Open Call for Submissions: "Stella Art" Zine

We are excited to announce the launch of Stella Art, a new zine dedicated to exploring the complexities of working-class masculinity in all its forms.

We invite artists, plasterers, brickies, poets (anyone with something to say) to submit work that reflects the experiences, pressures, and pride that come with masculinity in working-class communities.

In Stella Art, we aim to explore the pride, pressure, violence, and tenderness that shape how working-class people engage with masculinity.

This zine will reflect on both the struggles and the strength, the wounds and the resilience that come with these experiences.

Whether it’s the weight of tradition, the burden of silence, or the moments where aggression and vulnerability blur, we want to create a space where these stories can be told from a diverse range of perspectives.

This zine is inspired by the world we’ve grown up in: the places where masculinity has been built and tested—pubs, boxing clubs, building sites—and the ways in which both men and women navigate the codes, expectations, and contradictions that come with these environments.

It’s about understanding the cycles of neglect, survival, and self-destruction but also about exploring moments of tenderness, creativity, and defiance that often go unseen.

We are looking for work that reflects the good and the bad, the pride and the pain, and the moments where vulnerability challenges or reshapes the very idea of masculinity.

We welcome submissions across all creative forms—visual art, photography, poetry, essays, mixed media, and more. This zine is a platform for anyone whose experience of working-class masculinity, whether lived or witnessed, has shaped their creative voice and personal expression.

Who knows - we may even put on an exhibition in a local boozer for selected artists.

Criteria for Contributors:

• Open to artists, brickys, writers, photographers, poets and creatives of any experience level, age 18 and over.
• Open to anyone living, working, or with a significant connection to the working-class experience. Lived or witnessed.
• New and existing work welcome.
• Must be the creator and copyright holder of submitted work.

Criteria for Submissions:

• Work must engage with the theme of working-class masculinity—its pride, pressures, contradictions, and complexities.
• All creative forms are welcome, including visual art, photography, poetry, essays, video, performance and installation.
• Submissions must be suitable for print in a zine format. This could be documentation of exhibited work.
• Work will be selected based on how it sits alongside other submissions to create a cohesive publication.
• Submissions can explore challenging themes and use strong language but must not be hateful or discriminatory.

Key Dates:

• Open Call: 4th February 2025
• Deadline: 30th March 2025
• Zine Release: Details TBC
• Potential Exhibition: Details TBC

Notes:

• Stella Art is an unfunded project, and this opportunity is unpaid.
• Contributing artists will have the option to purchase copies at cost price + P&P (exact price TBC).
• Any profits from zine sales will be divided between selected artists to fund new work and to support working class creatives.
• Work will not be edited without permission, though minimal cropping may be required.

Let us know if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing your work.