About us
The Base opened on Friday 8 February 2019 in partnership with Greenham Trust and the Corn Exchange. It became a registered charity in 2022 (charity no. 1199188) and is dedicated to improving access to the arts whilst bringing quality visual art to the local area.
Situated in a purpose-built arts and craft building, The Base’s £1.7M venue was designed by Sutton Griffin Architects of Newbury. The space comprises of a 110sqm gallery, artists’ studios and a workshop for participatory classes. There is also a café facility managed by Honesty Café group.
Striving to be a flagship visual arts venue in West Berkshire, The Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year 54 exhibition launched the inaugural gallery programme. Displaying some of the best wildlife photography from across the globe, the exhibition comprised of 100 photograph across 7 categories and is renowned for attracting millions of visitors around the world every year.
The Base is also home to 8 visual artists and craft makers as well as Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire, who present their annual INSIGHT exhibition at The Base every May.
The Gallery
The gallery is 110sqm and is fitted with specialist heating and humidity controls, enabling The Base to attract high quality touring exhibitions. The windowless space enables precise lighting control, enabling the art works to take centre stage.
The Lookout Studio
This 40sqm room, based on the first floor, is a light and bright workshop space, perfect for participatory arts classes. Participant numbers can vary between 8 and 15 depending on the activity and the programme offers something for a variety of ages across many disciplines.
Artists’ Studios
We will have 8 artists in residence all working professionally in the local area. We are proud to champion both visual arts and craft makers in this space and with the studios have an open feel to them, there is a chance for visitors to engage in the art-making process to help bolster the understanding of visitors to the space.
