East London creatives opportunity | paid workshops at Republic

East London creatives opportunity

Are you an artist, maker, facilitator or creative practitioner based in Tower Hamlets or East London? 

Republic Campus is looking to connect with local creatives to deliver paid workshops, talks, installations and other creative activity as part of our ongoing events programme in East India. We’re especially interested in people who want to share their practice, bring their own audiences into the space, and create meaningful opportunities for exchange between local residents and our student population on campus. 

We’re keen to hear from creatives who are not only interested in delivering a session, but who are also looking for space to develop ideas, gather people and create something that feels relevant to the groups they already work with. 

About Republic 

Republic is a multi-university campus in Poplar, home to more than 18,000 students across six universities. We’re building a creative and inclusive events programme that brings students and local people together through shared experiences. 

What we’re looking for 

We welcome a broad range of practices and formats, including: 

• Hands-on creative workshops, either one-off sessions or short series 

• Talks, demonstrations and participatory events 

• Exhibitions, installations or creative interventions in shared spaces 

• Creative wellbeing sessions 

• Artist-led activity that brings existing local audiences onto campus and creates opportunities to connect with students 

We’re open to a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to sewing, embroidery, painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, movement, performance, music, craft, spoken word and multidisciplinary practice. 

We’re particularly interested in creatives who already convene a group, network or following around their work and would value access to space to host, make and share something on campus. 

Priority themes 

We’re open to ideas throughout the year, and we’re particularly interested in activity connected to: 

• Pride 

• Black History Month 

• Diwali 

• Christmas 

This could include workshops, performances, talks, exhibitions or gatherings that respond to these moments in thoughtful, inclusive and engaging ways. 

What makes a strong proposal 

We’re particularly interested in ideas that are: 

• Welcoming and accessible 

• Participatory and relevant to the people taking part 

• Practical to deliver in a campus setting 

• Designed to encourage genuine connection between different groups 

You do not need extensive workshop or events experience to express interest, particularly if you have a strong creative practice, existing audience or clear idea for how you would use the space. 

Workshop and event format 

Many of our events are delivered in a drop-in format, with participants arriving and leaving throughout the session. We’re therefore especially interested in activity that is flexible, welcoming and easy to join at different points. 

Workshops and creative sessions should ideally: 

• Allow people to join after the official start time 

• Offer an activity that can be completed in around 30 minutes to an hour, or revisited over a number of weeks 

• Work well for both brief and longer engagement 

• Encourage people to make, contribute, reflect or connect in a relaxed and accessible way 

• Where relevant, involve making something physical to take away, creating something collaboratively in the space, or both 

• Include simple instructions or visual guidance where possible, especially for non-English speakers or those with different confidence levels 

We’re also open to formats that are less workshop-based, particularly where artists want to use the space to gather their own audience, test a new idea or create a moment of exchange between different groups. 

We’re happy to work with artists to shape ideas so they suit the campus, audience and format. 

Who can apply 

We welcome expressions of interest from: 

• Visual artists, designers, makers and illustrators 

• Performers, musicians, dancers and spoken word artists 

• Craft practitioners and creative facilitators 

• Community organisers and socially engaged creatives 

• Emerging and established practitioners 

• Individuals, collectives and community organisations 

We particularly encourage expressions of interest from creatives who are underrepresented in the arts, and from those with strong ties to Tower Hamlets and East London. 

What we offer 

• Paid opportunities to deliver workshops, exhibitions and events 

• Access to a large and diverse student audience across six universities 

• Space to host creative activity and bring your own audience into the campus 

• On-site support, promotion and event coordination 

• Opportunities to build longer-term relationships with Republic and the people based here 

Fees are available for selected activity, with budgets depending on the format, scale and requirements of each session or event.