Monkton Arts

Monkton Arts is a family-run arts centre in a former printworks on East Street, in the Monkton Village end of Ryde, opened in 2018. Under one roof it holds a gallery showing island artists, a children's gallery, working studios used by resident makers, and a small shop stocking work by local artists only. The cafe and bar serve coffee, cake and light meals through the day, and in the evenings the room turns into a music venue with a bias toward jazz, rhythm and blues, and other acoustic-leaning acts. The building was converted from a derelict printers, and the project set out to give Ryde a community-facing creative space rather than a commercial gallery alone. It trades Tuesday to Saturday and remains independently run. The mix of exhibition, studio, cafe and live music makes it a single stop for several things at once.