In The Window Placement - Zine Workshop for the Open Holder Day

This year's Open Holder Day at Staffordshire University was held online, lecturer Jessica Longmore asked if I would be interested in delivering a zine making workshop as part of the visitors' experience. I was really happy to be asked and excited to get involved. I had some experiences making zines from doing so with fellow students in the previous year as well as collaborating with an artist in the Netherlands (who had been one of our previous visiting artists at Staffs) on a zine outside of university. I had also got involved in the zine workshops and resulting zine made during innovation week with Jessica and other students. A combination of having the previous experience and engaging with Jessica's workshops had ultimately led to this great opportunity to deliver a workshop online. 

I made sure to have all of the tools and materials I needed at the ready and some examples zines to show the attendees some of which were made by me and some of which were from my own collection. As well as demonstrating live on camera and talking through the zine making process, Jessica had provided me with a Word document with instructions and illustrations which was available on Microsoft Teams to anyone attending. We had a great session and a brilliant discussion about the course, the campus, our art practices and of course zine making, with positive feedback from attendees at the end of the call who said it was a great activity which was warm and welcoming. The Open Holder Day is meant to create a space for future students to ask or hear about the course and the university as well as give them a fun experience as a taster of what to expect when term begins; I think we achieved that! 

[Digital handout for the workshop]