Exhibitions
Guardians of Play
Nurturing Creativity
May 2026
Free to visit | Open Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm
This May, Magic Acorns will join us in our gallery space at Coda. Working with our 10 resident Early Years artists / practitioners, the group will develop a creative, immersive space.
Our Early Years residents, collectively the Guardians of Play, will occupy this space to develop their creative practice - inviting Early Years families to play and explore through trial workshops and experiences.
In the Gallery Space
A garden is growing at Coda. Planted by artists, shaped by children, watered with play, curiosity and care.
This Spring, our gallery has been transformed into an immersive “garden”, designed especially for babies, young children, and their carers.
This is a space to explore, play, and imagine.
We invite visitors to stay a while - touch, build, listen, and move.
Nothing here is fixed. Nothing is too precious.
Let the space change with you.
Over the coming weeks, the “garden” will continue to grow and change - shaped by the artists, children and families who spend time here.
Come and see how it evolves. And most importantly, please do come and play.
Early Years resident artists
Charlotte Burleigh
Carmel De’Lisser
Sammy Gillingham
Jenna Hubbard
Esther Keappock
Emma Kerr
Lizzy Maries
Sam Mason
Heidi Steller
Emily Stracey
Upcoming Shows
Dorset Art Weeks
Coda Studio Artists
23rd May - 7th June 2026
Discover the work of our resident studio artists here at Coda by exploring their studios, and diving into a range of creative workshops including printmaking, textiles, clay sculpting, and silversmithing.
Dorset Art Weeks is the largest visual arts event of its kind in Dorset. Celebrating contemporary visual arts and crafts, this 2 week event invites the public to explore artists' studios, workshops, group shows, and curated exhibitions throughout Dorset.
PLAY INTERACT EXPLORE
Leap then Look
13th June - 2nd August 2026
PLAY INTERACT EXPLORE is an interactive exhibition by Leap Then Look that invites audiences of all ages to experiment with sculpture, sound, moving image, and performance.
The exhibition is designed as a space for curiosity and discovery, where visitors are encouraged to make, play, and collaborate in shaping their own experience.
PLAY INTERACT EXPLORE has toured extensively across the UK to galleries including Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Turner Contemporary and Tramway, reaching over 250,000 people and continuing to grow as a living, evolving project rooted in participation.
Image credit: Hugh Fox
Past Shows
Tom Winter is a Dorset-based artist working across painting and drawing. With a lifelong focus on observation and craftsmanship, his works capture the expressive possibilities of light through careful looking and skilled mark-making.
About the Artist
Alongside his studio practice, Tom has spent over thirty years teaching life drawing, helping generations of artists build confidence, skill, and a lasting understanding of the human figure. His thoughtful, disciplined way of working reached a wider audience through his appearance on Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year (Season 11), where his refined eye and calm focus stood out.
Tom’s work is held in private collections, including those of Ronnie Wood and PricewaterhouseCoopers. His work reflects an ongoing fascination with light - and its ability to quietly transform the world in front of us.
Lightscapes
Tom Winter
March-April 2026
Winter 2025/26, ceramicist Imogen Charleston takes up a residency at Coda, bringing the theme of play into the gallery through clay, fire, and shared making.
Using local materials and reclaimed bricks, Imogen worked with participants from local schools and SEN groups. Together, they explored sensory clay experiences, outdoor firings, foraging, and sound-making experiments.
Visitors were invited to meet Imogen in the Coda gallery throughout the winter, discover her work, and engage with her ritual-inspired practice rooted in clay, fire, and community.
Key dates
Clay Firing Event at Coda’s meadow
Saturday 7th March, 10am-3pm
About the Artist
Imogen is a ceramicist and arts educator based in Christchurch, Dorset. In 2015 she founded Moon Studio Ceramics, a studio and teaching space dedicated to creative exploration and community learning.
Through her residency, Imogen invites others to experience the tactile pleasure of working with raw clay, rediscovering a sense of rhythm with the seasons, and celebrating the transformative nature of fire.
Winter Residency 2026
Imogen’s residency with us at Coda recognises the deep links between tradition, community, and nature. The residency culminates in an outdoor firing event in Coda’s meadow - a joyful gathering around the warmth of the kiln where creativity, ritual, and transformation come together beneath the winter sky.
Throughout the residency, Imogen also explores the creation of sound-making ceramic objects such as whistles, fired in a wood-fuelled outdoor kiln, made from up-cycled materials.
Hand & Earth
Imogen Charleston
Mid-January - March 2026
An exhibition exploring art, identity and resourcefulness through the recreation of artist’s selfies through the ages.
This playful and inspiring exhibition was born during lockdown, when artist and designer Will Hargreaves turned his home into a studio and started restaging iconic portraits with whatever he had to hand. What began as a fun experiment soon became a powerful exploration of art, identity, and creativity.
From ruffs made of lampshades to turbans fashioned from blankets, each piece combines humour with homage. These colourful, theatrical self-portraits show how everyday items can be transformed into something extraordinary - and invite you to do the same.
About Will Hargreaves
Will is a theatre designer with over 30 years of experience creating bold, imaginative productions across the UK and beyond. He’s designed for theatres from the National Theatre to the West End, and brings a passion for storytelling, sustainability and education to everything he does. Currently Course Leader at Arts University Bournemouth, Will is also a trustee of Ecostage and co-editor of the student Theatre Green Book.
With Staging the Self, Will encourages us to think differently about art, and invites us to become part of it.
Staging the Self
Will Hargreaves
Sept – Dec 2025
Hampshire
Open Studios 2025
August 2025
Exploring the vibrant creativity of Coda’s resident artists during Hampshire Open Studios.
Artists Hayley Potter, Tracy Dovey, Gabriella Cohen, Maddison Collymore, Kate Smith, Sally Ovenden, Nancy Beardall and Rachael Williams open their studios and exhibit an exciting mix of paintings, textiles, ceramics, printmaking, jewellery and installations.
Try something yourself, with a range of fun and friendly taster sessions giving a flavour of the workshops we run throughout the year.
