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The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community arts and cultural resource center located in downtown Reading, Pennsylvania. It is one of the largest, most comprehensive interactive community arts centers in the country. The GoggleWorks offers an exceptional opportunity for visitors to experience and learn about the arts in a working studio environment.
The GoggleWorks is 130,000 square feet of dynamic space, made up of:
• 34 artist studios
• Classrooms
• Dance & music studios
• 4,000 square-foot wood shop
• Photography classroom & darkroom facility
• 131 - seat film theatre
• Gift shop
• Café with outdoor deck seating
• Office space for twenty-six of our local community arts & cultural organizations
• 3,000 square-foot glass blowing facility
• 2,000 square-foot warm & cold glass studio/classroom
• 4,000 square-foot ceramics studio
• 2,000 square-foot jewelry studio
• Digital media lab
No arts center would be complete without gallery space; the GoggleWorks has 4 galleries, with the majority of its first floor dedicated as its main gallery space. The distinctive factory floors and exquisite natural light make viewing art at the GoggleWorks an extraordinary and unforgettable experience.
As a community resource for the arts the GoggleWorks is open daily to the public, and welcomes thousands of local and out-of-town guests. We host a Second Sunday open house event each month as a way to offer a free public opening reception for the latest exhibits. Local musicians perform, and most of the artists are at work in their studios. The GoggleWorks artists look forward to Second Sundays as a way to meet and greet the community. Additionally, hot glass demonstrations take place during the afternoon on Second Sundays.
Throughout the week, visitors may explore the facility, meet artists who are available in their studios, view the gallery exhibits, hang out in the café area, or take in the latest independent or foreign film in the GoggleWorks theatre. There is no fee for admission to the GoggleWorks or its galleries (however there is standard admission for film tickets). Classes in the arts – visual arts, music, literary arts, theatre and dance - are available year-round to children, youth and adults; we estimate that at least 10,000 students will avail themselves of the GoggleWorks’ educational programs annually.
The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts serves as a true community arts and cultural resource center, bringing highly talented artists, local arts and cultural organizations, and the community at large together to enhance the vitality and bright possibilities of a city on the verge of artistic and cultural rebirth.
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