Arts and Culture in the Royal Borough

Public Art

The Council adopted, in November 2011, a Masterplan for Public Art in the town of Maidenhead which provides core principles for either developers or the Council to follow when installing art in the spaces and streets of the Borough. A copy of the plan can be seen at Public Art Masterplan.

Arts Centres

Both The Firestation Centre for Arts and Culture, in Windsor and Norden Farm Centre for Arts in Maidenhead have an exciting and varied line-up of events, including cinema, live music, theatre, comedy, workshops, dance and exhibitions.

Norden Farm - Consultation

Norden Farm is working on a new membership scheme, and would love to get your views on it. This consultation closes on 23 March 2012.

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Theatres & Tourism

The web pages for Windsor Tourism on the right have a wealth of information, covering every aspect of culture, activities and a diary of events for residents and visitors. We maintain close links with our two key tourist attractions, Windsor Castle and Legoland as well as with the Theatre Royal in Windsor.

There is also a Children's Theatre at Sunninghill called the Novello Theatre, please visit the Novello Theatre website for further information

Windsor also boasts the Guildhall which has been used for some significant civic ceremonies. Local groups can also book the Magnet Leisure Centre and the Desborough Suite at Maidenhead Town Hall for performances.

Carnivals & Festivals

Maidenhead Carnival has now grown to a three day event in the award winning Kidwells Park in Maidenhead. This fantastic event is possible through support from local businesses and local community group in the Maidenhead area. It's a great family occasion with events for all ages including the 'Battle of the Bands', Children's Parade, Link Foundation Maidenhead Relay Marathon, Concerts and Fireworks.

For more information on Maidenhead Carnival email maidenhead.tm@rbwm.gov.uk

Maidenhead and District Arts play an important role in the borough in promoting local cultural groups. The renowned Windsor Festival is held in September, with a short festival in the Spring. For further information about both of these, please see the related links on the right.

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Heritage and Works of Art

Heritage services span the Borough and we have a cultural heritage strategy in place, involving museums, local studies and local organisations which includes information about local Blue Plaques, Commemorative Plaques, listed buildings and places of interest.

The Borough owns a large collection of paintings in the Civic Collection, including works on display at the Guildhall in Windsor, and the Town Hall at Maidenhead and others in the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum Store. The Museum Collections Officer can answer questions about buildings and local places of historic interest, please click on the link or e-mail museum@rbwm.gov.uk. If you have an enquiry or would like further information about Public Art contact arts@rbwm.gov.uk

We are soon to start a digitisation programme for the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum collection, and hope to make more art works and prints available through our web pages. Oil paintings in our collection have already been digistised through a special project, and you can find information on the web pages of the Public Catalogue Foundation, where the Berkshire listings have recently been added.

There is limited gallery space run by the Borough, but Norden Farm and the Firestation Centre for Arts and Culture both have a rolling programme of exhibitions by current artists. There is a small gallery at Elizabeth House in Cookham, where local artists have work on display. Please look at the Cookham website for more details.

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Arts in Schools & Colleges

The two arts centres work closely with schools in the borough. East Berkshire College also run a variety of creative courses.

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Libraries

The Borough's libraries also play a part in providing inspiration and access to a wide range of cultural experiences, through wide ranging stock, online services, groups, outreach and events. Please click on the Library Events link in our related links for further information.

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Cultural Olympiad

In the run up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games local museums, libraries and archives will be 'Setting the Pace' with a programme of events and exhibitions during the period 2008-2012 for all to participate in. The themes are:

• Inspiring and engaging the youth of the world

• Celebrating world cultures and the diversity of the UK

• Leaving a lasting legacy

For further information on this subject, please e-mail arts@rbwm.gov.uk and our webpage for the Cultural Olympiad.

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