Four local artists collaberate for Marlborough Open Studios with a display at Ogbourne St Andrew Church

As part of the Marlborough Open Studios the newly refurbished Ogbourne St Andrew Church will be transformed into a lively art gallery for the four weekends in July. Four local artists will, for the first time, be showing their work in the village’s beautiful Norman church.

Visitors will be able to enjoy diverse work comprising paintings by Jane Skingley and Amanda Gosse, photography by Robert Mills, and pottery by Stuart Anderson.

The collaboration was inspired by a fundraising event that took place last autumn. Art in the Afternoon, organised by Church Warden, Marion Gordon-Finlayson, saw the Church transformed into a gallery for local artists to display their work, in support of Project Andrew, a community initiative to equip St Andrew’s with running water, a kitchen and a lavatory. The event attracted many visitors, who came to enjoy and purchase works created by artists living right on their doorstep, and provided a welcome nudge for Project Andrew towards their campaign target.

The success of that October weekend sparked exciting conversations, and reinforced the village’s strong sense of community, and camaraderie among its fellow creatives. Among them was potter Stuart Anderson, who had the idea of transforming the Church into a shared studio for artists wishing to take part in Marlborough Open Studios, but lacking a suitable space for exhibiting their work. Stuart canvassed local artists to explore the idea of forming a collective, and momentum quickly gathered following their first meeting, held at the much‑loved, community‑owned pub, The Silks at the end of 2025.

The Ogbourne Collective are delighted to be supporting Project Andrew, once again, by donating a percentage of all MOS sales.