applies pure pigment directly onto unprimed canvas, and her use of broad-brushed washes imbues a sense of weightlessness to her pictures. Von Hellermann’s paintings draw upon current affairs as often and as fluidly as they borrow from the imagery of classical mythology and literature to create expansive imaginary places. In subject matter and style, von Hellermann tests imagination against reality.
Sophie von Hellermann received her BFA from Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf and an MFA from Royal College of Art, London. Selected recent solo exhibitions include: Moonage, Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2025); Poisson de Folie, Galerie Sardine, Amagansett, New York, US (2024); Out of Time, Pilar Corrias, London (2022); Schloss Freienwalde, Bad Freienwalde, Germany (2022, commission), and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pilar Corrias, London (2020); Judgement Day. Selected recent group exhibitions include: Your Mind is Now an Ocean, Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2024); Wild NM, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US (2024); Sirens: Sophie von Hellermann and Anne Ryan, Turner Contemporary, Kent, UK (commission) (2021), and Mixing It Up: Painting Today, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2021).
Von Hellermann has been a prominent champion of the arts scene in Margate, and it’s a privilege to welcome her to The Lido Stores to shape the fifth year of the prestigious open call that has done much to introduce new artistic talent to the town.
We are delighted to work with her this summer to select the shortlist of entrants, and look forward to receiving submissions.
