Blog

We celebrated the grand opening of our new Community & Wellbeing Centre, with the Mayor of Guildford and Zoe Franklin in attendance.

Find out about our latest programme which is packed full of courses, talks and events taking place from January to March.

We’re creating a Community & Wellbeing Centre with purpose-built consulting rooms available to rent from September 2024.

Find out about our new second floor tenant, M:Tech, and our plans to convert the ground floor into a Community & Wellbeing Centre.

Alice Fowler is an award-winning writer and former creative writing student at the Institute. Find out about her journey from student to published author.

Discover the range of exciting courses, workshops and music events we have planned at the Institute this autumn.

Join us at this June and July and discover our vast array of summer term courses, visits and talks taking place.

Get to know our newest tutor, Lucy Ella Rose. She is a lecturer at the University of Surrey who specialises in Victorian literature, art, culture, and feminism.

Our spring brochure is out now and jam-packed with nearly 80 activities! With so much to choose from, check out our highlights.

With over 70 activities on offer, check out our highlights to look out for in our new autumn brochure.

From courses to talks, events and more, we’ve put together a round-up of 5 events to look out for at the GI this summer.

To celebrate International Women’s Day and our termly focus of Inspirational Women, get to know some of our talented female tutors and speakers!

Meet crossword extraordinaire and editor, Susan Purcell, who teaches a variety of interactive crossword workshops at the Institute.

It is our understanding that our long-term tenant, the Royal Bank of Scotland, will be closing the North Street branch on 9 March 2022.

Tutor Julie Fastiggi shares just some of the many benefits that participating in yoga can have on our overall wellbeing.

If you’re in need of some summer reading inspiration, take a look at our list of books-turned-TV-shows that we recommend you read!

Get to know popular tutor Ronnie Ireland, an expert in the art world who teaches a wide variety of art history courses at the Institute.

Join us on a journey of discovery to the Giant Planets as Professor Craig Underwood shares 8 fascinating facts about them.

We pay tribute to Gordon Bridger, who gave fifty years of his life to Guildford. He was a much-loved, inspirational pillar of the community.

As Christmas approaches, our Library volunteers have put together their recommendations of the best books to read over the festive period.

Local florist Jennifer Thompson shares her top tips to help you make a festive flower display to be proud of.

To celebrate World Vegan Day, chefs Nick and Ian from V Café share their scrumptious Squash & Chickpea Redang Curry recipe.

Ahead of our Halloween talk, we asked expert tour guide Sarah Slater some questions about the haunting history of the palace!

Take some time to discover the past as Margaret Westwood tells us about Jenny Frendo’s online course, The Experience of Childhood.

Pen, paper and no pressure. Artist and creativity coach Sarah Jane Vickery examines how the simple act of doodling can help you slow down and unwind.

Margaret Westwood shares her thoughts on life in lockdown and considers the parallels between the plague of 1606 and the current Covid-19 pandemic.

V Café’s vegan tagine recipe is full of authentic Moroccan flavours. It’s quick to prepare and an easy way to create a healthy dish for all the family.

We’re committed to promoting access to the arts during the Coronavirus Lockdown through our online programme and by promoting the efforts of others.

Lisa Taylor serves as a Trustee on the Institute’s Board and recently gave Peter Merry’s Street Photography workshop her best shot!

Celebrate World Vegan Day with Nick and Ian’s chocolate cake! The chefs share their 9 simple steps to chocolate cake heaven.

After her sell-out Guildford Book Festival event held at the Institute, ‘The Mother of the Brontës’ author Sharon Wright shares some of her literary treasures.

Janet Crowe became our new Chairperson on Thursday 5 September 2019 and hopes to build on the work of previous Chair, Sandra Robinson.

Sorolla was a Spanish painter, much revered in his native country, and admired in Europe and America, but little known here.

Nick Humble and Ian Loffel, from V Café at the Institute, share one of their delicious vegetarian recipes.

Volunteers working on digitising the Scrapbooks in the Library’s archive reveal Guildford from the 1880s to the 1930s.