36 Lime Street Ltd

What it’s like

Drop into working artist studios for glassmaking and printmaking demos, free to wander round.

This is a working studio building in Ouseburn, and for a few dates a year the artists throw the doors open. You wander from workspace to workspace watching glassmaking, printmaking, painting and drawing demonstrations, and the artists and makers are there to talk about what they're doing rather than hidden away.

There are creative drop-in workshops too, so it's not just looking. Kids can get stuck into something hands-on alongside watching a demonstration, which makes it less of a stand-and-stare gallery visit and more of an afternoon of pottering between rooms.

Entry is free, which for a building full of working artists' studios is a proper find. The Spring Open Studios and Late Shows run over a Friday evening and a weekend, with the Friday session stretching into the evening and the weekend days running late morning to mid afternoon. The gallery programme itself runs April to December, and there are extra events tied to the Ouseburn Festival in July and Heritage Open Days in September.

It's all indoors, so a rainy Saturday doesn't put a dent in the plan. Because it's studios rather than a purpose-built children's attraction, don't expect soft play or a café counter, but the trade-off is watching an actual glassmaker at work, which is hard to find anywhere else for nothing.

Facilities

Plan your visit

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