Women Working Class (WWC)

Hearkening back to the feminist consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s, this group will host an ongoing conversation among artists and producers to deconstruct hierarchies of space in the landscape of art by sharing our experiences and strategies, dreams and schemes, theories and knowhow.

The idea is not for a group to come together to talk about class, but to imagine/practice ways for art spaces to better serve class diverse artists doing groundbreaking, world-changing work; discuss how issues of class influence what we make; and explore what our relationships are to just being and surviving in the art world and how it can liberate us to do the radical.

In these gatherings the group will consider ways that we “drag up” to navigate art spaces, and operational ways to make art spaces more accessible to lower class people. The group with also look to break down the language of the, often inaccessible, art world and instead give space for women of these classes to be heard in the arena.

Fox Irving’s art is shaped by the liminal, precarious identity they inhabit as queer/femme/working class. They ask: what keeps people in place, what affords fluidity, and what kinds of assembly can be transformative?  With a playful, D.I.Y approach informed by activist strategies and centering collaboration, Fox investigates how art can be used by marginalised communities that they are part of as a tool of empowerment.

Dates and location

6 to 8pm, 6 & 20 January, 3 February, and 2 & 15 March 2020.

Live Art Development Agency, The Garrett Centre, 117A Mansford Street, London E2 6LX.

The offer

Supper will be provided at each gathering, and participants will receive a £75 stipend for each gathering to use as they wish. Travel costs of up to £12.00 (the price of a daily cap zone 1-5) can also be covered on receipt.

How to apply to be a participant

You need to identify as a woman and working / benefit / under class to be part of this group and able to attend all the above dates.

You need to be prepared to present a creative offering to the group. Offerings can be textual, performed, poetic, edible, speculative, etc, but they must be able to be shared in person for up to 8 people in no more than 5 minutes.

Please send a proposal explaining how it feels to be working / benefit / underclass class to you to [email protected].

Proposals of up to 250 words should include:

• Your name
• The nature of art practice/producing work
• You do not need to address these directly, but may consider these questions to guide you: What media or forms do you use? What big questions motivate you? For what audiences do you make work? Who inspires you? Why do you make art or call yourself an artist?
• Description of your creative offering
• This can include images / sketches / diagrams

Fox would particularly like to hear from women of colour, disabled, neurodiverse, unemployed, trans and low-income women, and people who have been discouraged from pursuing art based on class, race, gender, ability, etc.

The deadline for proposals is 20 December 2019, at 5pm.

Applicants will be notified if they have been offered a place by the end of December 2019.

Participants will be selected by Fox Irving.

For further information please email [email protected]

Supported by using public funding by Arts Council England