• Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm – 6pm
• Last date to view, Sunday 5th July
• Community Room

Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Students from year 10 art classes at Beckfoot Thornton have been working on a variety of different projects this year.

For this show, students have expressed themselves through three different themes; Recyclable, Abstract, and Monument.

With the chance to do anything desired to respond to chosen themes, students have created work in a variety of ways. Please explore our sculptures, paintings and many more.

Please feel free to sign the visitors book to let us know what you think!

• Friday 5th June, 6pm – 9pm

Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage Club Exhibition!

South Square Collage Club emerged from an online collage workshop during a socially restricted Covid period in May 2021 for World Collage Day. People  all over the world joined in supported by remote hosts in South Square Centre and Exeter.. The local participants decided to continue in person once that was possible. Four years later there’s a lively  evolving group who gather monthly in South Square Centre on a Saturday morning. The participants include people who are new to making art and people who have spent their lives creating. There’s usually a theme linked to our interests but following it is entirely optional. There’s a big selection of resources and a huge welcome to all.

This exhibition at Plenty of the Square includes a wonderful mix of the work the club have been creating over the past few weeks.

Last dater to view is Sunday 12th July.

• Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026
• Main Gallery
• In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Hannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

• Saturday 27 June 2026
• South Square Centre, Thornton, BD13 3LD
• Free, Booking recommended

Mandy Barker will discuss her work and how she uses photography to raise awareness of the environmental impact of plastic in our oceans.

Barker is an international award-winning photographer whose work involving marine plastic debris over the past 16 years has received global recognition. Working with scientists she aims to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans whilst highlighting the harmful effect on marine life and ultimately ourselves.

Barker’s work has been published in over 50 countries including National Geographic, Time, The Guardian, Smithsonian, The Explorer’s Journal and New Scientist. She regularly takes part in talks and interviews for the BBC, ITV, Greenpeace, CNN and the British Embassy. Her work has been exhibited world-wide from Impressions Gallery, MoMA Museum of Modern Art, and the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Science and Technology Park in Hong Kong. Barker takes part in key expeditions alongside scientists to some of the most remote places on earth to represent the scale of the marine plastic problem with the intention of leading the viewer to take action.

Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections is currently exhibited as part of Costing the Earth an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre. In this series, Barker pays homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) through her use of a Victorian photographic process. In these images, Barker hopes to raise awareness of the environmental impact of fast fashion and the harmful effects of microfibres released into the oceans from synthetic clothing.

You will have the chance to buy Barker’s book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections and have it signed.

Free event, donations welcome.

 Booking recommended via Eventbrite:

BOOK NOW

Event address: South Square Centre, Thornton BD13 3LD

Curated by Jane Hiley, Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre. Part of Impressions’ Summer of Sustainability programme.

• Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm – 6pm
• Last date to view, Sunday 5th July
• Community Room

Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Students from year 10 art classes at Beckfoot Thornton have been working on a variety of different projects this year.

For this show, students have expressed themselves through three different themes; Recyclable, Abstract, and Monument.

With the chance to do anything desired to respond to chosen themes, students have created work in a variety of ways. Please explore our sculptures, paintings and many more.

Please feel free to sign the visitors book to let us know what you think!

• Friday 5th June, 6pm – 9pm

Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage Club Exhibition!

South Square Collage Club emerged from an online collage workshop during a socially restricted Covid period in May 2021 for World Collage Day. People  all over the world joined in supported by remote hosts in South Square Centre and Exeter.. The local participants decided to continue in person once that was possible. Four years later there’s a lively  evolving group who gather monthly in South Square Centre on a Saturday morning. The participants include people who are new to making art and people who have spent their lives creating. There’s usually a theme linked to our interests but following it is entirely optional. There’s a big selection of resources and a huge welcome to all.

This exhibition at Plenty of the Square includes a wonderful mix of the work the club have been creating over the past few weeks.

Last dater to view is Sunday 12th July.

• Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026
• Main Gallery
• In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Hannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

Thursday 23rd July
6pm – 8pm – £25 a ticket

Join local artist Jess Swift as she guides you through the technique of coil building with air dry clay.

In this pottery session, Jess will show you how to create your own decorative bowl or planter using simple coiling techniques. Building up your form layer by layer, you’ll learn how to shape, refine, and personalise your piece, infusing it with your own choice of shapes, patterns, and textures.

You will take home your creations at the end of the workshop to dry at home, and you can either leave them plain or decorate them!

No experience needed, just come in clothes you don’t mind getting a little messy!

*Please note – the air dry clay we will be using has nylon fibres inside*

*Also note – Since we are using air dry clay, the bowls or planters will be decorative or home plastic plants only*

We are offering three different workshops, all exploring different clay techniques. Find more information about the other workshops on our website.

Click here to book!

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Location and access:

The session will be held in the upstairs community room at South Square Centre, Thornton Road, BD13 3LS.

A chairlift is accessible to the Community Room.

The centre can be accessed easily via public transport. There is free on street parking around the centre. There is an on-site vegetarian café, Plenty, where refreshments and lunch can be purchased.

Contact

Any questions please call South Square on 01274 834737 or email us at [email protected] , we will be happy to help you!

Wednesday 15th July 2026
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Explore the art of traditional glass painting in this workshop led by South Square Studio holder, Samantha Yates

This hands on workshop running from 1-4pm introduces the techniques of traditional glass painting used in medieval and historic stained glass. Participants will explore tracing, matting and shading with vitreous paint working directly onto glass.

Work can be fired in the kiln and collection/postage arranged for a later date. The focus is on the process and material understanding giving you the opportunity to develop confidence through making.

Suitable for beginners. All materials and equipment provided . Please note access to the studio is down a flight of steps.

To book your space, click here

• Saturday 18 July 2026
• South Square Centre, Thornton, BD13 3LD
• FREE, drop in

Inspired by the exhibition Costing the Earth, upcycle, repair and re-love your old clothes with Cat Frances from textile experts Material Worth.

Give your old clothes and fabrics new life, in a space where you can slow down, make, and connect. We’ll celebrate the art of repair and reuse – proving that mending is not just practical, it’s creative, joyful, and full of meaning.

No experience required, just bring your enthusiasm and creativity, with a chance to learn basic sewing skills. You can bring a piece of old clothing to repair, or make use of the fabrics provided. We’ll also provide thread and tools.

Free, drop in.

Part of Heritage Weekend at South Square Centre.

The workshop will take place in the Main Gallery (ground floor) at South Square Centre.

Curated by Jane Hiley, Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre. Part of Impressions’ Summer of Sustainability programme.

Images: upcycled clothing © Cat Frances / Material Worth

Thursday 23rd July 2026
6pm – 8pm – £25 a ticket

Join local artist Jess Swift in this pottery and sip session. Spend the evening  learning the basics of slab building with clay. You’ll roll out clay, cut shapes, and piece them together to create your own wall hanging.

Once the form is made, you will then create decorations using previously learnt pottery building techniques. The freedom is yours to create your own decorations, with Jess on hand to advise and help.

You will take home your creations at the end of the workshop to dry at home, and you can either leave them plain or decorate them at home!

No experience needed, just come in clothes you don’t mind getting a little messy!

*Please note – the air dry clay we will be using has nylon fibres inside*

*Also note – Since we are using air dry clay, these vases will be decorative or home plastic plants only*

We are offering three different workshops, all exploring different clay techniques. Find more information about the other workshops on our website.

Click here to book!

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Location and access:

The session will be held in the upstairs community room at South Square Centre, Thornton Road, BD13 3LS.

A chairlift is accessible to the Community Room.

The centre can be accessed easily via public transport. There is free on street parking around the centre. There is an on-site vegetarian café, Plenty, where refreshments and lunch can be purchased.

Contact

Any questions please call South Square on 01274 834737 or email us at [email protected] , we will be happy to help you!

Saturday 1st August

11am – 12:30pm – £16 per ticket

Join local artist Jess Swift in this fun, hands-on workshop where children will create their own air-dry clay portraits.

Using clay, children will design and build their own portrait plaques, adding features, symbols, patterns, and textures that represent who they are. This might include:

• Favourite activities or hobbies
• Cultural patterns or family traditions
• Words, shapes, or objects that feel important to them

We will then create our own portrait which can be then taken home and decorated at home once dry.

Please come in clothes you don’t mind getting messy!

*Please note – the air dry clay we will be using has nylon fibres inside*

Click here to book – £16 per ticket

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Location and access:

The session will be held in the upstairs community room at South Square Centre, Thornton Road, BD13 3LS.

A chairlift is accessible to the Community Room.

The centre can be accessed easily via public transport. There is free on street parking around the centre. There is an on-site vegetarian café, Plenty, where refreshments and lunch can be purchased.

Contact

Any questions please call South Square on 01274 834737 or email us at [email protected] , we will be happy to help you!

• Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026
• Main Gallery
• In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Hannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

Saturday 1st August

11am – 12:30pm – £16 per ticket

Join local artist Jess Swift in this fun, hands-on workshop where children will create their own air-dry clay portraits.

Using clay, children will design and build their own portrait plaques, adding features, symbols, patterns, and textures that represent who they are. This might include:

• Favourite activities or hobbies
• Cultural patterns or family traditions
• Words, shapes, or objects that feel important to them

We will then create our own portrait which can be then taken home and decorated at home once dry.

Please come in clothes you don’t mind getting messy!

*Please note – the air dry clay we will be using has nylon fibres inside*

Click here to book – £16 per ticket

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Location and access:

The session will be held in the upstairs community room at South Square Centre, Thornton Road, BD13 3LS.

A chairlift is accessible to the Community Room.

The centre can be accessed easily via public transport. There is free on street parking around the centre. There is an on-site vegetarian café, Plenty, where refreshments and lunch can be purchased.

Contact

Any questions please call South Square on 01274 834737 or email us at [email protected] , we will be happy to help you!

• Wednesday 12 August
• South Square Centre, Thornton, BD13 3LD
• FREE, booking essential

Inspired by the exhibition Costing the Earth, discover the art of sustainable string making in this fun, eco-friendly introductory workshop with artist Alice Fox.

Working with repurposed materials, including paper, cloth and plastic, this workshop introduces the technique of cordage (string) making.

Combining basic techniques with an experimental approach, this workshop has an emphasis on process and will provide you with the skills to experiment further. 

Free, donations welcome.

Booking essential, 10 places available, book via Eventbrite;

BOOK NOW

All materials provided.

Suitable for ages 16+

The workshop will take place at South Square Centre.

Curated by Jane Hiley, Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with  South Square Centre. Part of Impressions’ Summer of Sustainability programme.

Image: Cordage samples made with paper, plastic and cloth © Alice Fox

Thursday 20th Aug
6pm – 9pm – £25 per ticket

Join local artist Jess Swift for a relaxed, hands-on workshop exploring the art of pinch potting using air-dry clay.

In this friendly, sociable pottery session, you’ll learn simple techniques to shape and form your own unique vases by hand. Starting with the basics, Jess will guide you through the process of turning a lump of clay into your own handmade vase!

You will take home your creations at the end of the workshop to dry at home, and you can either leave them plain or decorate them!

No experience needed, just come in clothes you don’t mind getting a little messy!

*Please note – the air dry clay we will be using has nylon fibres inside*

*Also note – Since we are using air dry clay, these vases will be decorative or home plastic plants only*

We are offering 3 clay workshops all covering different techniques, book one, two or all three! Find more information about the other workshops on our website.

Click here to book now!

Accessibility:

The session will be in the community room, this is on the first floor. If anyone needs step free access we have a stair lift that can be used. Chairs will also be provided for anyone that would prefer to be seated during the session.

Location and access:

The session will be held in the upstairs community room at South Square Centre, Thornton Road, BD13 3LS.

A chairlift is accessible to the Community Room.

The centre can be accessed easily via public transport. There is free on street parking around the centre. There is an on-site vegetarian café, Plenty, where refreshments and lunch can be purchased.

Contact

Any questions please call South Square on 01274 834737 or email us at [email protected] , we will be happy to help you!