In this class you’ll be creating your very own portrait painting of a famous face – in an environment where everyone can express their own artistic flair with confidence, comfort and authenticity and most importantly the freedom to do so unapologetically. Sirena is an established Artist and Drag Performer in East Anglia who believes drag and portraiture together create a whole new creative experience. Come on down and learn to paint with Sirena Hart. Do you want to be part of Sirena’s Hartwork? Ticket price includes all materials and one drink from the bar. This event is for ages 18+.

Artist Justine Moss will offer guidance and advice to help you to learn skills in mark-making, portraying movement and capturing expression. Suitable for all abilities. Basic materials provided. For ages 18+. What is life drawing? During a life drawing session, there will be a nude model surrounded by artists. This is why the classes are limited to ages 18+. The model will be posing for different durations. The poses can vary from 2 minutes to 10 minutes and an hour. You will be drawing the human form in various poses and levels of detail from highly detailed and anatomically proportional drawings to loose and expressive sketches. Come along to each session to experiment with a different theme – or pick and choose the ones you want to focus on.

Join us for an exciting hands-on workshop where creativity meets sustainability at our EcoArt Collage and Craft workshop! In this unique group experience, we’ll explore the art of collage-making using eco-friendly, repurposed materials. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or a beginner, this workshop is designed to inspire creativity. Your tutor will guide you through the process of selecting and transforming sustainable materials—such as recycled paper, fabric scraps, natural textures, and more—into a beautiful visual masterpiece. By the end of the session, you’ll have your own textile collage to take away. Don’t miss this chance to unleash your creativity, connect with like-minded individuals, and make a positive impact on the environment. No experience required, just bring your creativity and enjoy an evening of crafting and socialising!

Join our special Festive Origami session! Spend a mindful and relaxing afternoon folding a variety of stunning origami stars. These origami shapes are perfect for decorating your home and decking the halls during the holiday season. Origami is a paper folding art originally from Japan/China. Learning origami not only helps with hand-eye coordination but improves concentration and problem-solving skills. This ancient art form has been used as meditation, stress relievers and a fun social activity with friends. In our Origami Workshop, Lu Yu will guide you step by step through the creation of specific origami shapes, teaching essential techniques such as valley folds, mountain folds, squash folds, and reverse folds. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafes. This event is suitable for ages 16+.

Join Sirena Hart at Firstsite for Boozy Brushes a multi-art, Drag entertainment painting class extravaganza where you can paint in pairs! Join us in the café/bar area for a lively, fun and creative evening. Unlike Boozy Brushes, where the subject is a different celebrity every month, now the subject is your favourite person! So, who’s your muse? Bring a friend, partner, parent or sibling for a guaranteed night of giggles and fabulous Drag Entertainment. Make memories that last a lifetime and take part in an artistic experience you and your loved ones won’t forget! Sirena Hart is an established Artist and Drag Performer in East Anglia who believes drag and portraiture together create a whole new creative experience. Sirena will guide you through a relaxed portrait tutorial and the rest is in your artistic hands! Ticket price includes all materials and one drink from the bar.

Enjoy the bonding experience of crafting and snuggling up with a good book in these relaxed, sensory and interactive sessions that explore a new story and art activity each class. Led by artist Lisa Eureka, the storytelling will be inspired by a mixture of original and children’s classic books and will include musical and interactive equipment for the little ones to explore: ribbons, instruments and parachutes. Then we will draw inspiration from the story to create a solo or group art work. We’ll get making with printing, gluing and painting – plenty to keep even the most adventurous toddler busy. Visit the Firstsite Cafe before or after the Mini Movers & Makers Parent and Toddler group!

Join Sirena Hart at Firstsite for Boozy Brushes a multi-art, Drag entertainment painting class extravaganza where you can paint you pet – meow! Join us in the café/bar area for a lively, fun and creative evening. Unlike Boozy Brushes, where the subject is a different celebrity every month, now the subject is your furry friend! Doesn’t your pet deserve a tribute? Bring a photo of your pet and Sirena will guide you through an acrylic paint tutorial while entertaining you during the evening! Dogs? Cats?… Lions, Tigers or Bears? This Dr Draglittle experience awaits you! Sirena Hart is an established Artist and Drag Performer in East Anglia who believes drag and portraiture together create a whole new creative experience. Ticket price includes all materials and one drink from the bar.

Our four-part Trust the Process: Observational Drawing workshop invites you to explore the foundations of observational art. Designed for beginner artists and creative enthusiasts, the sessions focus on building confidence, developing observational skills, and embracing mark-making and tonal techniques. You will be guided through exercises that encourage experimentation, speed drawing, and creative problem-solving, using both everyday objects and photographic references. Trust the Process: Observational Drawing will lead you to developing a complete tonal sketch, encouraging reflection on progress and the creative process. Each session blends practical instruction with opportunities for discussion, collaboration, and playful exploration. These sessions can be attended as a full course or by or choosing individual sessions. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafes. This workshop is suitable for ages 14+.

Join us for a thought-provoking and insightful session by Rosalind Whyte in The Arts Society at Firstsite (TASAF) Lecture series! The Arts Society at Firstsite is an organisation about connecting people who have a passion for art. TASAF is part of a global network of local societies, which bring people together through shared curiosity for the arts. You can learn more about it here. We offer a series of 10 talks from accredited lecturers based around the UK. Lectures take place throughout the year from September to June on the third Tuesday of each month. Find out more about TASAF here. This lecture explores Kandinsky’s journey from figurative landscape painter to modernist master, as one of the first artists to develop a radically abstract language. It examines how, from his early landscapes inspired by the Bavarian countryside and folk imagery from Russian fairy tales and legends, Kandinsky’s style evolved after he moved to Germany and co-founded Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) group. The lecture looks at how Kandinsky came to see painting as an alternative pathway to spiritual reality, increasingly stripping away descriptive detail by reducing recognisable elements. At the same time, he began to include large areas of vibrant colour to stimulate emotions associated with classical music, pursuing his interest in synaesthesia. Rosalind Whyte has a Masters in Art History from Goldsmiths College, University of London and a Masters in Gender, Society and Culture from Birkbeck College, University of London. She is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, as well as guiding at the Royal Academy. She is an accredited lecturer with The Arts Society and has led Art Appreciation holidays to various locations. She has represented the Tate as a cruise speaker and has lectured independently on cruises, with Swan Hellenic and Saga Holidays. Our cafés offer a wide selection of delicious snacks, cakes and light meals, along with hot and cold drinks which can be purchased to enjoy. Find out more about our menus here This price is the set fee paid by all members irrespective of the date they join the society.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton based on the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos and directed by Marianne Elliott BAFTA Award-winner Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) joins Aidan Turner (Rivals) in a striking new staging of Christopher Hamptons celebrated adaptation of the classic novel, where among the glittering salons of the super-rich, one misstep can mean ruin. Marquise de Merteuil is a master in the art of survival. Alongside the magnetic Vicomte de Valmont, they turn seduction into strategy and weaponise desire. But when their alliance collapses into rivalry, the battle between them threatens to destroy everyone in their path. Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Marianne Elliott (Angels in America) directs this thrilling game of love, lies, and social warfare.

The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge and directed by Caitrona McLaughlin Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins anna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synges riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flahertys life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that hes killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitrona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.

A monthly meet up for watercolour painters and enthusiasts – open for all levels. Explore the materials, techniques and colour theory to develop your work. Each week a different subject will be provided, or bring a painting you are already working on or a subject you have always wanted to paint. Basic materials provided.

Under the step-by-step guidance of our instructor Lu Yu, you will learn to integrate movement and stillness, leaving the class feeling both strengthened and serene – whether you join us once or make it a regular practice. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Accessibility information for your visit Tai-Chi, an ancient Chinese practice, is a graceful “mind-body exercise” that harmonises strength, flexibility, and balance through slow, intentional movements. Suitable for all ages and abilities, it cultivates both physical wellness and mental strength. Lu Yu brings over 20 years of dedicated Tai-Chi practice and teaching experience, with training rooted in China. Lu currently teaches across Essex, including classes with the Colchester Chinese Association, and is passionate about sharing authentic Tai-Chi with different communities.

You will work from a surprise still life set-up revealed at the start of the session, encouraging you to step away from traditional realism and focus on structure, multiple viewpoints, and expressive composition. Through guided exercises, you will learn to break objects into shapes and planes, experiment with flattened space, and use colour and line expressively, creating a modernist yet personal still life painting. The workshop encourages playful experimentation, simplification, and creative disruption of perspective, helping you develop confidence in both observation and abstraction. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafes. This workshop is suitable for ages 18+. Cubism is an art movement that breaks objects into geometric shapes and planes, showing multiple perspectives at once rather than a single realistic view. Still life is a genre of painting that focuses on everyday objects – like fruit, bottles, or flowers – arranged to study composition, form, and colour. Denisa Mansfield is an artist whose work explores expressive colour, movement, and emotion through the language of Impressionism and abstraction. She works primarily in oils, with a focus on how traditional methods can be reinterpreted in contemporary ways. Her practice celebrates curiosity, creative risk-taking, and the joy of discovery through paint.

Colchester Pride features a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities including the Main Stage, featuring local and national acts and our wonderful Market area, with a variety of food, drink, information and sellers, our market area will have something for everyone!

Info Colchester Pride takes place on Saturday 15th August 2026. Colchester Pride started in 2017, founded by a small team of dedicated volunteers. Since then, we have grown in size and scale, and are thrilled to have received support and funding from a number of organisations including, but not limited to, The OutHouse, the Lottery Community Fund, UNISON, East of England Co-op, Colchester Borough Homes, Colchester Council, Our Colchester and the Mercury Theatre. Join us for a fantastic day full of celebration, education and entertainment, with a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities. Theme To follow Parade There will be a march from the Mercury Theatre (CO1 1PT) down Colchester High Street. This will set off at 10:40, so please arrive in good time. Main Stage Featuring local, national and international acts. Auditorium Stage Featuring poetry and comedy from a range of local and regional performers. Market area Featuring a variety of food, drink, information and sellers, our market area will have something for everyone. After party To follow

Each session introduces a different theme and combines learning about artists and artistic techniques with practical activities where participants create their own artwork to take home. The sessions follow a clear and supportive structure. Children begin with an introduction to the theme, exploring examples of artworks and discussing the materials and techniques used by artists. This is followed by a hands-on making activity where participants experiment with drawing or other creative materials. Each workshop ends with a show, tell and celebrate moment where everyone can share their work, reflect on what they have learned and receive a short handout summarising the session. Please Note: Children must be supervised at all times.

Celebrate the next generation of Colchester’s artists in this dynamic, two-part exhibition from students at University Centre Colchester. This exhibition unfolds in two stages, offering a unique insight into the artistic journey: “To Be Continued” presents a selection of previous, current, and recent works. This first phase invites audiences behind the scenes, revealing the ideas, experimentation, and evolution shaping each artist’s practice. In June, the exhibition will transform to showcase the students’ final degree submissions. Colchester has long been a hub of creativity – from its rich history of art societies and schools to its influence on wider culture. Today, that legacy continues through emerging artists pushing boundaries across disciplines. About the artist Ash Barrett Ash is an artist based in Southend-on-Sea. Combining the principles of mindfulness with the aesthetics of minimalism, his paintings invite viewers to pause and find the harmony in the now. Sherry Bélizaire Sherry works across painting, drawing, and sculpture and explores the relationship between identity and humanity’s growing separation from the natural world. Influenced by indigenous cultures rooted in ecological balance, her work responds to this loss of connection in a world increasingly dominated by politics and consumerism. Belle Femme Artisan Belle weaves a world of decadence and beauty, evoking the grandeur of the Baroque era. Her works are imbued with a sense of intrigue and danger, embodying the essence of the femme fatale. Gail Singleton Parkes Gail specialises in work at the intersection of small-scale sculpture and jewellery. She uses a wide range of mediums and techniques to craft her works, each designed to convey unique, subtle but nonetheless powerful messages. Elaine Sutton Elaine Sutton is a multi-disciplinary artist working across ceramics, photography, and print. Her practice is shaped by a personal vocabulary of fluid movements, where form and fragility intertwine. About University Centre Colchester (UCC) UCC focus is on developing an environment where student imagination and creativity can flourish, in studios and workshops that are equipped to offer opportunities to express and realise ideas and ambitions.

Based on a different theme each session, Art Jam with Art Harbour at Firstsite is a free opportunity to explore, experiment and develop your own art ideas. With a focus on creative process rather than technical ability or finished results, Art Jam sessions centre on open-ended creative activity guided by a changing theme. Each session introduces a broad range of materials and processes, allowing space for experimentation, exploration and individual interpretation. Your session leaders would provide different art activities designed to encourage you to test ideas, respond intuitively and develop personal approaches without fixed outcomes or formal rules. Making, thinking and responding through materials is treated as the core of the activity, emphasising self-expression and discovery. This workshop is suitable for all ages! Art Jam with Art Harbour is held as part of Firstsite Fabulous Fridays: Immerse yourself in a world of unlimited creativity at our monthly Fabulous Fridays with unique workshops, art, tasty treats and great films!

Step into a boxing ring. Stand face-to-face with the leaders and resisters who shaped history. Walk through waves of figures rising from the pages of the Financial Times. Experience Godfried Donkor’s first UK institutional show at Firstsite – a powerful, immersive exploration of the shared histories between Britain, West Africa, and the Caribbean, revealing how Colchester’s own past is deeply intertwined with Ghana’s. What to expect: Bringing together large-scale collages, paintings, textiles and installation, the exhibition fills the building with colour, sound and energy – inviting you to think about history in a completely new way. Encounter bold, visually striking works that combine beauty with powerful ideas – from intricate embroidered symbols to monumental collages built from the pages of financial news. Plus, experience one of the gallery spaces like never before as it’s transformed into a boxing ring, capturing the sounds and atmosphere of the sport, one of Godfried’s key themes. For the artist, boxing represents movement, struggle, and opportunity, reflecting the journeys of people across cultures and continents. Colchester’s historical influence The exhibition connects Boudicca’s rebellion to the resistance of Yaa Asantewaa in Ghana, creating a striking link between local and international histories. It also responds to the work of Colchester-born writer and illustrator Sarah Bowditch, whose 19th-century images of the Ashanti are reimagined through Donkor’s contemporary perspective. About Godfried Donkor: Godfried Donkor is a mixed-media and multidisciplinary artist interested in the socio-historical relationships of Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Known for his collages utilising newspaper and gold leaf in a religious-like imagery. As well as paintings which explore the relationship between the slave trade and boxing, and sculptures which offer a new take on the traditional adinkra symbolism of Ghana. Donkor completed a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, London, and a Master of Arts in African Art History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. In 1998, the artist was awarded the Prix de la Revelation at the Dakar Biennale. ‘It’s a Numbers Game’ coincides with a significant year for Godfried, who will also participate in the main exhibition of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. For the Venice presentation, Godfried will unveil a newly commissioned painting alongside three new paintings, as well as four works on paper originally produced for his 2017 exhibition “The First Day of the Yam Custom: 1817,” curated by the late Koyo Kouoh at Gallery 1957 in 2017.

Throughout the evening, we will be hosting an array of creative events and workshops across Firstsite. Expect pop-up performances, arts and crafts, and surprise artist collaborations that leave you inspired and engaged. Our art workshops will allow attendees to participate in creating something new, from crafting unique pieces, drawing sketches, learning new painting techniques, and exploring the world of art sustainably. For those looking for a more relaxed experience, Firstsite features thought-provoking works in our exhibitions and a fantastic cinema, screening great films. You are also welcome to enjoy a selection of beverages and treats available for purchase from our cafés throughout the evening. Entry to our Fabulous Friday evenings is free, but you may need to purchase tickets to participate in some workshops and activities. Please visit the event page for more information.

Learn how to recreate iconic artworks in a supportive and guided environment with our Paint Like… workshop. Each session uses a monthly featured artwork as a reference, providing the chance to explore the original composition, colours, and techniques. You’ll gain a unique insight into how the work was created and practical techniques. Your tutor will demonstrate step-by-step instructions for recreating the artwork, offering tips and practical substitutions to achieve similar effects, such as using acrylics in place of gold leaf. There will also be an opportunity to respond to feedback, make adjustments, and view the work of other participants in the class. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafes. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Accessibility information for your visit Tina Bullen is from Colchester and describes herself as an ‘artist who also teaches’. Art for Tina is a vehicle; a vehicle for expression, connection and joy. Her work is strongly rooted within nature and her environment. She works in many mediums but mainly in oils, pastels, acrylics and pen.

Guided by Daniel & Clara, each session unfolds around a new theme, inviting attendees into participatory exercises, immersive experiences, and collective discussion. Sitting at the intersection of workshop, performance, and experimental space, the Lab encourages experimentation, challenges habitual thinking, and opens space for the unpredictable, playful, and untamed aspects of creativity. It is a radical environment that celebrates the strange, messy, and complex dreaming creatures we are – inviting us to think differently, create more freely, and cultivate a wilder, more embodied connection with both the inner and outer worlds. The second half of each session offers an open platform for participants to share work, test ideas, or try something new for the first time, fostering collaboration, curiosity, and collective discovery. The Rewilding Imagination Lab sparks creative freedom, playful risk-taking, and new ways of thinking, feeling, and being. Since meeting in 2010, artist Daniel & Clara have dedicated themselves to a shared life of creative experimentation, working across moving image, photography, performance and mail art to explore the nature of human experience, perception and reality. Their current projects focus on the complex relationship between humans and the natural world, particularly exploring the climate crisis as a psychological crisis. Their work has been exhibited and screened at Norwich Castle Museum (2025), Art Exchange, Colchester (2024), Focal Point Gallery, Southend (2021), By Art Matters, Hangzhou (2021), Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Grand Palais Paris & HKW Berlin (2020), Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (2019), Whitechapel Gallery, London (2019), Museu de Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2019). In 2025 they were a recipient of the Henry Moore Foundation Artists Award. This project has been made possible with the generous support of Arts Council England.

Across two sessions, you’ll build and decorate your own hare, cat, or dog sculpture using paper, recycled materials, paint, and hand-printed lino designs, working from a pre-made forma throughout. Build your sculpture using papier-mâché and recycled materials, then design a simple motif and carve it into an easy-cut lino block. Print your design onto A2 lining paper and leave both prints and sculptures to dry. Paint your dried sculpture with gesso, cut out your lino prints and decorative details, then assemble and layer everything onto your piece. Add colour, pattern, and finishing touches to bring your characterful animal to life. You’ll leave with a completed vintage-inspired animal sculpture featuring your own printed motifs and decorative details. No experience needed; suitable for beginners and the art curious. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Lino printing is a printmaking process where designs are carved into lino blocks, inked, and printed onto paper or fabric to create bold decorative patterns and repeated motifs. Combined with paper sculpture techniques, lino printing can be used to add texture, detail, and surface decoration to three-dimensional artworks. Suffolk sculptor and artist, Caroline Corkhill, makes paper sculpture birds, hares, cats and dogs…an eclectic array of quirky beasts! She creates using eco-friendly materials, embellishing her sculptures with handprinted lino cut papers. The decorated creatures are her current passion although her past commissions have included large scale outdoor wire sculptures for the Helmingham Hall Illuminated Trail and Folk East Festival. “I’m really motivated by play, by colour and light. My paper sculpture animals are fun and a nod to folk art design from Nordic cultures. “

Work with a single colour and white oil paint to build depth, form, and atmosphere through tone rather than colour mixing. Simplify facial features into bold shapes, experiment with light and shadow, and develop a striking self-portrait step by step on canvas. Paint in a relaxed, supportive environment where experimentation is encouraged and process is key, before finishing with a group reflection and discussion. You’ll leave with a finished monochrome self-portrait and a stronger understanding of tonal painting and expressive, Art Deco-inspired portrait techniques. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Art Deco is a visual style known for bold shapes, dramatic lighting, smooth surfaces, and elegant stylisation. Often associated with luxury, fashion, and modernity, Art Deco portraiture simplifies form into striking geometric shapes and strong contrasts, creating polished and sculptural compositions. Denisa Mansfield is an artist whose work explores expressive colour, movement, and emotion through the language of Impressionism and abstraction. She works primarily in oils, with a focus on how traditional methods can be reinterpreted in contemporary ways. Her practice celebrates curiosity, creative risk-taking, and the joy of discovery through paint.

Begin by looking closely at the original painting and discovering how surrealist ideas can shift mood and meaning through small, imaginative changes. Reimagine the scene by playing with scale, introducing unexpected elements, and gently altering details to create a dreamlike version of the work. Using oil paint, develop your own surreal response to the composition, focusing on experimentation and personal interpretation rather than accuracy. Share ideas and reflect with the group as you paint in a relaxed, supportive environment. You’ll leave with a finished surrealist oil painting and a deeper understanding of creative storytelling through image-making. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Surrealism is an art movement that explores dreamlike imagery, unexpected juxtapositions, and subtle distortions of reality. Rather than creating fantasy worlds from scratch, surrealist artists often transform familiar scenes by altering scale, perspective, gravity, or everyday objects to create something imaginative and unsettling. Denisa Mansfield is an artist whose work explores expressive colour, movement, and emotion through the language of Impressionism and abstraction. She works primarily in oils, with a focus on how traditional methods can be reinterpreted in contemporary ways. Her practice celebrates curiosity, creative risk-taking, and the joy of discovery through paint.

Learn how to create prints on paper and fabric using light-sensitive materials, working with recycled objects, natural forms, and personal imagery. Using photo acetates and found items, you’ll build layered compositions inspired by themes of migration, lifelong learning, health, and personal connection. Combine your cyanotype works into a final mixed-media collage or artwork that reflects your own ideas, memories, and experiences. You’ll leave with a collection of cyanotype prints on paper and fabric, alongside a finished art object or collage piece. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Cyanotype is an early photographic printing technique that uses a light-sensitive solution and UV exposure to create distinctive blue and white prints. Originally developed in the 19th century, the process is known for its rich cyan-blue tones and experimental approach to image-making using natural objects, photographs, textures, and layered materials. Angenita Teekens is an award-winning artist with more than thirty years of experience facilitating community art projects. She has worked with Essex galleries, schools, local community groups and charities. She studied at the Art Academy in Tilburg in the Netherlands, where she gained a teaching qualification in Art, Design and Dutch, and later completed a Master’s degree in Sculptural Practice at the University of Essex. Her own practice revolves around our relationship with the Natural World. She is convinced that the way forward to a socially and environmentally sustainable world can be achieved by using creative expressions to connect people of all backgrounds to their communities and natural environment. At the moment she is working on projects around the energy transition and the heritage of Nuclear Culture in and around the River Blackwater. Her Teaching and Artist practice go hand in hand, she really enjoys creating an open learning environment. Her experience covers disciplines like photography, drawing and painting, mixed media, ceramics and textiles.

Fold, stitch, and assemble your own A6 notebook while exploring simple beginner-friendly binding techniques, paper craft, and creative construction. Using decorative papers, matboard, and optional finishing touches like ribbon bookmarks, you’ll create a functional handmade book from start to finish. Experiment with materials, enjoy the process of making by hand, and leave with a beautifully crafted notebook to take home. Bring your own decorative papers if you’d like to personalise your cover, or choose from a selection of materials available during the workshop. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for beginners and is aimed at ages 16+. Martine is a bookbinder and maker whose practice explores the creative possibilities of handmade books through paper, colour, texture, and construction. After studying art from a young age and attending an art academy for over a decade, she later moved to a remote artistic community in Canada, where she discovered the craft of bookbinding through local workshops. What began as a fascination with traditional journal making soon developed into an ongoing creative practice experimenting with sculptural forms, decorative details, unique bindings, and handcrafted presentation boxes. Her work celebrates the accessibility and versatility of bookbinding, combining traditional techniques with playful experimentation and personal expression. Through her workshops, she encourages curiosity, creativity, and confidence in making by hand, showing how simple materials can be transformed into beautifully functional objects.

Through expressive mark-making and layered printing, you’ll discover how happy accidents, unexpected textures, and printmaking “fails” can become bold, original artwork. Exchange prints and respond to shared marks within the group, using collaboration to spark new ideas. Explore the creative potential of things like uneven prints, faded impressions, and playful layering before developing your own lino block in a relaxed, beginner-friendly creative environment. You’ll leave with a series of unique prints and your own carved lino block. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Linocut printmaking is a relief printing technique where designs are carved into lino before being inked and pressed onto paper or fabric. Known for its bold marks and graphic qualities, linocut can be both precise and experimental, offering endless opportunities for layering, texture, and variation. Natasha Davis is a self-taught artist printmaker, living and working in Essex, specialising in linocut prints. Each print begins as a meditative carving, often inspired by the lives, lore and landscapes around her. Her favourite part of printmaking is the rhythmic process of cutting lino and how it offers a calming escape. She also runs linocut workshops in Essex, sharing the joy of printmaking with others. Watching people discover the magic of printmaking is incredibly rewarding and it inspires her to keep exploring new techniques and stories through her own work. Through her prints, Natasha hopes to capture people’s imagination. She loves weaving storytelling elements into her pieces, shaped by her background as a creative writing graduate, and she tries to let those narrative threads guide each piece.

Start by responding to a “surprise” still life arrangement revealed at the beginning of the session, encouraging spontaneous reactions rather than over-planning. Build your painting through loose shapes, expressive brushwork, and close observation of colour and light, letting the scene emerge as you work. Work in a relaxed, supportive environment, share ideas with the group, and experiment with how you see and interpret form. You’ll leave with a finished Impressionist-inspired still life painting and new confidence in expressive painting. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 16+. Impressionism is an art movement that captures the atmosphere and feeling of a scene through visible brushstrokes, changing light, and expressive colour. Rather than focusing on perfect realism or fine detail, Impressionist artists use loose painting techniques to suggest movement, mood, and everyday moments. Denisa Mansfield is an artist whose work explores expressive colour, movement, and emotion through the language of Impressionism and abstraction. She works primarily in oils, with a focus on how traditional methods can be reinterpreted in contemporary ways. Her practice celebrates curiosity, creative risk-taking, and the joy of discovery through paint.

Guided by music-led exercises and intuitive mark-making, you’ll experiment with textured surfaces, abstract composition, and monoprint processes using an etching press before creating a large-scale A2 artwork. Leave with expressive prints, layered artwork, and new techniques to continue exploring at home. Suitable for beginners and creatively curious participants aged 14+. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafes. Accessibility information for your visit Monoprinting is a form of printmaking that produces unique, one-off prints rather than repeat editions. Often combining drawing, texture and layered ink techniques, monoprinting is known for its spontaneous and expressive qualities, making it ideal for abstract and experimental artwork. Mel Perkins graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Derby University in 2019. Based in Suffolk as an artist at Old Jet, Mel is developing her multidisciplinary practice, focusing mainly on photography, painting and sculpture. Describing making art as a ‘bodily and intrinsic process’, Mel works instinctively. Materiality is as fundamental to her practice as theme and subject matter, and she explores each in depth. When work becomes too ‘ordered’, she intentionally seeks chaos again. This playful experimental approach runs throughout Mel’s work, as she combines hard and soft, and different scales and modes of presentation. There is a questioning of two and three dimensions and the potential between them. Sometimes she also adds handwritten notes and musings, in order to bring an aspect of humanity back into her works.

Rework everyday fabrics into unique personalised pieces using creative stitching, appliqué, collage, and embroidery while exploring playful and sustainable approaches to fashion. Bring along a tie, bag, or item of clothing to customise, or choose from a selection of ties provided. Explore bold colour, texture, and decorative details, build confidence through creative experimentation, and leave with a one-of-a-kind wearable artwork. No previous sewing or art experience is required, making this workshop suitable for beginners and the art curious. Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafés. This workshop is suitable for ages 14+. Artcycling is a creative practice that combines art, textiles, and sustainability by repurposing existing materials into new artistic or functional pieces. Using second-hand fabrics, clothing, and found materials, Artcycling encourages creativity through reuse while celebrating individual expression. Sue Gascoyne is an environmentally engaged artist who loves using textiles, clay and sculpture to create interactive installations. Sue’s sensory-rich work has been exhibited throughout East Anglia and London. Sue was a finalist for VAO25 and selected for a Firstsite Collectors’ Group Bursary Award in 2025. Sue has run workshops at Firstsite, Focal Point Gallery, The Old Waterworks, festivals and The Minories. Sustainability and giving people a voice are central to her practice.

The Window to the Soul immersive gallery is a virtual exhibition with international collaborators in regions of conflict, showcasing artwork, poetry and creative writing from women and girls from Afghanistan who are based both in the UK and Afghanistan. The gallery also contains unique ‘talking paintings’ that combine Hannah’s portraiture paintings with creative writing from contributors, which are then brought to life using voice actors and motion graphics technology. The virtual gallery will be projected in the Cinema whilst Hannah will deliver a personal tour of the artworks, providing a real insight into the experiences of women and girls from Afghanistan using an exciting combination of traditional media and new technologies. “Window to the Soul” is a research and development project that combines arts, tech and social justice themes to amplify the voices of women and girls from Afghanistan. The project seeks to foster greater public empathy by raising awareness of the challenges faced by women and girls in and from Afghanistan, with a particular focus on their right to education. By shedding light on these issues, the project aims to build connections between women and girls and opportunities for remote education, learning and international scholarships. The project officially launched in 2023 after being kickstarted by a Firstsite bursary award, and has gone on to gain additional funding from the British Council and Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants. Find out more @hannaharia and @windowtothesoulafghanistan on Instagram Hannah Aria is a multidisciplinary artist (XRtist- Extended Reality Artist) and advocate whose work bridges performance, visual arts, and emerging technologies to create meaningful social impact. Born in England, she is passionate about using creativity as a force for good, exploring ethical ways to harness new technologies while amplifying underrepresented voices and championing social justice. Since 2023, Hannah has been pioneering immersive technologies through her long-term project Window to the Soul, which elevates stories of women and girls from Afghanistan using VR (Virtual Reality)/ XR (Extended Reality) experiences. Her commitment to gender equality has led her to collaborate with UN Women UK, participating in CSW68 and CSW69 to advocate for systemic change. As a neurodivergent artist with ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, and Irlen’s Syndrome, as well as living with chronic illness and PoTS, Hannah is a vocal advocate for accessibility and reasonable adjustments in the arts. She has lectured at Arts University Bournemouth on inclusive arts practices and presented research to the British Working Class Art Network, supported by Tate Research and the British Museum. Before her immersive work, Hannah co-founded and co-directed Neurodelicious, a groundbreaking neurodivergent performance art movement that toured London and East Anglia twice. Her visual art has been exhibited extensively across the UK. Since 2020, Hannah’s practice has received five separate grants from Arts Council England, supporting projects ranging from online participatory workshops to touring Neurodelicious and developing immersive VR experiences. She graduated with First-Class Honours in Arts Practice from the University of Suffolk in 2020.

During a chase inside a museum, Tom and Jerry find a magical object and end up being transported through time. Lost in a distant era, they will need to work together to find a way back home.

Developed across India, East Africa and the UK, discover a photographic series that explores the connected histories of Arpita Shah, her mother, and grandmother. “My grandmother was born in India but grew up in Kenya for 12 years before moving back to India. Although I visit my grandmother every couple of years in India, I have realised how little I really know about what she was like as a young woman, her memories, experiences, and what her relationships were like with her own mother and her daughter.” – Arpita Shah Arpita’s photographic journey uncovered forgotten family photographs, memories of objects and places, and shared family stories. Through this, she reconnects with her maternal lineage and explores how migration, distance, and loss have shaped their lives. Through portraiture, she also finds a physical connection to her mother and grandmother, helping her understand how closely their lives are connected. What to expect Discover 26 photographic works displayed alongside archival family photographs and personal objects, like dried flowers and traditional saris. The exhibition takes its name from Arpita’s grandmother, Nalini, a word that means ‘lotus’ in Sanskrit. Floral motifs are a recurrent feature in Arpita’s work and this iconic plant symbolises purity, femininity, and fertility in Hindu culture. The artist performs floral offerings to the women in her family, and some of her images feature symbolically significant flowers adorning old photographs from family albums. A passport photo of Arpita’s great-grandmother is decorated by bougainvillea, a plant introduced to India and East Africa during the British Empire. About Arpita Shah Arpita Shah is a photographic artist based in Eastbourne, UK. She works between photography and film, exploring the fields where culture and identity meet. As an India-born artist, Arpita spent an earlier part of her life living between India, Ireland, and the Middle East before settling in the UK. This migratory experience is reflected in her practice, which often focuses on the notion of home, belonging and shifting cultural identities.

Join writer, curator and broadcaster Ekow Eshun in conversation with visual artist Godfried Donkor as they explore the ideas, influences and inspiration behind ‘Godfried Donkor: It’s a Numbers Game’. Bringing together paintings, collages and embroideries, ‘It’s a Numbers Game’ traces the interconnected histories of Britain, West Africa and the Caribbean, revealing how questions of power, trade and resistance continue to shape the present. Responding to Colchester’s layered history, Donkor explores the connections between Colchester and Ghanaian history, drawing together figures such as Boudicca and Yaa Asantewaa to reveal how stories, people and places remain connected across time and continents. In this special live conversation, Eshun and Donkor will discuss Donkor’s practice, and how art can challenge accepted histories, reveal unexpected connections and invite us to see the past not as fixed, but as something continually reinterpreted through the present. Ekow Eshun is a writer, curator and broadcaster whose work has helped shape contemporary conversations around art, identity and culture. Curator of the forthcoming British Art Show, he is widely recognised as one of Britain’s leading cultural thinkers. A familiar presence across the BBC and other major media outlets, he is known for bringing fresh perspectives to discussions of art, history and representation. He is Chairman of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, and the former Director of the ICA, London, UK. Eshun has curated exhibitions including, the critically acclaimed ‘In the Black Fantastic,’ Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2022); and is author of the books ‘Africa State of Mind’ (2020) and ‘Black Gold of the Sun’ (2005), shortlisted for The Orwell Prize. Through his writing, exhibitions and public speaking, Eshun has become an influential voice in championing artists and stories that expand and enrich our understanding of contemporary society. Godfried Donkor is one of the most compelling artists working today on the intertwined histories of Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Through his artwork, Godfried explores themes of power and resistance, drawing unexpected connections between historical narratives and contemporary life. This year marks a major moment in his career, with his inclusion in the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale and his first UK institutional exhibition at Firstsite. Working between London and Accra, Donkor has built an international reputation for creating visually striking works that challenge conventional histories and reveal the complex cultural exchanges that continue to shape our world. Step into a boxing ring. Stand face-to-face with the leaders and resisters who shaped history. Walk through waves of figures rising from the pages of the Financial Times. Experience Godfried Donkor’s first UK institutional show at Firstsite – a powerful, immersive exploration of the shared histories between Britain, West Africa, and the Caribbean, revealing how Colchester’s own past is deeply intertwined with Ghana’s.