The Birley

Open today, 11am - 4pm The Spot & The Cross exhibition by @jackiehaynes123456 📍 Birley St, Preston, PR2 2QE After today, you can visit us next week, same time, Tuesday 19th & Thursday 21st May #Preston #LancashireArts

Come on down to the House of Haynes, fancy dress hire emporium turned exhibition - workshops - archive 👗👢 The Spot & Cross exhibition now open - next day Saturday 16th May 11am - 4pm +++++++++++++ The Spot & The Cross refers to spot and cross paper used in clothing pattern making. In this exhibition, The Spot & The Cross is an emblematic motif as well as the practical equipment used to make costumes. Spot and cross paper features in each space and is also screen printed as a motit onto the Viv Letter Screen Print. The use of spot and cross paper in this exhibition is intended to point out how basic tools and equipment can themselves be a source of inspiration which can connect ideas and tell an ongoing story spanning decades The story of House of Haynes Fancy Dress Hire is the basis of the new screen printed work and the new purpose for the costumes as a community resource through workshops 📍 Birley St, Preston, PR1 2QE

The dots are starting to connect. We have what I see as the beginnings of a creative community working together, the foundations are being laid and we’re building something bigger than Preston has previously imagined. - ashhardman1 Credit 📸 - @_g_breezy

The Spot & The Cross Exhibition at Birley Studios kicked off this Saturday in Preston with a costumed writing workshop with @sparkartistsnetwork 😀 The exhibition is open 11-4pm Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in May. Please note Saturday 30th May is a closing party, so please DM if you’d like to come. Please also DM if you’d like to hold your own free community workshop and have access to the costumes😊

Don't forget to join us for The Spot & The Cross by @jackiehaynes123456 Exhibition - Workshops - Archive Visit 11am - 4pm on these days in May: Saturday 9th Tuesday 12th Thursday 14th Saturday 16th Tuesday 19th Thursday 21st Saturday 23rd Tuesday 26th Thursday 28th Do you run a community group and want to host a FREE workshop with us as part of this exhibition? Contact Jackie on the below to arrange: [email protected] The Spot & The Cross: Exhibition - Workshops - Archive, addresses the past, present and future of the House of Haynes collection of individually-made costumes, presented in the context of contemporary art and artistic research, with works in each of the Birley's three exhibition rooms relating to the other. Full info can be found on our website (link on profile)

House of Haynes Costumes at Birley Studios, Preston, PR1 2QE From 8th May - 30th May @jackiehaynes123456 Exhibition — Workshops — Archive 🔵 Do you run a community group? 🔵 Are you part of a community group? 🔵 Would you like to hold a group session FOR FREE at Birley Studios in the centre of Preston? 🔵 Would your group enjoy access to House of Haynes Costumes during your session? Contact Jackie Haynes to find out more: [email protected] General exhibition opening times TBC More about the exhibition: The Spot & The Cross: Exhibition—Workshops—Archive addresses the past, present and future of the House of Haynes collection of individually-made costumes, presented in the context of contemporary art and artistic research, with works in each of the Birley’s three exhibition rooms relating to the other. The exhibition presents the costumes as a living artefact of aesthetic value, emphasised by placing the costumes high up when we are more accustomed to racked clothing on hangers being within reach and at our immediate disposal Image: The Conga, Narratives (2023) Group exhibition with Venture Arts at The Lowry, Salford Quays.

At 2:30 Friday the 17th of April at October Salon - Lit Bar, the UP (Unleashing Potential) group will be meeting to discuss the launch of a creative infrastructure project that has been in development over the past 12 months by the independent art sector in Preston. The project is outlined to be led by Brewtime in Partnership with Arts Lancashire. Anyone who wants to see the plans and give input is welcome to attend the meeting. Come and have a brew with us. Minutes will be taken at this event - anyone who would like to attend but is unavailable please DM us or Brewtime and we will discuss getting those to you.

Preserved  Fabric print (2025) @bethwise_art     Preston Corporation Chrysanthemum House (1921) Oil on canvas  Albert Woods  Only 3 weeks left to see our exhibition 'Artist-Led' in @harris_museum Free entry, featuring work by 6 of our studio members

2 days left! ⏳ Carbon Synthesis: Spatial Dissonance is open 11am - 4pm today (Friday 10th April) and the same time tomorrow (Saturday 11th April) Donna Franklin | @tchill80 | @sarahrobinsonprint | @realblixa

The Losses Concertina book with screen printed pages and painted clay fragments; glazed mixed media drawing on brown paper (2020) @heather_mullender_ross Manchester Riots (09/08/2011) Bowl (2011) Ana Rosa Hopkins This is your last month to see 'Artist-Led' by 6 of our @birleystudios members in @harris_museum The exhibition has been extended until Sunday 7th June, but this won't be the last of us you'll see in this space 👀 Photo by Simon Critchley

SPARK #47: Preston Double Dip 🗓️ 9 May 2026, 11am - 3pm 📍The Harris, PR1 2PP 🌿Book free tickets in bio Our May SPARK session sees us taking a double dip in Preston. We’ll start with an artist tour of Nerissa Cargill Thompson’s solo exhibition ‘The Problem Lies Upstream’, followed by a workshop led by Jackie Haynes on Blue Sky Interventions into Climate Breakdown. The Problem Lies Upstream refers to the fact that many of the problems on our coasts and beaches are caused by activity further away. Dropped litter and flushed sanitary products get washed down drains into the water system and eventually pumped out into the sea, where it is often joined by other beach litter left by day trippers. In 2022 Fylde Council commissioned Nerissa to make the Green Loop collection in order to highlight the issue of plastic pollution on the Fylde coast – an important seaside area for the people of the North West and a place filled with memories of day trips and family fun. Nerissa made the pieces in response to research and beach cleans, finding out about local pollution issues from Love My Beach and the Ribble Rivers Trust as well as her own explorations. The collection formed an art trail across local businesses in Kirkham and St Annes. With Preston being upstream of the Fylde Coast, showing these works at The Harris acts as a reminder of the knock-on effects of our actions on local areas that are dear to us and also on the wider world. After visiting Nerissa’s exhibition at The Harris, we’ll take a 2-minute walk down to The Birley where the House of Haynes Costume Exhibition and Archive will be open to the public. After a lunch break (please bring a packed lunch!), Jackie Haynes will take us through a Costumed Writing Exercise: Blue Sky Interventions into Climate Breakdown. Inspired by John-Paul Brown and Sophy King’s exhibition The Guardians of Living Matter, we’ll create a costumed persona and find out how he/she/they contributed to solving the climate crisis. Image - Even the Sea isn’t Blue, Nerissa Cargill Thompson, courtesy of the artist

Only 2 weeks left to see our current exhibition 'Carbon Synthesis: Spatial Dissonance' We're open today until 4pm and then again 11am - 4pm on Friday and Saturday 👋 Donna Franklin | @tchill80 | @sarahrobinsonprint | @realblixa