THE FUTURE’s looking bright for a Reading arts venue as it plans ahead for a season of special events.
Rising Sun Arts Centre, on Silver Street, launched a fundraiser to raise funds for making improvements in its main performance space.
With a goal of £10,000, the art centre is already halfway there having raised over £4,800 so far.
The proceeds will go towards new ventilation so more performances can go ahead in the summer months.
And a PA and lighting system is also on the cards to improve the quality of concerts and events.
Manager Larry Watson said he has already received a lot of support from the community after launching the fundraiser in mid August.
“We are well on the way to raising the money we need now,” Mr Watson said.
“We have a quote from a ventilation contractor which is within what we feel we can raise and so we are now looking forward to getting the centre back on track and able to put on full capacity events again in the Autumn.
“Everyone is very relieved to have come this far in such a short time as the timescale for raising the money was very tight.”
Mr Watson added that the arts venue is constantly on the lookout for new volunteers.
He said: “Rising Sun Arts is solely run by volunteers who do a huge amount of work to put on events here and keep it all going, and we are always welcoming new members.”
Though the arts venue received grants over lockdown, Mr Watson is now looking ahead to build on it’s space and host more shows.
As well as its monthly open-mic poetry and forum theatre events, Mr Watson also organised a book fair where story lovers could browse artists’ stalls.
The event, ran on Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17, and saw a range of handmade books, illustrators, printmakers, poetry and more.
Rising Sun Arts also took part in this year’s Are You listening festival, run by music promoter Heavy Pop.
The festival raised money for Mencap, a charity that works with people with learning disabilities.
And Club Velocity will return to Rising Arts with Attila the Stockbroker on Friday, December 3.
For more information, log on to risingsunartscentre.org
To donate, justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rising-sun-arts-centre
{{{gallery:”83603″}}}
