The Mission Arts Award

Known for its fabulous street art aesthetic and its large scale outdoor murals, Monorex does a great deal to foster new creative talent. Not only does the collective employ an ever-changing cast of designers, illustrators and artists on commercial jobs, but the studio is also behind the live art phenomenon that is Secret Walls. Now, Monorex has set up a venture that aims to help out skint new artists and it's called The Mission.

The Mission is a non-profit arts award scheme. Every six months, artists can apply to have their project funded and the next deadline for applications is 1 July. If you fancy up to £2500 to realise your big art idea, then hurry up and get your application in. You never know, it could be you...

The previous projects receiving support have all come in the street art category, however The Mission will consider ideas from across the visual arts, music and film. "We are open to all ideas!" says Christina Pavlou who helps run The Mission. "So far we have supported street art based projects as these are the ones people have come to us with. Working alongside a street art collective such as Monorex has opened us up to submissions for large wall painting projects."

In 2011, Stika create a huge wall mural in Shoreditch celebrating the Royal Wedding. Mr K went to Detroit to add some colour to a house in a run-down area of the city with funding from The Mission, and INSA painted a six-storey high mural at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. The latter project was filmed by videographer ItDrewItself who was funded alongside INSA by the scheme.

"We operate open submissions online and welcome people from any profession and any location to enter. All the submissions are gathered up and The Mission team all sit down and go through them all, assessing them on feasibility as well as how well we think the applicants can execute their ideas," says Pavlou.

And she also has some tips on how to improve your prospects of winning the next award. "Think about what you want - timing and a project plan are as important as your main idea. We need to see how you will execute your idea and see it working. We are looking for creatives who can independently run their projects with just a little help and guidance from us," she says. "Also, you should bear in mind that the more money you ask for the more questions we will have about your ideas and concepts. If you can prove that you have worked on a similar project before or have overseen independent work, then that is always useful."