In June 2024, as part of our National Lottery-funded project Reading EmPOWERed, the Mills Archive Trust teamed up with Jelly, a Reading-based arts charity, to create art workshops for 150 local primary school children.
There were five workshops in total, and the activities were devised by artists in residence Matt Hulse and Jacky Oliver, along with Kate Powell, Emma Bradbury (Jelly) and Rachel Riddell (The Mills Archive Trust).
The workshops themselves focused on an exploration of wind and water power through art, from mills to modern-day turbines, all in light of how renewable energy can help in the fight against climate change.
After the workshops were complete, as part of Jelly’s Open for Art Festival 2024, the Mills Archive invited back members of the public, the school children and their families to see the fruits of the workshop on display – an exhibition that told the story of wind and water power (Room 1), through to industry (Room 2), culminating in community art (Room 3).
This exhibition is captured in virtual format below.