Zine Residency Open Calls 2025
Announcement! Calling all artists and zine makers or wanna be zine makers with an amazing idea!
We wish to invite you to our home in Southend-on-sea to take part in a weeks residency, a place for learning, chatting, making, communing, thinking, researching, playing!
This is a PAID RESIDENCY for up to 4 people 21st-25th July! Thanks to generous support from Arts Council England💓🫶
You’ll be staying at our fellow Southend friends @metalsouthend in our local Chalkwell Park, over looking the sea and working at @theoldwaterworks where we have our studios, Zine Library and printing facilities.
All welcome to apply, we’d especially like to support working class, queer, women, trans, non-binary, global majority, disabled and neurodivergent folks, who may have found it difficult to gain institutional support. As a queer, neurodivergent, working class led project, we appreciate marginalised groups are not represented enough in the arts and find it hard to get your foot in the door.
Send us:
Max 3 page PDF, which must include:
• Name, pronouns, where you’re based, email, access requirements, website and socials
• Short artist bio 200 words max (or equivalent short
2 minute video)
• 4 images of previous work/projects that are relevant or exemplary of your style or links to film work no longer than 2 minutes
• 200 word plan for what you’d like to explore during the residency (or equivalent short 2 minute video)
We also highly encourage you to:
•A list of 3 zines from our library that you’d like to use as research during this residency, included in your plan, please see https://library.grrrlzinefair.com/
✨ to submissions@grrrlzinefair.com ✨
Applicants will be informed of our decision by the 9th June 2025. Feedback will be available on request.
Please note this op is not open to those in education at the residency start date. This op is open to those who have not taken part in a Grrrl residency at The Old Waterworks Studios before.
We will be announcing an online residency, for those unable to attend in person and international applications, shortly + commission opportunities + our next zine fair! ✨💓📝✂️
Online zine residency
Launching our Online Grrrl Zine Artist Residency Call Out.
Not everyone will be able to join us in Southend, either due to access or travel restrictions, so we’re hosting an online residency which will include mentoring and group chats.
Taking place 11th - 15th August
✨ We’ll provide:
Artist Fee £500
Material Budget £100
Postage Budget up to £50
Mentoring session with Lu Williams in 1to1 format at start of residency
Group sharing session
Your zine featured at the Grrrl Zine fair in September 2025 and on the GZF website
💻 We’d like you to:
Create a new zine which can be displayed at Grrrl Zine Fair in September as well as digitally on the GZF website and be donated to our collection.
Please note:
This residency is open to people who haven't joined a Grrrl zine residency before and who are not currently in education. We’ll be launching commission ops in the next month which will be solely focused on ideas, without mentoring, of which students may apply.
You do not need to be a professional artist but you must explain how you will realistically achieve your idea in your 200 word plan. Mentoring will be provided too, but as the residency is online only, in person technical help cannot be provided.
You must be able to attend all online mentoring session on 11 August and group sharing session 15 August, comfortable with independent working and sharing your work with the other online residency artists. We understand those on the online residency may have full time work so we will be flexible with timings and any international time zones, where possible.
Payments can only be made to successful artists using either bank transfer or paypal
You will be paid in two installments, at the beginning of the residency and once we receive your work.
We will pay your materials budget at the beginning of the residency and your postage budget after a receipt has been provided
‼️All work needs to reach us before 8 September 2025 digital or physical‼️
✏️Application
What you need to send us:
Max 3 page PDF, which must include:
•Name, pronouns, where you're based, email, website and socials
Online access requirements during the residency - such as ways of receiving information
•Short artist bio 200 words max (or equivalent short 2 minute video)
•4 images of previous work/projects that are relevant or exemplary of your style or links to film work no longer than 2 minutes
•200 word plan for what you’d like to explore during the residency (or equivalent short 2 minute video)
•Why it’s important for you to do this residency now (e.g at this stage in your career)
🗓️ Key dates
22 June 11:59pm - deadline for open call
By Monday 18 July - Applicants informed, Announce successful applicants.
Monday 11 August to Friday 15 August online Residency takes place.
send to:
submissions@grrrlzinefair.com
Can’t wait to hear your ideas!
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Currently our two residencies are closed to students. This is primarily because our programme is designed to be an educational and professional development opportunity. Many of the resources we provide such as studio space, accommodation, a supportive cohort, mentoring, tutors and workshops, would and should be included in arts education settings.
As many graduates will know, it’s hard to kick start a career and we encourage both emerging artists and those later in their careers to apply. We also encourage non-artists and those who may not have a creative background but have a great zine idea.
We’re planning on more paid opportunities soon, which will be eligible to students.
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Our in person residency takes place in Southend-on-sea, UK- where the Grrrl studio and zine library is based. You’ll spend the week embedded in Southends rich arts scene, with mentoring from Grrrl founder Lu Williams and The Other MA founder Emma Edmondson, alongside a risograph workshop and accommodation at Metal Southend, an artist development organisation in Chalkwell Park.
To reflect the expected input of the week our artist fee is £1200 with a travel fee of £150. Those based further afield may apply but they must pay any additional costs themselves. A materials budget of up to £100 will also be available.
The online residency will include mentoring and group sessions but the majority of your time will be self initiated for the fee of £500. This residency will be better suited to international artists or those with access issues, work commitments or caring responsibilities preventing them from attending in person.