Jelly

jelly - Making Space for Art Jelly is an energetic charity championing the creative arts.

We have played a strategic role in Reading’s cultural life since 1993 – programme includes artists studios, exhibitions, events, workshops, talks and collaborative projects

01/06/2026

Dream Community Garden: a group diorama making session. Free workshop, part of Open for Art festival 2026🌱🎨

📅Sunday 21 June
🕙2.30-4.30pm
📍Jelly Studios Broad Street Mall
💵Free
🎟️drop in

Join artist Ruby Campion for building a miniature community garden diorama, imagining and dreaming up future community spaces together. This is a drop-in collective-making session, bring only yourselves and your imaginations for this hopeful reimagining of an outdoor space to serve you and your communities. Materials will be provided for mark-making, collaging, and constructing 3d models out of cardboard, clay, and natural materials.

This workshop is for all ages - adults and families - but all children must attend with a responsible adult. Drop in through the session and stay as long as you like.

✨Open for Art 19-28 June 2026. A festival celebrating all things creative.🎨 Join us for workshops, talks, arts trails and more. We’re turning Reading town centre into a space to pause, REFLECT, create.🎪 All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability.

Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England.

31/05/2026

Book Club birthday party! Part of Open for Art festival 2026📚🎨

📅Tuesday 23 June
🕙7-8.30pm
📍Milk Reading
💵Free
🎟️eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549

The Creative Book Club is a book club for those with creative tendencies of all kinds, held at Milk. The group meets every 6 weeks to discuss a book but also if the themes influenced our creativity in any way.

Come along to the birthday party to find out the reading list for the next 6 months and meet other creatives and book lovers.

We'd love you to bring along a book to recommend to the group, so we can share some great reads. We also encourage you to bring along something to share from your creative practice, and we'll have a show and tell.

✨Open for Art 19-28 June 2026. A festival celebrating all things creative.🎨 Join us for workshops, talks, arts trails and more. We’re turning Reading town centre into a space to pause, REFLECT, create.🎪

All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability. Book a ticket so you don't miss out on this event!

Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England.

30/05/2026

Family printing workshop. Free workshop, part of Open for Art festival 2026 🎨

📅Sunday 28 June
🕙11am-12pm
🎂Ages 7-12
📍Jelly Studios Broad Street Mall
💵Free
🎟️eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549

In a warm and welcoming atmosphere, printmaking artist Olesia Kryvolapova will invite children to discover the magic of printmaking through a fun and easy relief printing technique. No experience is needed — just curiosity and imagination! Participants will create their own prints from start to finish. All materials are provided. The workshop is for children aged 7 to 12 and their adult. Please book one ticket for each child.

✨Open for Art 19-28 June 2026. A festival celebrating all things creative.🎨 Join us for workshops, talks, arts trails and more. We’re turning Reading town centre into a space to pause, REFLECT, create.🎪

All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability. Book a ticket so you don't miss out on this event!

Check out more of Olesia's work on Instagram:

Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England.

29/05/2026

A funeral for your ex. Free workshop, part of Open for Art festival 2026 💐⚰️🎨

📅Friday 26 June
🕙6.30-8pm
📍Jelly Studios Broad Street Mall
💵Free
🎟️eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549

A playful and cathartic workshop exploring creative rituals around endings. One part discussion, one part funeral, it invites participants to come prepared with something they wish to lay to rest within a shared, communal ritual space. Perhaps it’s a long-lost friendship, a hobby that has fallen by the wayside, a former lover, or even the TV remote. Big or small, serious or silly, all endings are welcome in this structured yet playful space for reflection.

✨Open for Art 2026 19-28 June. A festival celebrating all things creative.🎨 Join us for workshops, talks, arts trails and more. We’re turning Reading town centre into a space to pause, REFLECT, create.🎪

All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability. Book a ticket so you don't miss out on this event!

Led by artist Joss Affleck. Check out more of Joss' work on Instagram:

Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England

28/05/2026

Artist's talk about originality! Free talk, part of Open for Art festival 2026 🎨

📅Sunday 21 June
🕙5.30-7pm
📍Milk Reading
💵Free
🎟️eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549

Collage artist, Smithsonian Rösterino presents a talk about originality and appropriation and what that means in the creative process?

Using case studies from my own career as well as well-known international artists, designers and photographers we’ll examine appropriation, re-appropriation and misappropriation and what our role as a viewer is in understanding what it is we’re looking at. When does inspiration become plagiarism and does it matter? Is it OK to appropriate other people images? What makes an idea original?

This talks is for adults. Please be aware that access to Milk bar is by stairs only.

✨Open for Art 2026 19-28 June. A festival celebrating all things creative.🎨 Join us for workshops, talks, arts trails and more. We’re turning Reading town centre into a space to pause, REFLECT, create.🎪

All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability. Book a ticket so you don't miss out on this event!

Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England

26/05/2026

✨Open for Art 2026✨ 19-28 June. A festival celebrating all things creative.🎨 Join us for workshops, talks, arts trails and more. We’re turning 📍Reading town centre into a space to pause, REFLECT, create.🎪

All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability.

🎟️ eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549
📷

Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England

25/05/2026

A reflective writing workshop! Free workshop, part of Open for Art 2026 ✍️✏️🖊️

📅Monday 22 June
🕙6.30-8pm
📍Jelly Studios Broad Street Mall
💵Free
🎟️eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549

A welcoming and relaxed creative writing workshop for adults

Come and explore the theme of ‘reflect’ by playing with words in this creative writing workshop. All welcome, no experience of creative writing necessary. Helen will lead the group through some creative writing exercises/prompts and sharing your writing with the group will be optional.

This will be a 90-minute long session for a maximum of 12 adults. Please bring whatever you prefer to write on or with, e.g. pen and paper or laptop.

Helen Mugleston-Dahlke has a degree in creative writing and previously ran the Jelly Writers group, including leading on their Open for Art 2019 project ‘The Serpent’s Tale’. She writes creatively as her artistic practice and has led multiple creative writing workshops for children and adults.

Space is limited. Book a ticket so you don't miss out on this event!
Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England

23/05/2026

A mixed media collage and drawing workshop! Free workshop, part of Open for Art 2026 📰✏️ 🎨

📅Saturday 27 June
🕙11am-12pm
📍Jelly Studios Broad Street Mall
💵Free
🎟️eventbrite.com/cc/open-for-art-2026-4830549

Join Catherine Paiano for a vibrant and inspiring collage and mixed media workshop for adults, where creativity meets self-expression. This experimental session invites you to explore your identity through bold, large-scale image making on A3 paper.

Using drawing, collage, and mixed media techniques, you’ll create an expressive artwork that represents you. Pre-made examples will be shared to spark ideas — then it’s your turn to play, experiment, and create in a supportive, energising environment.

No pressure. No rules. Just space to explore who you are — visually.

All materials will be supplied for you. This workshop is for adults.

Space is limited. Book a ticket so you don't miss out on this event!
Open for Art is funded by Arts Council England

📷 Catherine Paiano. See more of Catherine's work on Instagram

22/05/2026

Four weeks until Open for Art festival begins✨

Reading town centre's largest celebration of visual arts and creativity. All events are FREE to attend, but some have limited availability, so book early.

📅Friday 19 June - Sunday 28 June
🎟️ jelly.org.uk/workshops
💡Festival theme: 'Reflect'

We've got lots of fantastic creative workshops coming up during Open for Art, including collage, sculpture, embroidery, sketching, zine making, print making, and writing workshops!

Open for Art is supported by Arts Council England. Our beautiful Open for Art 2026 logos created by Cream Designs.

21/05/2026

📚 Our next Creative Book Club read is Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Join us for a meet up to discuss the book.📚

Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world.

📅 Tuesday 26 May
🕙 7-9pm
📍Milk, Merchants Place, Reading
🎟️ jelly.org.uk/workshops
💵 £2
New Creative Book Club members are always welcome.

Address

Jelly, Level 1, 115-116 Broad Street Mall, Queens Walk
Reading
RG17QE

Website

http://jelly.org.uk/

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