Two Queens

💫New dates added for Portrait Club in September! 💫

Designed as a fun and informal life drawing session where we sketch and paint a different model each week. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, this event is open to everyone with an interest in art and wants to improve their drawing skills. Basic materials are provided but feel free to also bring your own.

Please note, these life drawing sessions are with a clothed model.

The sessions are £15 per person. 

Refreshments included.

To book via Eventbrite, please see link in bio.

If you would like to block book for the full month, please email [email protected].

Dates for September:

2nd September
9th September
16th September
23rd September
30th September

We are proud to announce that our community share offer has been offered £50,000 in equity match investment from Co-operatives UK’s Community Shares Booster Fund.

This means that for every pound the community invests up to £50,000, we’ll have another pound in investment from the fund. If you have already invested, the impact of your support has just been doubled!

This is a welcome boost to our campaign, which is aiming to raise at least £100,000 – and the equity match investment from the Booster Fund is going to be important to help us reach our target, but its still all-or-nothing, if we don’t reach our minimum target by the end of September we won’t receive a penny.

The Booster Fund’s buy-in and confidence in our share offer also demonstrates we are a credible community venture that is worth investing in.

The equity match investment follows a £9,223 development grant that we were also awarded from the Booster Fund to support us in preparing for our share offer.

The Community Shares Booster Fund is delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with Locality, the Plunkett Foundation Community Shares ICOF and Co-operative and Community Finance. It is funded by Power to Change and Access – the Foundation for Social Investment. We would like to thank everyone involved for their support.

To help us reach our target before the share offer closes, see our page on Crowdfunder, link in bio or drop us a DM and we’ll send it over.

Mark your calendars, it’s 2Q Big Night Out!

Join us for a FREE evening event filled with music, drinks, art and much more. 🎵🎨🛍️💃

Organised by our very own studio holders, come along and view our latest exhibition, take part in collaborative artwork, check out interesting stalls and vibe to our local live dj all with a drink in hand from our very own bar! Bring a date or a mate, friends and family. All are welcome 🥳

📆 Friday 30th August 18:00-10:00pm
📍Two Queens, 2 Queen Street, Leicester, LE1 1QW

See you there! 🎊

Our Community Share Offer is not just for Leicester People! Our community includes everyone that benefits from our work, which could be people who live locally, those who engage with our exhibitions and events, those who follow us on social media, or who benefit from the role we play in developing new artistic talent.

So if you’re wondering whether our Community Share Offer is open to you, the answer is Yes! We invite you to invest and become a part-owner of Two Queens, and help save a vital space for new art to thrive.

Find out more and become an owner today by visiting our page on Crowdfunder - see the link in bio or drop us a DM for more information!

A few more beautiful pics by Jules Lister from ‘Sound Solid Liquid Light’ which ended last Saturday, such a pleasure to host this collaborative work by SJ Blackmore Naomi Frears , Leila Galloway and Alice Mahoney - the first part of an exchange between Two Queens and artist-run spaces based in Cornwall - watch this space!

The gallery is now closed for a couple of weeks except for workshops, we’ll next be open for Cultural Quarter Lates on 30th August - more details on that event coming soon!

Two Queens is now a Charitable Community Benefit Society - seen as a charitable company by HMRC, in recognition that are objects are charitable in nature.

Our ‘objects’ as a society are to:

- Promote art for the benefit of the public by the establishment and maintenance of an art gallery
- Advance education in the arts by the establishment and maintenance of an art gallery
- Promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of Leicester and the surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances or for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life of the said inhabitants.

Which means everything we do must feed in to supporting these aims.

Community Benefit Societies are not always charities, but we’re really happy to be able to add this bit to our title! Being a charity will open up new avenues to raise funds to support our public-facing work, and make the money we raise go further. For more information on how to donate see the ‘about’ page of our website or drop us a DM.

We spoke to Cool As Leicester about our work, our proudest moments and the current fundraising work to secure our long term future - read the interview at the link below:

Two Queens is a vital art space in Leicester, which is at risk of closure. Now they need YOUR help to keep it alive.

From supporting local artists to hosting exciting exhibitions, as well as family activities and NHS Arts in Mental Health initiatives, they offer so much to the city.

With the landlord selling the building they need everyone's help to save what they've built. We caught up with the team from Two Queens to find out more and how you can help.

➡️ https://www.coolasleicester.co.uk/interview-help-to-save-two-queens/

We’re getting the paints out again for the summer holidays! 3rd, 8th and 9th of August, drop in 12-5pm. Open to all ages, no booking required

£5 per person includes:

- unlimited acrylic paint
- a canvas board (extra boards £2)
- brushes, palettes and aprons provided
- complementary hot drinks (maybe even a biscuit!)

‘Sound Solid Liquid Light’ is open again this week, Thursday - Saturday 12-5pm, featuring new works by SJ Blackmore , Naomi Frears , Leila Galloway and Alice Mahoney - Exhibition Documentation by Jules Lister

We’re one month into our community share offer and off to a flying start - a few people have asked us ‘Am I in your community if I don’t live near you?’ and ‘Can I invest?’, so we wanted to explain what we mean by ‘Community’:

As a Community Benefit Society (CBS) Two Queens serves both a geographical area (i.e. Leicester), and a Community of Interest, which includes everyone that benefits from our work, and everyone who is interested in Contemporary Visual Art. This could be those who engage with our exhibitions and events, but also those who follow us on social media, or who benefit from the role we play in developing new artistic talent.

In short, that means pretty much everyone who likes and cares about our work is part of our community, and provided you are over the age of 16, we invite you to invest and become a part-owner of Two Queens.

Everyone who buys shares becomes a member of Two Queens and will have a vote on important matters at society meetings (One Member, one vote, no matter how many shares you hold), can get involved in running the society on a democratic basis, and be able to put themselves forward to become a director. In turn this increases the sustainability of the business through community investment, both financially and through the time, skill and oversight that members bring.

Companies and organisations can also become members on the same basis, with one named representative attending meetings and voting on their behalf.

Find out more and become an owner today by visiting our page on Crowdfunder - see the link in bio or drop us a DM for more information!

STUDIO AVAILABLE
Studio available from August
Size: 3.2m x 3m
£96.25 per calendar month

Please contact [email protected] for more information and see https://2queens.com/studios/ to make an application for the space.

‘Sound Solid Liquid Light’ is taking shape! New work by four artists based in Cornwall and - all are welcome at the opening night, this Friday the 26th 6-9pm as part of then the exhibition continues until 10th August x

Looking back to April this year, pics from a short exhibition by 2Q associate member James Milner - ‘I wanted to give my body an opportunity to assume conventionally beautiful poses which might integrate me into your world.’

Curated by James Milner Featuring work from James Chantry, Tom Crossley, Hannah Sarah Day, James Milner, Samuel Thompson-Plant and Sarah Wilson.

This year’s members exhibition ‘flock’ has now ended - thanks to everyone who took part and everyone who came down to see the show. Its always so nice to see so many old and new faces on the member’s exhibition. Next show opens a week on Friday: Sound Solid Liquid Light - opening night Friday 26th, 6-9pm, all welcome!

Drop-in Cyanotype Workshop: Saturday 27th July, 1-4pm

Join us to make some Cyanotypes in this fun, hands-on workshop.

Cyanotypes are a way to make photographic prints without using a camera or darkroom. Objects, leaves, flowers and paper cutouts are arranged on paper that has been prepared with non-toxic chemicals and left to cure in the sun (fingers crossed for sunshine, but it works on cloudy days too!) After roughly 20-30 minutes, the print can be washed and developed, resulting in complex negative prints, with deep cyan blues.

This workshop is open to all ages, £10 per person includes:
- make up to three A5 size cyanotypes (note each can take 30 minutes+ to make)
- all materials provided
- complementary light refreshments

No booking required, drop in between 1-4pm, please note at busy times there may be a wait to take part.

Thanks for another fantastic Portrait Club last night!

Portrait Club takes place every Monday 6-8pm at Two Queens. For more information and to book onto future sessions, please see the link in our bio or search Eventbrite 😊🎨

Thanks to everyone who came to make a Roman face pot with us today! We’ll be back on Saturday 10th August for our next ☀️😀

FAMILY WORKSHOP!!! We’re back for an extra special July ☀️

Join us on Saturday to make Roman inspired terracotta face pots! Alongside loads of other exciting events as part of the Festival of Archaeology 🏺 https://www.archaeologyuk.org/festival/festival-event-listing.html

Sat 13th July, just drop in between 12noon- 4pm. Most suitable for ages 3+ but all welcome. FREE!

PLUS don’t miss out on the fun at other venues 😀😀😀

Many of the works in our 2024 members show are for sale, including this work ‘Always the Same’ by David Loftus , felt tip pen on canvas, depicting David’s geographical memories of Leicester from his childhood. A catalogue of available works is on the ‘flock’ exhibition page of our website - see the link in our bio and stories for more details

Thanks to everyone who came along to our first ever Portrait Club life drawing session last night. We had a great time!

We will be running these sessions every Monday 6-8pm. To book on for July, please book via Eventbrite - see link in bio.

Summer Pottery Club - Make a Gnome!
Wednesday evenings at Two Queens, 6-8pm

These are blocks of two sessions:

17th July, week 1: make a gnome
24th July, week 2: glaze a gnome

OR

21st August, week 1: make a gnome
28th August, week 2: glaze a gnome

No prior experience required. This pottery club theme is a chance to try your hand at slab-building with terracotta clay. Materials, tools and templates will be provided. 

In the first evening you will be guided through the basic construction of a simple gnome shape, which you can then customise and finesse. Your creation will then be 'bisque' fired, ready for glazing in the final session.

A block of two sessions are £30 per person.
Two Queens Artist Members get 10% discount.
Booking via Eventbrite. Link in bio 👍

Spread the Cost of becoming an owner in our community share offer, by subscribing from as little as £5 a month -

Two Queens is working to raise at least £100,000 this summer through community shares, in order to buy our building, place it in community ownership and save a vital space for new art to thrive.

The minimum investment in our community share offer is £50, and we know thats alot to pay out in one go - but thanks to underwriting from Co-Operative and Community finance you can invest up to £200 by subscription, starting from as little as £5/month, with nothing to pay until October.

These subscriptions will be set up and managed outside of Crowdfunder, using Paypal Subscriptions. For more information and the subscription form, visit: https://forms.gle/WkBEmdKoRrXZfyzg7 🌻

🎨 TOMORROW! 🎨

Summer Open Studios 2024
Saturday 6th July
12-5pm

Take a sneak peek behind the scenes at Two Queens artist-run gallery and studios, see work in progress and chat to our resident artists.

Also on the day…

Visit our annual Members Show in our gallery!

Browse Leicester Zine Library’s excellent collection!

Paint a masterpiece at Paint Club!

All welcome, light refreshments will be available.

Please note, some of our studio spaces are upstairs and not wheelchair accessible.

Announcing our next exhibition: ‘Sound Solid Liquid Light’, is a new collaboration and installation by four artists based in Cornwall - SJ Blackmore, Naomi Frears Leila Galloway and Alice Mahoney - incorporating sculpture, film and sound.

Working with clay, organza, electronic beaters, video, and sound, the work explores sensations around structures, shimmering bodies of water, rhythm, and colour. 27th July - 10th August, opening night Friday 26th July 6-9pm. See the Two Queens website for more details.

🌻 Thanks so much to everyone who came out for the opening of ‘flock’ last night - it was such a great evening and so nice to see so many of the artists involved alongside our wider community. The show is open today 12-5 and Thursdays-Saturdays until 13th July.

ALSO thanks a million to everyone for your support yesterday with the launch of our community share offer! We’re off to a flying start, but there’s still a long way to go. If you have any questions about the crowdfunder and community shares please don’t hesitate to contact us. The crowdfunder link is in our bio x 🌻

Full install mode! Getting ‘flock’ ready 4 U in time for tomorrow night: 6-9pm!

What are Community Shares?

This Friday, 28th June, we will launch our community share offer, inviting members of our community to come together and invest to save an important cultural asset at risk.

As a community benefit society, Two Queens can raise equity from its Members in the form of withdrawable share capital. This form of capital is a tried and tested way to fund the purchase and development of all sorts of community assets and co-operative businesses. You may have heard of communities coming together to buy their pub, shop or football club and place it in community ownership - these projects are often made possible using community share investment.

Community shares are withdrawable shares in the Society. That means you can withdraw your initial investment and any interest that might have accrued, but only if the organisation is in a financial position for you to do so.

These shares are known as community shares because the primary benefit of holding shares is social not financial: the goal is more about the community than it is about making a monetary gain.

Our share offer has been awarded the Community Shares Standard mark from Co-Operatives UK , a framework that ensures that community share offers are clear, honest and transparent. They also ensure that investors are presented with all the facts they need to make an informed decision and these facts are supported by annual accounts and the business plan.

We will be inviting share investments from a minimum of £50 up to a maximum of £15,800, with options for those on low incomes to spread the cost of investment from as little as £5 a month. If investment isn’t for you, we will also be welcoming donations.

Our investment page will go live this Friday, 28th June, with our share offer running through the summer until 30th September. Watch this space for details of our Crowdfunder page!

All are invited and welcome to the opening of ‘flock’, our annual members’ exhibition for 2024. Opening night is this Friday the 28th, 6-9pm - hoping the sun stays out! 🌞 poster artwork by

Portrait Club: Life drawing sessions

Starting from 8th July, we will be hosting Portrait Club every Monday at Two Queens 6-8pm!

A fun and informal life drawing session where we will be sketching and painting a different model each week. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, this event is open to everyone with an interest in art and wants to improve their drawing skills. Basic materials will be provided but feel free to also bring your own.

Please note, these life drawing sessions will be with a clothed model.

£15 per person. Refreshments included.
Please see link in bio to book via eventbrite.

Dates for July:
8th July
15th July
22nd July
29th July