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OPEN FOR ART festival OPEN FOR ART 2018 2 – 8 July Reading’ s festival showcasing our arts, heritage, culture and creative industries. Curated for a fifth year by Jelly, as part of our 25th birthday celebrations. #OpenForArt jelly.org.uk/ open-for-art #TheJellyReading Suggested donation £1 Creative Book Club Launching at Open for Art, a new book to art club for creatives lead by librarian and artist Laura De Moxom. Join us to talk about ‘The Power’ by Naomi Alderman and whether it has shaped your creative practice. Milk will create a special ‘The Power’ cocktail for the evening. Ticket profits to Berkshire Women’s Aid. Tickets £10, including one cocktail. Age 18+. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Mon 2 July 7 – 8.30pm: venue 30, Milk Home Reading is so much a part of Jelly’s history. Reading photographers John Angerson and Salvo Toscano will talk about their perspectives on home and storytelling in a Q&A led by Amanda McDonnell from Reading homelessness charity Launchpad. Refreshments included. This event is generously sponsored by Kiss House. FREE, donations on the day directly to Launchpad. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Tue 3 July 12.30 – 2pm: venue 31, Spaces The Secret Language of Clothing Artists Rebecca Swainston and Louise Alexander work in very different mediums but are linked by their love of ideas and the transformative possibilities of objects. Journey with them as they explore the role and visual language of clothing in art and everyday life. Expect direct experience, observation, discussion and performance as we contemplate our symbiotic relationship with clothing and materials in everyday life and art. Come as you are. You may never dress in the same way again. Refreshments available. FREE. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Tue 3 July 2.30 – 4pm: venue 29, Malmaison Jelly Tots Play: Pre-school Art Club This special session will be led by current Jelly artist Emma Bradbury and guest Marje Doyle who ran Jelly Tots right at the start. Tickets £4 per tot. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Wed 4 July 10.30 – 11.30am: venue 1, Jelly HQ Papier Mâché People In 1997 Jelly first started to run art classes and one of the most popular artists was Marje Doyle. As a special birthday treat Marje will host this one-off adult workshop making beautiful papier mâché people. Tickets £16, includes tea and cake. Age 16+. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Wed 4 July 12.30 – 2.30pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ Spinning a Yarn with The Outcasts Founded in 2004, The Outcasts have been delivering projects as part of Jelly ever since. Join them for a special knit night. Tickets £6, includes a hot drink and slice of cake. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Wed 4 July 6.30 – 9pm: venue 12, Picnic Reading Stories: Artists Talk Jim Attewell, Jelly artist and Trustee since 1999, has selected fellow Jelly artist Julie Simmonds to undertake an artist residency at estate agents Haslams, where he has worked for many years. Julie will develop her work focused on Reading inspired by Ray Atkins’ Reading series of 50 years ago. Haslams are also showing one of Ray’s paintings, on loan from Reading Foundation for Art through the Reading Museum corporate scheme. FREE. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Thu 5 July 6 – 8pm: venue 26, Haslams Sarah Pritchard and Holly Buckle An exhibition of photography taken by Sarah and Holly during their time at Jelly Studios, Jacksons Corner (2016 – 2017). Includes evocative images and textures created by Holly, and colourful stills from a film by Sarah and fellow artist Laura Nicholson. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily, private view Fri 6 July 9 – 10pm: venue 34, Castle Tap Artist Studio Café Mark Andrew Webber joined Jelly Studios when he needed space to work on his three metre linocut of Berlin. During Open for Art he will invite people to sit and have a conversation with him while he draws them. FREE. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Mon 2 – Sat 7 July: venue 8, Anonymous at The Tasting House Guerrilla Gardening Caroline Fletcher, current Jelly Studio artist, has been working with Cath Holwill, Di Hayes, Anne-Marie Beatty and Charlie Beatty since 2016 on a guerrilla gardening site on Vastern Road. Come and meet them, there will be a few plants to take away to start your own guerrilla sites as well as tree decorating, kerb-side colouring and drawing. Fri 6 July 2 – 5pm, Sat 7 July 2 – 5pm, Sun 8 July 2 – 5pm. Beer and biscuits (to go with the bulbs!) from 3pm on Sun: venue 33, Vastern Road Julie Simmonds Join Julie on a walking drawing tour of Reading. Learn about her process, ideas and techniques while sketching in the town centre. Bring a sketchbook and simple drawing materials. FREE. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Fri 6 July 2 – 3pm: meet at venue 1, Jelly HQ RDG Bayeux Tapestry In celebration of a new book on Reading’s famous Bayeux Tapestry, Kate Powell will be creating an embroidered panel, starting at Open for Art. Join in and add to this contemporary reworking. The panel will grow over the year, culminating in time for Jelly’s birthday in December. In partnership with Two Rivers Press and Reading Museum. For full details of all drop-in days visit jelly.org.uk Fri 6 July 10.30am – 12.30pm launch workshop: venue 27, Nibsy’s Chosen by Jelly’s youngest artists: Jelly Tots presents Nick Cope and his Pirate Friends We welcome back children’s singer songwriter Nick Cope for a special event all-aboard The Majestic Bel. Decorate your very own pirate hat, followed by a fun filled, interactive concert and FREE hot dogs for all the children after the show at a special BBQ lunch hosted by Bel & The Dragon. £8 per tot, £1 per adult. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Fri 6 July 11.15am – 12.30pm: venue 20, The Majestic Bel Gallery 142: West Reading Arts Trail Selected by Jelly resident artist Nigel Bish, Gallery 142 returns with a selection of jewellery, textiles, prints, drawings, ceramics, books and floristry by local artists and makers. These include Nigel Bish, Emma Capel, Julie Simmonds, Trudie Middleton, Geoff Sawers and Emotional State. Displayed in an 1865 town house, once home to Reading’s ‘Association for the sale of work by Ladies of limited means’. Refreshments available. Fri 6 July 4pm – 9pm, Sat 7 July 11am – 4pm, Sun 8 July 11am – 3pm: venue 35, Gallery 142 The Jelly Patchwork In 2003 Julie Calce, Charlotte Hardy and Marje Doyle began a patchwork quilt of peoples’ drawings of a jelly leg’d chicken (the original Jelly name). Using these drawings as an inspiration point, families are welcome to join her to add to the quilt. Sat 7 July 10am – 12pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ A Theatre Start in Life Alexandra Dewis’s enthusiasm for performance began when she joined her local youth theatre at just eight years old. As a Reading Rep trustee, she proudly welcomes Reading Rep Youth Theatre to Open for Art 25 STORIES To mark our 25th birthday we have invited people with special Jelly connections to make things and curate 25 Stories events as part of the celebrations. Where Jelly Hangs its Hat Jelly studio artist Sam Knight is creating a limited-edition book of drawings of each of Jelly’s many homes, gathering stories and marking notable achievements. Available at jelly.org.uk Friendships Justine Holt graduated in 1993 and her first exhibition in Reading was at the original Jelly venue, 35 Minster Street. She played a pivotal role as curator both at the corner of Broad Street (now Patisserie Valerie) and at The Oracle Riverside. Justine has written a piece about the importance of these friendships and the creativity that comes from being part of Jelly. Available at jelly.org.uk Breakfast with an Artist Kerry Lemon joined the Jelly team during our years at The Oracle while studying fine art at the University of Reading. Since then she has created public art for The Lexicon Bracknell and been artist in residence at Coutts, London. Join us for breakfast where Kerry will discuss making public art, with Sarah Hacker, a passionate advocate of the arts in Reading. Kindly sponsored by Broad Street Bar & Kitchen. FREE. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Mon 2 July 8 – 9.30am: venue 2, Broad Street Bar & Kitchen Second Time Around Over the past three years Jelly’s education team has worked with Reading schools on the theme of Our Town, enabling over 330 children to gain an Arts Award. The Oracle recycles about 95% of its waste. In this special project 30 schoolchildren from Katesgrove Primary will work with Jelly artist Yan Chong to create a large sculpture on The Riverside using some of The Oracle’s waste. Visitors are invited to join in. This project is generously supported by The Oracle and Mothertongue. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 11, The Oracle Riverside Beginnings to 2018 On show will be art works and a fashion display created by fashion, textile and media students from Reading College’s UAL (University of the Arts London) selected by Emma Bradbury who joined the Jelly team as a volunteer in 2000 and later studied textiles at Winchester and the RCA. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily, meet students Thu 5 July 4 – 5.30pm: venue 17, The White Building Making Time In celebration of Jelly’s silver jubilee, Mirren Kessling and Lisa-marie Gibbs have been inviting the public to create icons which symbolise creativity. These works will become a time capsule, to be opened up when the charity turns 50, a message to a new generation of artists to keep creativity at the heart of the city. To add your piece to the time capsule please deliver it to Jelly HQ during Open for Art. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July 10am – 2pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ Jelly Artists Art Swap Exhibition of works by Jelly artists curated by Squirrel Ink, an art exchange. Each artist has produced a series of A4 works in a variety of mediums, donating one for sale to raise funds for Jelly during Open for Art. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July 10am – 2pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ OTHER EVENTS Reading Abbey Quarter The Abbey Quarter has witnessed almost 900 years of history, and includes Reading Museum, the Town Hall, Reading Gaol, St James Church, St Laurence’s Church, Forbury Gardens, and the remains of Reading Abbey. The Abbey Ruins have recently reopened after extensive conservation work and almost ten years of closure. Open daily, 8am – dusk: venue 21, The Abbey Quarter Peter Driver Peter’s recent woodcut prints explore text and interpretation, some presenting hopeful statements to prompt the viewer to reflect on their own position, while others consider our relationships to landscape and nature. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 12, Picnic Anne Wilson From endangered animals and birds to gorillas riding bikes, Anne varies her style, flooding her illustrations with colour, detail and unusual patterns. She will be selling copies of her latest picture book ‘Red Alert!’. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 13, Workhouse Coffee Linda Saul Using mixed media including collage, Linda focuses on the built environment, its textures, and how it changes over time. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 2, Broad Street Bar & Kitchen Michael Garaway Urban landscapes and technologies inspire geometrical play, sensuous surfaces, and tightly controlled colour, using various media including acrylics and pastels on paper. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 6, C.U.P. The Discover Reading Map: Your Arts Award Adventure Art is everywhere, you just need to know how to look for it. Come to Jelly HQ to pick up your Discover Reading Map. As an art explorer, you’ll see Reading in a whole new way. Return your completed map to Jelly and achieve your Discover Arts Award. We’ll post your certificate to you after the event. Activity £5, pay at Jelly HQ. Ages 5 – 25. Mon 2 – Sun 8 July 10am – 2pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ Lost Girls In this new series Laura de Moxom combines gel transfer and painting, exploring themes in Naomi Wolf’s ‘The Beauty Myth’ and the idea that to be heard and have space in the world women must be wrapped in layers of ‘beauty’ and ‘femininity’. Mon 2 – Sat 7 July, open daily: venue 16, HolyBrook Gallery The Museum of English Rural Life A wonderful permanent collection focusing on the skills and experiences of farmers and craftspeople displayed over nine galleries. Lots for all ages to do, inside and in the garden. Tue 3 – Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 41, Museum of English Rural Life Cerebral Gas An ideas exchange between artists that is given materiality in an installation by Ingrid Jensen. Tue 3 –Sun 8 July, open daily: venue 38, OpenHand OpenSpace Jim Attewell Jim’s three new paintings entitled ‘Reflections’ are perfectly matched to this venue. Tue 3 July – Sat 7 July, open daily: venue 15, Nylon Hair Artists Patrons and Donors: Reading’s Art… and How it Got Here In 1885 the cost of having a portrait of biscuit magnate William Isaac Palmer painted for the town was met by 3,000 people. Later he left his personal art collection to Reading Museum. Today the collection continues to grow through the support of Reading Foundation for Art, grant-giving bodies and individuals. Tue 3 – Sat 7 July 10am – 4pm: venue 25, Reading Museum Creating Ruin Internationally renowned Kyiv based artist Lada Nakonechna will be in residence at the Abbey Ruins, a former site of European economic, historical and cultural significance, as part of a major new commission for Reading International. Thu 5 July 11am – 6pm, Fri 6 July 11am – 9pm (includes Launch Night), Sat 7 July 11am – 6pm: venue 22, The Abbey Gateway Think Like an Artist: Roger Robinson #Artists: The art industry is designed to break u down and test how tough yr skin is. To be a part of it u have to be anti-shook. A Readipop talkshop: Roger Robinson, a writer who makes music, helps creatives think about and reach their potential. Book at readipop.co.uk Thu 5 July, 6.30pm: venue 3, Smokin’ Billy’s Emily Gillmor: Sonning Flowers Residency Emily will create a temporary studio amongst the blooms, drawing subjects from the magnificent floral display. Sketchbooks and original artworks will be on show. Fri 6 July 9.30am – 5pm: venue 4, Sonning Flowers Battle Primary Academy: West Reading Arts Trail Sam Butler, co-artistic director of internationally acclaimed Fevered Sleep is showing some of the company’s short films. Local potter Jenny Zolkwer will show her latest thrown stoneware. Plus an eclectic gallery of work by pupils, parents and other local artists, showcasing the active, creative community in west Reading. Refreshments available. Fri 6 July 9am – 3pm, Sat 7 July 10am – 4pm, Sun 8 July 10am – 2pm: venue 37, Battle Primary Academy ‘…to the Power of 3 ’ Site-specific, mixed media work by three Reading-based artists. Heather McAteer, Sarah Read and Fong Scott present their responses to the history and architecture of the listed Victorian Turbine House which spans the River Kennet. Fri 6 – Sun 15 July, open daily, meet the artists Sat 7 July from 2.30pm: venue 19, The Turbine House Matthew Potts A collection of illustrations with some slightly macabre subjects and a level of humour that would rival the very worst Christmas cracker jokes. Fri 6 July 10am – 4pm, Sat 7 July 10am – 3pm: venue 23, Simon Dowling Bespoke Cultural Connections: A Reading Collection Reading artist and designer Paul Hill specialises in spray-painted portraiture. This five-canvas collection features notable figures past and present, all with a connection to Reading from the fields of architecture, literature, academia, music and comedy. Fri 6 July 10am – 7pm, Sat 7 July 8am – 1pm: venue 18, 58 Barbershop Palmer Park to Redlands: Tree Walk Brian Morley and Reading Tree Wardens will lead you through the historic streets of Redlands, pausing to study trees planted by our Victorian forbears, and ending at the University gardens on London Road. FREE, donations welcome to support the Tree Wardens’ work. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Fri 6 July 10.30am – 12pm: venue 42, meet outside Chalkboard Café Jewellery + Silverware: Young Designer Competition and Exhibition Since 2015, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths has supported Jacobs the Jewellers’ Young Designer Competition. Young emerging designers studying at The Bishopsland Trust each showcase two pieces; one of silver, one of noble metal jewellery. Visitors vote for their favourite pieces. Work by silversmith Gerald Benney will also be on show, kindly loaned by Reading Borough Council. As part of Open for Art, Jacobs will host a live craft skills demonstration. Exhibition open 19 June – 7 July (voting closes Fri 6 July at 11am), opening hours at jacobsthejewellers.com Fri 6 July 11am craft skills demonstration, 12.30pm reveal of winning makers: venue 14, Jacobs the Jewellers Too Many Cooks Caroline Marriott has been creating a community fabric collage based on Lucienne Day’s tea towel design: ‘Too Many Cooks’. Templates will be provided and examples for people to work from. FREE. Age 18+. Fri 6 & Sat 7 July 11am – 3pm: venue 7, John Lewis Jane Doyle and Matthew Jones: West Reading Arts Trail Local artist Jane’s current work takes nature as its inspiration and is concerned with colour and mark making. Matt’s focuses on Reading street scenes and architecture. Refreshments in the courtyard garden. Fri 6 July 12 noon – 5pm, Sat 7 July 11am – 5pm, Sun 8 July 11am – 3pm: venue 36, 1 Ormsby Street Re: Vote 100 Public Dance and Debate Reside Dance invites you to record your views on the rights and equalities of women and girls in Reading today in this revisit of Vote 100 Public Dance and Debate. Sat 7 July 9am – 5.30pm: venue 28, Takeaway Gallery STASH Micro Gallery A new pop-up exhibition space located on a plinth at the centre of Broad Street, displaying artists’ work at weekends. East Reading art collective STASH (organised by Tim Wilson and George Field) are excited about providing opportunities for art to be seen in new and unusual spaces. Sat 7 & Sun 8 July 10am – 4pm: venue 9, STASH Micro Gallery Old Tilehurst: Tree Walk Anna Iwaschkin and Reading Tree Wardens will guide you on a circular walk through the charming streets of Tilehurst and Arthur Newbery Park to look at a variety of magnificent species planted in Victorian days. Some steep hills. FREE, donations welcome to support the work of the Tree Wardens. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Sat 7 July 10.30am – 12 noon: venue 39, meet at Tilehurst Station A Yorkshireman in Reading Simon Mayor (mandolinist and writer) and Hilary James (illustrator and vocalist) will talk about their first book ‘Of Death and a Banana Skin’, followed by a concert of music and readings. Tickets £12. Pre-booking essential at [email protected] Sat 7 July 1 – 3.30pm: venue 24, Reading Town Hall Art Salon: Reading International Fringe Event Hosting an ensemble of staff and students from the University of Reading, this show will include performances, installations and videos bringing a vibrant range of work to the Centre, recreating the spirit of the Salon. Refreshments available. Sat 7 July 2 – 9pm: venue 42, Rising Sun Arts Centre Animation Using Plasticine: Workshop Lead by Julie Calce, specially created for National Deaf Children’s Society members, enabling young people to create an animation using plasticine. NDCS members only. Sat 7 July 2.30 – 4pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ Sketch the Abbey Quarter with Reading Sketchers Join us on an untutored sketch crawl around the Abbey Quarter, including the newly reopened Abbey Ruins. Bring your own sketching materials and portable seat (if needed). FREE. All children must bring an adult. Sat 7 July 3 – 5pm: venue 25, meet outside Reading Museum entrance Creative People and LEGO® present Build and Animate: Workshop Lead by Matthew Foster of Creative People. Families work on a model they would like to animate, create background scenery and use an iPad to make an animation. Tickets £10 for a family of up to 4, includes a basic LEGO® kit to keep. Age 7+. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Sun 8 July 10 – 11.30am: venue 1, Jelly HQ ArtLine Street Market Visual arts street market showcasing the work of 50 artists local to the Reading area. All of the works will be for sale, and you can buy direct from the artists. Presented by Reading Business Improvement District in partnership with Open for Art. Sun 8 July 11am – 4pm: venue 10, Broad Street East Historic Town Centre: Tree Walk Dr Michael Keith-Lucas and Reading Tree Wardens will lead a circular walk looking at the stunning trees in this area including the beautiful Forbury Gardens. FREE, donations welcome to support the work of the Tree Wardens. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Sun 8 July 2.30 – 4.30pm: venue 5, meet at Reading Minster for their debut event. Inspired by the World Cup, they will be performing flash mob style at Station Hill. Sat 7 July 10am – 2pm: venue 32, Station Hill Eliza’s Entertainments The poet Adrian Blamires and the painter Robert Fitzmaurice will discuss and read from Eliza’s Entertainments, their Tudor-themed sequence of poems and pictures. The event will fittingly take place next to the Kenilworth portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, one of the most historically significant paintings to survive from her reign. Sat 7 July 11.30am – 12.30pm: venue 25, Reading Museum Jelly’s Silver Jubilee: Life Drawing Artists’ model Abbey will lead a life drawing session with a silver theme inspired by Jelly’s 25th birthday. Please bring your own paper and materials. Tickets £10. Pre-booking essential at jelly.org.uk Sun 8 July 11am – 1.30pm: venue 1, Jelly HQ Designed by cream-design.co.uk
