The Other MA - TOMA

07/09/2026

Applications open now to join TOMA for a 15 month long programme, from 2027-2028.
We’d love to hear from you!
All art forms are welcome, and there is lots of flexibility to our learning programme.

Visit this link to view our application form, our full course guide and book onto one of our drop-in sessions, happening across Essex and online. The first is this Wednesday evening 🌞

Apply before midnight on Sunday 11 October 2026.Our panel of TOMA staff and board members will select artists and invite them to Southend for a chat and a sharing of work on either Wednesday 4 or Thursday 5 November 2026. Every artist will receive feedback on their application.

05/09/2026

Applications open on Monday to join our next cohort of artists! Our mini guide to the next programme is out there in the world, we hope you lurve it.
Thank you for the design and print.
Lucy took inspiration from scientific diagrams to explore abstract concepts and reflect on her own time spent learning with TOMA in 24/25.

To find out more, head to the links in our bio or come to one of our drop-in days happening throughout September 💙🛸🪩🎀🧡

08/06/2026

🌭 Two stages and a big green door 🥒
🌭 Two stages and a big green door 🥒

Come out to play on Saturday 27 June with TOMA and the Fickle Pickle!
Here’s some easter eggs of what to expect from our live sets and pop-up acts.

There’s a tombola, there’s techno, there’s tupperware.
Don’t miss it.

Book tickets in the bio of - if you need a subsidised ticket, please DM TOMA 🌞









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Gulsen Guler
Charles Chantlebury 👶

21/04/2026

“It’s been a little bit of a wake up call for me” - Participating teacher 💡

We’ve been gathering around studio desks, dining tables, campfires and projectors to spend time with school teachers and artists. Here’s a look back at the first year of Creative Break Time, a collaborative, active research project hosted by Focal Point Galley, Metal Southend and The Other MA (TOMA), supported by

So far, we have hung out in intensive residencies across Essex, travelled by boat to cross the Blackwater Estuary, shared our work at the iJADE 2025 Conference, hosted crits for artists and teachers, commissioned teachers to create wellbeing gifts and tools for their colleagues and co-developed new tools to ‘itch the curriculum’. Our co-researchers include teachers from Greenways Primary, Milton Hall Primary, Shoeburyness High and St Bernard’s High School.

We want to bring Southend artists and teachers together in transformative ways, emphasising care, rest, wellbeing and meaningful collaboration. By investing in teachers’ creativity, we hope to bring about lasting change in Southend schools across all curriculums and key stages.

This film was made by Realm Video and includes footage filmed at Old Leigh Studios, Metal Southend, Othona Community, The Old Waterworks and Hadleigh Country Park.

If you’d like to find out more, contact our project team at [email protected] 👀

13/12/2025

There’s a regular Factory vibe at The Old Waterworks Southend, with .vermin putting together all the components for the Second edition of  'How to Set Up an Art School'.

Want one? Buy the book at The Old Waterworks shop (link in bio). Order before 11.59pm on Monday 15 December to get it in time for Christmas post! 

20/11/2025

THIS WEEKEND!

Get ready for BODY WORK, the TOMA 24/25 cohort end of year show at The Old Waterworks .  Private View: Fri 21 Nov, 5–9pm. Open: Sat 22 & Sun 23 Nov, 11am–5pm.

Each artist brings their own make and model;  from raw material explorations to performance, installation, and film. Together, they form a collective drive: testing limits, tuning up ideas, and pushing art into motion.

Featuring artists

Mark Amura  
Becky Buchanan .bbeast 
Selena Chandler 
Karen Christensen  
Nathalie Coste   
Lucy Daley  
Sue Gascoyne .gascoyne
Teddy Godwin .godwin 
Ella Johnston  
Majik  
Zack Mennell  
Jo Morrison 
Martin Osman .i.stuff 
Amy Ryall 
Chanel Vegas .art 

Poster design: 

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