A NEW partnership is set to see one of Reading’s coffee shops come alive with colour and art.
The Reading Guild of Artists (RGA) is teaming up with Honesty Thames Quarter in a collaboration aimed at bringing life to a community space.
This week, both RGA and Honesty are set to launch the partnership with an event which they intend to mark the beginning of an ongoing programme bringing art to the venue.
It will welcome an exhibition, Sunflower | Traces, a series of eight pigment prints depicting observations of farmed flowers by Reading artist Mark Burden.
Sunflower | Traces will remain on display at Honesty Thames Quarter following the launch reception and programme will continue throughout 2026, with different RGA members exhibiting their work across the year.
Honesty is a food business with 13 venues across the UK, including its cafes in Reading’s Thames Quarter and Wokingham town centre, a cookery school in Newbury, and a pub in Hungerford.
Founded by a home cook turned food activist, the business seeks to embrace ethical and transparent in its produce and rejection of ‘chemical-laden’ convenience food.
The Reading Guild of Artists, founded in 1930, is one of the oldest art societies in the region, welcoming professional and amateur artists across Berkshire.
Honesty Founder Romilla Arber said: “We have always believed that Honesty Thames Quarter should be more than a place to eat and drink–it should be somewhere people want to spend time, feel part of something, and discover things that matter to them.
“Bringing the Reading Guild of Artists in feels like a natural extension of that.
“We are proud to be giving their members a space, and we are very much looking forward to seeing where this takes us.”
Connell McMenamin of the Reading Guild of Artists said: “We’re thrilled to team up with Honesty Group at Thames Quarter to take art beyond the gallery and into everyday spaces.
“This is a brilliant chance for Reading Guild of Artists members to showcase a diverse range of artwork and we can’t wait to share an inspiring, ongoing programme of exhibitions for everyone to enjoy.”
The Sunflower | Traces exhibition will be unveiled at Honest Thames Quarter, 2 Napier Rd, Reading, from 6pm on Thursday, April 16.
RSVP by emailing: events@honestygroup.co.uk
More information about Honesty is available via: honestygroup.co.uk
More information about Reading Guild of Artists is available via: rga-artists.org.uk
