1 · Community node
An existing art-interest organisation provides members, local knowledge and a trusted community structure.
EURAN · European Art Club Network
EUROPEAN ART CLUB EXCHANGE™
From Scandinavian art-club heritage to a European network of art-interested member communities.
01 · EUROPEAN NETWORK
One European network — built from communities that already exist
EURAN is developing a European architecture connecting established art clubs, art-interest associations, Friends organisations and other organised cultural communities. The objective is not to replace their existing programmes, purchasing or local identity. It is to add a European exchange layer.
Target distinction: this network is for member communities of people interested in art — not professional associations whose primary constituency is artists.
02 · 1,000 CULTURAL POINTS
What is a Cultural Point?
A Cultural Point is a local activation node connecting an organised art-interested community with a real place where European cultural activity can be developed and presented.
1,000 Cultural Points is a European scale objective, not a claim that the first pilot finances 1,000 locations. The initial projects are designed to prove a method that can be replicated progressively.
03 · HOW IT CAN WORK
Local community + real place + European exchange
2 · Cultural Point
The local organisation identifies one or more appropriate real locations: public, cultural, civic, corporate or neighbourhood-based.
3 · European exchange
Participating communities contribute and receive artistic content, curatorial themes, interpretation or other cultural material across borders.
4 · Member participation
Members can participate in selecting, interpreting and presenting the exchange rather than remaining a passive audience.
5 · Local activation
Each club remains locally autonomous and can connect its membership to residents, institutions, municipalities, companies and other communities.
6 · Replication
A tested protocol can extend the model from selected pilots to dozens, hundreds and eventually potentially 1,000 European Cultural Points.
04 · FIRST PILOT
EURAN CULTURAL POINT 001™ — reciprocal Art Club exchange
The first operational model is deliberately concrete: one established Art Club is connected with a second Art Club in another European country. Each community works with a focused selection of existing artworks and involves its members in selection, interpretation, presentation and exchange.
EURAN structures and documents the process as the European Art Club Exchange Method™ so that one tested Cultural Point can become a replicable European model: 1 → 10 → 100 → 1,000.
05 · PARTICIPATION
Selection + local capacity
Participation is by selection
EURAN will select organisations according to community capacity, geographic relevance, local ecosystem, potential locations and suitability for specific European projects. An expression of interest does not create automatic project or consortium status.
Local connection matters
Priority is given to organisations that can connect their members with a wider local community — municipalities, cultural institutions, companies, universities, neighbourhood organisations or other established structures.
06 · EUROPEAN OPPORTUNITIES
Three immediate routes — different roles and eligibility
EIT Community NEB — Connect / Co-create
The immediate 2026 pilot route. For the proposed Cultural Point 001 model, Connect NEB is the direct community-led route: one beneficiary, up to €15,300 grant, €18,000 total project budget. Co-create is a separate 2–4 partner route requiring a municipality, region or affiliated entity.
Perform Europe
Relevant only where there is genuine performing-arts capacity or an eligible performing-arts partner. Art clubs can help identify local contexts and partners, but ordinary visual-art activity alone is not sufficient.
Horizon Europe — New European Bauhaus
A substantially larger neighbourhood-design Innovation Action. Art clubs are one possible grassroots participation layer within a much broader consortium involving municipalities, spatial design, research, technology and other sectors.
07 · EURAN
From Scandinavian experience to a European architecture
EURAN developed extensive experience with Scandinavian art clubs and organised art communities from the late 1980s onward. The next phase is European: a permanent exchange network supported by call-specific pilots where the programme fit is real.
08 · TWO DISTINCT ROUTES
Network participation and professional commissions are separate
Express interest — no fee
Art clubs and organised art-interest communities may submit a written expression of interest for the European Art Club Exchange and relevant European cooperation opportunities. Expression of interest does not create automatic project or consortium status and does not include a meeting or professional advice.
Commission EURAN
Companies, municipalities, institutions, developers, sponsors and cultural organisations seeking a bespoke local, corporate or cross-border application may commission EURAN independently of network participation or EU funding. The first professional Appointment is Qualification Exchange™ — €7,500. Project Definition Activation™ — €25,000 follows where substantive project architecture is justified.