The Wild Ones: A Creative Hub for All – Our 2-Week Residency Program
At The Wild Ones, we’re building something special: a creative ecosystem that brings together artists, musicians, fashion designers, DJs, film makers and performers from all walks of life and all creative disciplines. As well as having a space to create in the studio, they also have a space to show their work and perform in the bar and the event spaces. The Wild Ones is a social enterprise – “Cultivating Creativity, Inspiring Change”.
Since opening six weeks ago, we’re excited to see how our space is starting to become a catalyst for collaboration and innovation, with creatives exploring new ideas, pushing boundaries, and connecting with one another.
The Wild Ones is here to nurture talent, offer opportunities, and celebrate creativity in all its forms. We’re proud to be a place where anyone with a passion for artistic expression can find a platform to grow. Whether emerging, or established, with is a place for you develop and try out your ideas.
Our 2-Week Residency Program
As part of our ongoing mission to support the creative community, The Wild Ones is excited to offer a 2-week residency program that gives artists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the space, work with us, create, collaborate, and showcase their work. This residency is designed to be open to all creatives from any discipline. The residency program provides access to our creative studio space and a chance to work in a dynamic, collaborative environment.
Over the course of the 2 weeks, you’ll have the freedom to experiment, develop your ideas, and engage with other residents. The program is tailored to help you make the most of our facilities, with the added bonus of showcasing your work at both a mid-program Mini Showcase and a Grand Final Showcase.
As well as free studio space, and support from the wild ones team and other creatives here to develop your ideas and support your showcase, we also offer a 5k lunch, and we’re trying to negotiate discounted travel with Safe Boda for our creative residents. We are also seeking grants and partners to provide more mentorship and funding to expand and improve the program we already have in place.
We are also about to launch “The Wild Ones Creative Membership” deal – which will include discounted drinks and food (at certain times), for residents and their friends, as well as early bird and discounted access to certain events that are hosted here. More on this soon!
Also, aside form taking time to develop and explore your own ideas on the residency, there are opportunities for paid work too, when what you’re doing, has a more direct benefit benefit to The Wild Ones, and is beyond the scope of the work that you’re developing as part of the residency. In fact, these kinds of residencies are the best in many ways, as you have a space to create, whilst also having a partner, and a client too – us!
Real Stories, Real Impact
Here are some standout examples of recent residencies that show what’s possible:
🎸 Colin from CMH Live – Building The Wild Ones Band
Our first-ever resident was Colin, a brilliant guitarist and founder of CMH Live – teaching and guiding musicians and bands to develop their skills. During his residency, he developed The Wild Ones Band, bringing together talented local musicians and vocalists for rehearsals, performances, and creative experiments. The outcome? A new live music experience that now takes place every Sunday—and it’s going to become one of our signature nights. Colin’s residency has been extended, and we’re continuing to collaborate closely going forward. It’s a win-win for everyone.
🎤 Jovia – Launching Wild Karaoke
Jovia joined us as a vocalist and performer, and used her residency to develop Wild Karaoke, an inclusive, high-energy karaoke night launching in about a week (June 9th). It’s not just a fun event—it’s a creative platform for self-expression and local talent – and the top performers will be asked to sing with our Wild Ones Band on Sunday! If all goes well, Wild Karaoke will become a regular thing happening every each week, and we’ll continue to work with Jovia as the host!
👗 Norman – Fashion Residency – Runway Ready
One of our fashion residents is currently working with The Wild Ones to design and launch a runway fashion show, featuring multiple designers and stylists. Together we’re curating the event, selecting the creatives, and planning the showcase—set to happen in just a couple of weeks. It’s a collaboration between individual vision and venue support, and we can’t wait to see it come to life. However in addition to this, Norman has also set up a T-Shirt screen printing operation so we can now make our own Wild T-Shirts, and is also making new seating covers for the bar area – and this work is paid for of course, an example were we are his client, as well as his partner.
🎧 AO The Walker – DJ Residency – Afropulse & Audio Innovation
With another resident, a DJ called AO The Walker we developed Afropulse, an electronic music night that spotlighted Afro-house, amapiano, and experimental beats. They didn’t stop at the event—they also created a podcast during their residency, blending music and conversation in a new, fresh format. The event and the content are now part of our wider media and nightlife plans. The first ever Wild Ones Podcast is launching soon, watch this space!
💍 Sharon – Fashion & Craft Residency – Wild Ones Wrist Bands!
The newest resident is Sharon, who’s been working with us for a couple of weeks as a waitress too. She also makes funky wristbands amongst other things with her sister Becky. Sharon recently assisted us with running our first night market, and we decided to give her a residency to explore more night market idea, and specifically to make more “The Wild Ones” wristbands too – which we will use for the new creative members – flash your wrist band, get wild discounts on drinks – again, we are paying for her services here so we are her client, as well as her partner (and employer!).These are just a few examples of what happens when ideas meet the right space. Many of our residents have skills and visions that directly connect to our bar and event programme, and we often co-create with them—helping shape concepts, promote events, and build something meaningful together.
How to Apply
We’re accepting applications for our next 2-week residency program. If you’re interested in joining us, here’s how you can apply:
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Email us with your idea for your residency: What do you do? How will you use the space? What are your goals for the 2 weeks?
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Share your plan for the Mini and Main Showcase: We want to know how you’ll present your work at the midway and final showcases. What do you hope to achieve? What kind of audience are you aiming to engage with? If you haven’t developed ideas for this yet, we will help you when you visit the space.
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Be creative and bold: We’re looking for residents who are passionate about their craft and eager to push their creative boundaries.
Send your application to Marcus@mysocialimpact.org, and make sure to include your idea and details of how you’ll utilise The Wild Ones’ space.
If email isn’t your thing, and you’d like to swing by, then Sunday early evening is a good day to come by, and you’ll have the advantage of seeing the Wild Ones Band too (from 7pm), and checking out the studio space and meeting us all too!
The Wild Ones, 110 7th Street, Industrial Area (Formerly Wild Coffee Bar)
Why The Wild Ones?
Whether you’re an established artist or just starting your creative journey, The Wild Ones offers an inspiring, supportive environment for you to create and grow. With our unique mix of art, fashion, music, and performance spaces, we’re here to help you take your work to the next level.
We look forward to seeing how you’ll use our space to create something amazing. Get in touch, and let’s build something together!
Stay wild!
