ART is about to make an impact across Reading, as a festival returns for its tenth anniversary.
Arts collective jelly will bring together a wide range of artists, families and younger folk for Open For Art, a 12-day celebration of the visual arts.
Running from Friday, June 21, through to Sunday, July 2, the event includes workshops, pop-up events and an arts trail, with guest artists leading some of the sessions, many of which will be free, or have a booking fee.
The theme is IMPACT, and aims to get participants to reflect on the way art impacts them, and how they can impact Reading, while also highlighting many unusual spaces in the town and how they can be used creatively.
The art trail will go across the town centre, with an emphasis on independent businesses, with more than 40 pieces of original artworks on display, all curated by jelly’s Associate Artists programme.
On Saturday, June 29, a Thorough Fayre will be held in the town. Running from 11.30am to 4.30pm, this will see a whole day of free art activities suitable for all ages take place. This will have an emphasis on learning new skills and exploring different techniques in a supportive environment.
Across the festival, there will be collaborations between artists and different groups.
One such project, which saw artists work with New Town Primary School to create art for Water Fest and the University of Reading’s Show Your Stripes Day, is the subject of a film that will be screened online.
Open for Art has also been working with the Mills Archive and four primary schools on their Reading emPOWERed project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to highlight alternative energy sources of wind and water power.
Their work will go on display on Saturday, June 22, from 11am to 2pm at Watlington House.
Visiting artists are Sofia Hagström Møller, who has taught at several schools in Denmark and in the US. Her work focuses on weaving and how it can be used in sculptural forms and personal narratives.
Joining her is Marianne Fairbanks, a visual artist and associate professor in Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Spanning the fields of art, design, and social practice, her work seeks to chart new material and conceptual territories, to innovate solution-based design, and to foster fresh modes of cultural production.
For young adults aged 18 to 25, a networking and print-making session wil be held on Sunday from 3pm to 5pm.
Impact of art is an artist discussion led by Eleni Doulgeraki which aims to thread together ideas on socially engaged and sustainable art practices.This will be held on Thursday, June 27, from 8.30pm at the Phantom Brewery in Meadow Road.
Suzanne Stallard, founder and co-creative director of Open For Art, is looking forward to the event launching this weekend.
“Celebrating our tenth year is a significant milestone. This year’s theme, IMPACT gives us the opportunity to present a festival that not only celebrates visual arts but also provokes thought and inspires action,” she said.
“We have been thinking about the impact art makes, through its connections and care, as well as the materials we use. The Festival gives us time to slow down and reflect together.”
For more information and the festival programme, visit https://www.jelly.org.uk/openforart24
