Open Studios 2026 ~ our new look Art trail
See below for information on the Art Fair
We are excited to invite you to take part in Green Door Artists Open Studios. This year you will have more opportunity to open your studio to the public. Open Studios will take place over two weekends.
25-27 September and 2-4 October.
You can open your studio for one of the weekends or do both, there is no extra cost. You can still share a studio with another artist, but there will be no joint venues this year.
Every year we have many visitors doing the Art Trail and many say how much they enjoy meeting the artist and learning about the processes involved in producing their work. It is also an opportunity for you to promote any courses you are offering and to make useful contacts. Many artists record their best sales during the Art Trail.
The cost this year to do the open studios is £60. This is an increase from last year but 2025 was our 30th anniversary year and we subsidised the trail out of existing funds as a one-off celebration. As usual we will publish a brochure with details of all the artists and venues which will be widely circulated, place leaflets in hotels, tourist centres, cafes and other venues throughout the county and promote the weekends on social media.
As you may be aware this year, we are also having an Art Fair at Junction 36 on the weekend of 9-11 October. We have space for 40 artists. If you wish to do the Open Studios and the Art fair the cost will be £180.
Applications for the open studios will open on 15 May and close on the 10 July. We hope as many of you as possible will take part.
Open studios £60
Art Fair £120
Open studios and Art fair £180
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Green Door Art fair 2026
Exciting news - we are pleased to announce that our first ever Green Door Art Fair will take place on the weekend of 9-11 October 2026 at Junction 36, Crooklands, Milnthorpe, LA7 7FP. Our intention is to build the Green Door Art Fair into a respected yearly event that will be highly regarded in Cumbria and beyond.
J36 is ideally suited for an art fair, with easy access and free parking. It is a spacious venue with a very good footfall of visitors. This year there will be a cafe for visitors to enjoy within the exhibition hall. We will also have 5 larger sponsor stands which we hope to attract art related businesses or galleries to apply for.
This is an important opportunity to showcase your work along with fellow artists. We have space for 40 artists. We will be inviting non-members to take part in the art fair, to help us cover the costs, but Green Door members have priority booking and pay a lower fee. The cost to take part is £120 for Green Door members and £180 for non-members. Each artist will be provided with a 2m x2m stand plus lighting and an electric socket. Artists will provide their own hanging system, details to follow, and will be responsible for displaying and hanging their work.
Artists will also need to be present on their stand over the weekend.
Priority booking for Green Door members will open on the 15 May via Jotform. The Jotform will also include an application for the Open Studios. So you can take part in both if you wish to. The cost to do just the Open Studios is £60. The cost to do just the art fair is £120 and the cost to do open studios and the art fair is £180.
Applications from non-members to take part in the Art fair will open on 1 June. (The Open Studios option is not available to non-members.)
Please note that after 1 June stands will be allocated on a first come first served basis, but you will still be charged the lower member’s rate.
Key dates:
Green Door Priority booking will open on 15 May
Green Door Priority booking deadline is 1st June
Application open to non members 1 June
Final deadline for applications is 10 July.
We hope as many of you as possible will take part.