Acomb Readers: From Summer Sessions to a City Centre Exhibition

We’re really pleased to see our Acomb Readers exhibition now on display at York Explore in the city centre.

The work grew out of New Visuality’s summer programme in Acomb, where children and young people spent time reading, talking about books, sharing favourite characters and responding creatively through drawing, painting and discussion. Acomb Explore provided a welcoming base for the project, with support from Acomb Ward funding helping us make the activities accessible throughout the summer holidays.

One of the most encouraging things was seeing how reading became more enjoyable when it stopped feeling like a school exercise. We had quiet reading time, but just as importantly, young people recommended books to one another, talked about characters they liked and explained what had caught their imagination. That made reading feel much more social.

Those conversations became the starting point for the artwork. Children and teenagers drew, painted and experimented with the stories and characters they had discovered, and the collages now on display celebrate the young people themselves as readers.

It feels particularly appropriate in the National Year of Reading 2026, which aims to reconnect reading with the things people already care about. For us, that might mean comics, fantasy, history, art, football, films or anything else that gives someone a reason to pick up a book.

What began locally at Acomb Explore has now travelled into the centre of York, with York Explore exhibiting work celebrating Acomb’s young readers and their creativity.

That feels like a lovely legacy for the project: young people seeing their reading, ideas and artwork taken seriously and displayed publicly.

We’re very proud of everyone involved.

New Visuality / Art Camp 2026