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About the Residency

What is an online residency? Isn’t that a contradiction?

Not at all. A residency is defined by what it provides — peer connection, support, professional development, time and space to focus, and a shared project to work towards. TABOR offers all of these, but in a format that is accessible to far more artists.

Traditional residencies often require artists to step away from employment, caring responsibilities, established support networks, and accessible environments. For many people, that makes participation impossible.

TABOR keeps the benefits while removing those barriers.
The residency runs over a full year, with a limited weekly time commitment and the flexibility for artists to organise their work in a way that fits around their lives. Because it is online, artists can participate from a space that already meets their access needs, using the tools and technologies they are familiar with — including captioning, screen readers, and other personal access setups.

Rather than being a contradiction, TABOR is a modern expansion of what a residency can be: structured, supportive, professionally meaningful, and genuinely accessible.

How is the Residency Structured?

The residency is divided into quarters:

1st Quarter: Getting to know each other through weekly meetings, body of work presentations and supportive critiques

2nd Quarter: Focus on Learning with skillshares and a professional development programme delivered by external experts. Resident artists will vote on who they want to invite from a confirmed list of suggestions and presenters.

3rd Quarter: Focus on Producing New Work and planning of the next phase.

4th Quarter: Outreach activities and final group exhibition.

How much time does participating in residency require each week?

In a typical week, residents attend a weekly one‑hour online meeting and are expected to attend, take active part in discussions, critiques, and sharing work. Some light preparation for the session might be involved, such as looking through a fellow resident’s work in advance.

Over the course of the year, residents spend additional time on an outreach activity, a skillshare, and on making their book. How much time this requires heavily relies on how you work. But the good news is that you are free to schedule these more intense blocks according to your availability.

The residency is designed to be flexible and to fit around employment, caring responsibilities, and other commitments. Most weeks require only the one‑hour meeting, with additional work scheduled by you according to your own pace and practice.

What happens if I can’t attend a meeting?

We ask residents to keep the weekly meeting time free as much as possible, as your presence supports not only your own development but also the learning and wellbeing of the group. However, we fully understand that illness, caring responsibilities, work commitments, mental health, and unexpected events can make attendance difficult at times.

All meetings are recorded, so you can watch back and catch up on anything you missed.
You can still offer feedback or encouragement afterwards through the group chat or by contacting fellow residents directly.

Eligibility and who can apply

Who can apply?

We welcome applications from book artists across the UK at all stages of their career and aim to have a good mix of emerging, mid-career, and fully established book artists from a range of different approaches to book art. Applicants should be resident in the UK or have a meaningful connection to the UK / British Book Arts.

What skills do I need in order to apply?

The residency is for book artists and those who want to become book artists. Curiosity, commitment, and a willingness to learn are more important than any formal qualifications. However, please be aware that the residency does not include a teaching programme in bookbinding or book art. Residents will come with the self-driven interest to acquire needed skills by themselves.

Do I need to have made book before?

We expect applicants to have made at least two pieces of book art prior to applying. The technical intricacy and difficulty of these could vary wildly, reflecting the broad field that book arts is.

Access and Adjustments

What access arrangements are in place for the residency?

TABOR is designed to be accessible to artists with a wide range of needs, and we are committed to lowering barriers wherever possible. If you know of measures that would make your participation in the residency easier, please let us know so we can discuss how we can implement this.

We already offer:

• automatically generated captions for all online meetings
• reminders and short summaries before and after sessions
• flexible participation options for those who cannot attend live
• a supported residency place for a neurodivergent young adult, including additional mentoring

If you need something different, we will work with you to find a solution.

What access arrangements are in place for the application?

We offer:

• alternative application formats
• extended application deadlines where needed
• pre-registration for the supported residency place for a neurodivergent young adult, which includes help with the application

If you need something different, we will work with you to find a solution.

Application Process

How and when can I apply?

Applications will become available from 1 October 2026 – 15 November on CuratorSpace.

To access the application form you need a (free) account on CuratorSpace and will be asked to

• fill out a questionnaire,
• upload up to 5 images of prior work
• a CV.

If this format is inaccessible to you, please contact us. Adjustments may include extended deadlines, video applications, or (in special cases) an interview in place of written materials.

What is the selection process?

The application window closes on the 15th of November, and we expect to know of any candidates who applied for an extended deadline by this time and will wait for their application. Once the application process is complete, we will start to build the cohort; meaning we don’t only look for individual applications, but how people might fit together.

What we will be looking for:

• a cohort with diverse skills, that complement each other,
• a sense of curiosity and joy in learning and teaching from the applicant
• commitment to developing your professional practice as a book artist
• balance of experience in book arts across the cohort

How many places are available?

We aim to invite eight artists, with one place being reserved for a neurodivergent on the supported residency, and one place reserved for someone with an expressed interest in craft bookbinding.

Programme Content

What sort of workshops will be offered?

There will be two principally different formats: one are skill shares, where resident artists teach something that they know to the fellow residents. This will be identified during the body of work presentations in the first quarter. It might turn out to be something the artist themself didn’t even realise it was a skill and could cover anything from a bookbinding technique, to how to fix a drawing on a book page over a leather carving technique they used.
These will be fairly informal and part of our usual meeting programme

There will also be a small number of professional development sessions led by external experts (Karen Hanmer, Rosalind Davies, Greg Thorpe, and others have confirmed their availability). Residents will choose from and can request additions to a worked-out, confirmed offer which contains topics such as photographing and presenting books, delivering online bookbinding sessions, curation, time management, securing funding, and navigating setbacks are available. 

Do residents need to produce new work?

Yes. Each resident creates at least one new artist’s book for the final exhibition. The scale and ambition of the work are up to you but there is the general expectation that the images of work that you include in your application are representative of what you might produce as part of the residency.

What outreach activities are expected?

In general, what we mean by outreach activity is any advertised opportunity for non-residents to engage with. The outreach activity should promote and supplement the group exhibition that takes place. We will discuss with artists planned activities individually and offer as much support and input as you want and need. Possible activities could be workshops on a skill that is exemplified by your contribution to the exhibition (for example teaching a structure that you used for the book in the exhibition), this could be online or offline in your community.
You could team up with other residenty, and you could host an external expert or run yourself a more academic talk on a topic connected with the exhibition.
You could offer a guided tour through the exhibition (the virtual exhibition or maybe a local physical exhibition that you organise).

We welcome any new ideas how you could engage your community and/or the wider public.

Exhibition and outreach

Where will the final exhibition take place?

The final group exhibition will take place in an online gallery, and residents will contribute to public facing events such as artist talks, panel discussions and exhibition tours. In addition to the online exhibition we will also organise some local, physical exhibitions, and residents will be encouraged and supported in offering similar in their communities.

Will there be a private view, opening or finissage?

Yes. On 30 December, we hold an online finissage — a celebratory end‑of‑residency gathering open to residents, family, and friends.

Can I hold a local, physical exhibition?

Yes. Residents are encouraged and supported to host local physical exhibitions of their residency book and selected works. Three such exhibitions are already planned by the organisers.

Cost and Practicalities

What costs are involved?

There is no tuition fee, and we have some funds to reimburse artist for some expenses.

TABOR is a paid opportunity. While participation in the residency itself is not fee‑bearing, artists receive fixed payments for their contributions to the programme:

Each resident will be paid for producing a new work for the final exhibition (£300) and for delivering an outreach activity (£150), and will also receive a small payment or reimbursement to support the skillshare they lead for fellow participants.

What setup do I need to participate?

Since the residency is entirely online, you will need a stable internet connection and reliable microphone and video.  If you have any difficulties with communicating online, please contact us and we can talk it through.

Dedicated Residency Spaces

What is the Supported Residency?

One place is reserved for a young autistic/ADHD/PDA adult (18+) who hasn’t yet completed a formal qualification such as a degree or apprenticeship. This artist will also receive dedicated mentoring from Gecko Community to help them take part fully and confidently in the residency.  If you feel this applies to you, please read our page relating to this opportunity.

What is the Society of Bookbinders sponsored residency?

One place is reserved for a person from a more traditional book-binding background who would like to increase their skills and interest in artists’ books. If you have such a background, please let us know on application or contact us for more information.