Education Programme

Education Programme

~ what is it ~

Our 18 month long, artist-run education programme has been running in Southend-on-Sea since 2016. It is the only postgraduate level art programme in Essex after all others were stopped by their host universities.

TOMA is unaccredited, meaning we don’t offer a formal qualification. You do not need a qualification in order to apply to TOMA.

Each programme welcomes a cohort of 12 - 15 artists, working in any art form. You might not yet consider yourself an artist, but TOMA does.

This is an active, intensive and responsive learning offer, directed by the participating cohort to best reflect the needs of their individual and collective creative practices, aims and interests. The cohort collectively decide on their unique curriculum of workshops, visiting artists, exhibition opportunities and sharings, which happen alongside residencies, commission opportunities, socials, tours, tutorials, crits and much more.

Our course fees are on a sliding pay scale, with 2 free spaces available on each programme.

“In traditional education, it is more about the outcome of the physical portfolio. Whereas I'd say TOMA is about the outcome of your practice that you develop and grow into because you are creating it together with the cohort. I think it transforms you in a way. So anyone on TOMA needs to be accepting of that journey, expecting that they'll develop their practice but it will affect a lot of other facets of who they are as a person. People on TOMA should expect that their practice is going to go one way and then they end up doing things they might have never thought they would do.”
- Past TOMIE

~ who could benefit from it ~

People who
- have a strong, ongoing creative practice which is open to change
- are keen and ready to be active learners, committing to the full 18 months of the course
- are interested in forming and contributing to a supportive, connected artistic community

We are not interested in CVs, instead we want to know about the work you make, your ideas and how you want to interact with others and within the world. TOMA accepts applications from artists who already have an MA in art, but gives priority to those who do not. This is because TOMA aims to give artists who have not yet studied art at a postgraduate level the opportunity to do so.

TOMA was set up to offer affordable, accessible and responsive art education to artists, prioritising those who have faced barriers in accessing higher education and the ‘art world’. Obstacles to a traditional art MA may include financial circumstances, class background, time, age, geography, disability, gender, ethnicity, caring responsibilities or employment conditions.
Other obstacles to accessing higher education might include…
- lack of mental space to self-invest due to other life commitments or concerns
- hidden hierarchies such as not having the art specific language needed to access the contemporary art world
- coming to practising art later in life, usually along gender lines or family pressures to study a ‘useful’ subject
- a lack of confidence, community or peer support to find encouragement from
- lack of time to access traditional university weekday schedules due to work or care commitment
- travelling non-traditional routes into being an artist, as no degree / A Level / GCSE meaning no access to applying
- alongside, of course, general precarity. TOMA acknowledges the intersectionality of experience.

“I think TOMA is not there to create new artists…
I think it is there to help artists detangle anything that can impeach their development, to help them grow their potential.”
- Past TOMIE

~ who makes it happen ~

TOMA is delivered and co-ordinated by a small team of artists and organisers, with support from the TOMA board. Visiting artists, crit hosts, workshop leaders and curators are folded into the programme, reflecting the collective needs and interests of the cohort. In this way, the artists on the programme choose what they learn and who they learn it from.

Artists on the programme also connect with the TOMAssociates, a group of artists who have been through the programme already and choose to stay involved by attending some of the sessions. Alongside 20+ changing visiting / guest artists who feature within each programme, TOMA artists will have the chance to connect with local studio based artists, programmes and libraries in Southend, as well as visiting other sites, shows and organisations in Essex and beyond. This leads to an ever-growing network of practitioners to meet and work with.

The impact of the course relies heavily on commitment from each of the cohort members.

“After being on TOMA, I feel confident to organise things myself, because I realised I will have to make things myself I want to be involved in. I can't just wait for them. And connections through TOMA are definitely helpful to be able to do that.”
- Past TOMIE

~ how does it happen ~

The course consists of 3-ish meetings per month, always during evenings and weekends. Historically, Sunday daytimes and Thursday evenings are ‘TOMA time’. This may exclude additional opportunities like exhibiting, socials and gallery visits.

80% of the course takes place in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The rest takes place online.
Most sessions happen at The Old Waterworks which has an accessible entrance, free parking and is close to Westcliff train station (c2c line), and Southend Victoria (Greater Anglia line). We are 50 minutes away from London by train.

We meet in person wherever possible, enjoying ‘pot luck’ lunches, chats at the kettle and the chance to be immersed in each others work. We want to share, hold and feel the scale of each others’ ideas, which can be difficult to achieve virtually. We have a hybrid online set-up to support artists if they are sick or unable to attend an in-person session.

We centralise shared responsibility alongside the idea of deep hanging out (a term coined by the anthropologist Clifford Geertz in 1998), social events are an important part of the learning programme which runs in seasons centering the developmental journey of its participants.

While TOMA offers a core structure and series of dates over 18 months, it holds space to be responsive to new ideas and the changes which happen in the world around us. With support from the TOMA team, artists can organise and install their own public facing exhibitions, events and learn how to survive, do and make whilst negotiating the challenging 21st century art landscape.

“When I came here, I was in a very isolated space and was stuck in my practice. But TOMA pushed me to do things with people that I would never do myself, and be able to go to places I would never go myself. It really just opened my eyes.”
- Past TOMIE

~ what tends to happen ~

TOMA artists have taken part in self-selected practical workshops including; alternative photographic processes, animation, how to approach a gallery, applying for funding, recording archival quality audio, screen printing, performance making, rubber mould making, plaster casting, etching, natural fabric dying, applying to residencies, writing proposals, video making on a low budget, promoting yourself as an artist, working within the digital art sphere and much more. All of these visitors and workshops were selected by the TOMA artists.

The TOMA programme changes with the needs and interests of each cohort, but tends to include…
- Visiting artists (talks, workshops, Q&As)
- Tutorials (1-1 mentoring with a changing line-up)
- Critical theory and discussion groups
- Practical workshops
- Group crits
- Exhibition opportunities
- Residencies
- Collaborative project opportunities
- Off-site trips to art spaces
- Technical and theoretical support in the production of projects
- Sessions on how to survive as an artist (aka professional practice)
- Socials (with each other, with the wider community through events)
- Pastoral support from TOMA team

~ what does it cost ~

TOMA was created in response to one financial crisis, and how we navigate this new crisis is not only practically important, but essential to who we are. We believe it is important to pay practitioners for their time in an art world that often sees artists at the end of the financial food chain.

The course is funded by its participants, whose fees cover the majority of the costs.
Our rate card means that our visiting artist and staffing fees are transparent and accountable.

We are committed to keeping fees as low as possible for accessibility. We use a sliding scale fee, asking participants to choose the tier which fits their circumstances best. This provides an opportunity for those who are able to support the programme’s full costs while also keeping costs down for those who would not be able to afford the programme otherwise. We believe in mutual aid and see this as a way of working towards a fully sustainable model for our programme. Successful applicants let us know what tier they will pay after selection, meaning we do not evaluate people’s participation on how much they can pay.

TOMA is also supported by donations and external funding for additional one-off projects. We do not want to rely on public or private funding to continue to exist but instead hope to one day be a self-sustaining, affordable model that has a long life span, ensuring both organisational and artist stability.

TOMA is financially transparent and makes clear to artists where their money goes each month. You can view our 18-month course budget here. We share this to challenge the mysteries which often surround artist fees and course costs. TOMA is committed to keeping costs down as we were born out of austerity, but we also acknowledge the importance of proper pay for practitioners and the importance of lessening precarity of small arts organisations’ survival.

100% of TOMA artists have said the programme is great value for money and many former participants continue engaging in a lighter way as TOMAssociates, enriching the sessions and becoming part of a growing community of artists.

We want people to pick the tier cost that realistically suits their own needs.
The tier prices for 2024/2025 were as follows:

Tier 1: £2,778.30 for 18 months (£154.35 per month): Perhaps you have a stable salaried job. You feel financially secure and don’t really have to think about money on a monthly basis. Perhaps you can afford overseas holidays and manage to put money aside each month into savings.

Tier 2: £2,135.70 for 18 months (£118.65 per month): Perhaps you have regular freelance work. This wage covers your day to day financial needs and you don’t worry about costs on a night out and can save up for a holiday.

Tier 3: £1,512 for 18 months (£84 per month): Perhaps you have low, precarious, income and are living on a tight budget. Day to day life would be more comfortable if you could apply at this tier.

*There are also TWO FULLY FUNDED SPACES available for artists who feel they would not be able to access the programme otherwise; perhaps you have no reliable source of income and struggle to cover day to day financial needs. We do not ask for any ‘evidence’ of need for those who would like to apply for a funded space. If artists know they can afford to pay fees, we ask that they do not ask for a funded space. 

**The Tier 1 band is what we would need everyone to pay for the TOMA programme to become fully self-sustaining and not reliant on grants or donations. Tiers 2 and 3 are subsidised through grants and donations.

***Our fees increased by 5% for this cohort, due to the cost of living crisis impacting our core costs. We did this in deep consultation with all TOMA artists, who endlessly shape how we work and what we do, alongside many deep discussions with the board. We did not take this decision lightly. Our fees will continue to flex with economic changes in the world in a transparent way meaning we may decrease again in the future if things start to settle. We raised our rate card also in line with inflation to support those who work with us.

~ how do i apply ~ 

Applications for the 2025/2026 cohort will open this summer.
Scroll down and sign up to our newsletter to get a reminder!

PAST PROGRAMMES

Scroll down to explore previous cohorts, projects and more from TOMA’s archive.

PAST ART SCHOOL WEEKENDERS

The Alternative Art School Weekender’s are a creative project inviting you to come along and be part of a growing network of people who are self-organising to reconsider the shape of academic art education and how these shifts in ethics and practice might challenge the art establishment.

In March 2019, we hosted a three day weekender at Ugly Duck in London, forming a seriously fun playground where you could be both student and teacher; where debates happened over pot luck meals and visions of the future were shared. There was also an exhibition, performance night, screenings, critical theory, alternative food making, group walks, talks on art and activism and collaborative workshops. Contributing schools and collectives included; Alt MFA, Art & Critique, DIY Space Print Collective, Extinction Rebellion, Islington Mill Art Academy, MilesKM, Open School East, PACTO, School of the Damned, Shades of Noir, Syllabus and TOMA.

Below you can find posters from the March 22-24 2019 Alternative Art School Weekender, detailing the whole events programme to get a taste of what these events consist of. In addition, we have also have a gallery below this featuring documentation from the this past Weekender.