Art Competition: Inspiration from Dreams
Free to enter, open to all
Submission deadline: Midnight, 31 January 2026
Celebrating the donation of artist & occultist Ithell Colquhoun's dream diaries to The College of Psychic Studies, this year's art competition is themed 'Inspiration from Dreams'. Colquhoun's diaries will be shown for the first time in our exhibition, The Medium is the Message; a muse that, we hope, will inspire you to create the art of your dreams.
From starry visions and daytime reveries to flights of fancy into other worlds, our dreams know no bounds. This art competition invites you to conjure these brave, new worlds and the creatures within them on canvas, paper or fabric, in photography, film or sculpture... whatever medium your imagination invites.
The dream diaries of Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) will be on show in The Medium is the Message, 9 October - 31 January 2026. Now a permanent treasure in our archive, these extraordinary journals log the occultist's nightly experiences, inviting you into her private world of magical correspondences and occult symbolism.
The judges
- Gill Matini (College Principal & Creator of The College of Psychic Studies Annual Art Competition)
- Jacqui McIntosh (Researcher, Curator, Archivist & Writer)
- Simon Grant (Writer, Art Historian & Curator)
- Isabel Seligman (Curator & Writer)
The winner
A winner and judges' choices from the Inspiration from Dreams Art Competition 2025 will be announced on our website, in the College Newsletter and on our social media platforms on Friday 27 February 2026.
The winner will be awarded:
- A College voucher, worth £250
- A year of College membership, worth £65
- A luxury hamper of College goodies including crystals, tarot cards, books, incense, candles and room mists.
Invitation to join the College collection
The winner will be invited to donate an artwork to our wonderful permanent art collection and join the esteemed company of previous winners Mimei Thompson, Catherine Garrigue, Cara Macwilliam and Emma Schultz as well as artists such Georgiana Houghton and Anna Mary Howitt who helped establish the College in 1884.
The virtual exhibition
A virtual exhibition showing the winner, judge's choices and shortlisted works will be presented on the College's website and on YouTube in spring 2026. See last year's winner & virtual exhibition.
Closing date for submissions: Midnight on Saturday 31 January 2026
Join our newsletter for announcements on our 2025 art competition.
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
~ Prospero, The Tempest
Submit your entry
Please enter your details below. Maximum three artworks per person. Uploaded files must be no more than 10MB.
