BIG DRAW little people: 2nd – 31st August 2022

We were excited to announce our summer family exhibition and arts activity – BIG DRAW little people. A whopping 300 children took part in our BIG DRAW little people exhibition and we LOVED meeting all of the little artists.

To celebrate we invited everyone back on Tuesday 30th August 12pm – 3:30pm to come and see the finished show before it closed and join us in The Big Stickathon! Guests were given colourful stickers to vote for their favourite drawings, with the winning artworks getting framed and hung in our café throughout September!

As part of The Big Draw Festival, The Riverside Gallery showcased the freshest and coolest work created by the most exciting upcoming group of artists – CHILDREN!

BIG DRAW little people

2nd – 31st August 2022

A free interactive exhibition of children’s drawings

Guests dropped in for FREE, anytime during our opening hours to create and display your children’s masterpieces (open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm). Every child received a personal certificate that they could take back to school (major bragging rights), and grown-ups can rest assured that they provided a positive, creative, screen-free, summer holidays activity.

All materials was provided, and the focus was on (mess free!) drawing. In case a blank page felt too intimidating, there were helpful handy hints from some of our resident artists and we were happy to display any existing works of art made at home – the more the merrier.

We know how long the summer holidays can feel, trying to keep little people entertained and the “I’m bored, I’m hungry,… what can we dooooo” can feel endless. BIG DRAW little people was perfect for those days when you’d exhausted all the country parks and offered a perfect solution on a very British rainy day.

The gallery is located alongside our café; serving delicious lunches, home-made cakes and very good coffee. We were proud to offer FREE KIDS LUNCHES throughout August with thanks to Local Counsellor Teresa Murray and we didn’t mind if you need to bring your own snacks/lunch with you. There is plenty of space so guests could feel free to bring friends and host a mess free play-date with us.

We are easily accessible by bus and train or there is a pay-and-display car park onsite. Unfortunately, there is no disabled or step free access to the Gallery, but we can help carry buggies up the stairs if needed – give us a call for more information on 01634 401 549.

‘The Big Draw Festival’ is made up of thousands of creative events, activities and workshops across the globe encouraging people to get back to the drawing board.

Artist led workshops

As well as the general drop in activities, we hosted five artist led sessions for free and no need to book.

A chance to encourage children to engage with their own creativity and explore drawing using a variety of materials and simple ideas for being creative. These may have got a little messier so old clothes were at the ready!