Koestler Arts and the Old Fire Station are presenting Through the Blue, a powerful new exhibition showcasing artwork, music and writing created in criminal justice settings across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey. The exhibition runs from 29 January to 14 March 2026 at the Old Fire Station in Oxford.
The exhibition features work made by people in prisons, secure hospitals, young offender institutions and on probation, with all pieces entered into the 2025 Koestler Awards.
Through the Blue is distinctive in being co-curated by people on probation in Oxford and Reading, who reviewed more than 600 entries from the region and selected 70 works for display.
Koestler Arts is a national arts charity that works with every prison in the UK to unlock hope, talent and potential through creativity.
The selected works reflect a wide range of artistic forms and personal experiences, with the co-curators drawn to pieces that resonated with their own encounters with the criminal justice system and their varied creative interests.
Themes of boundaries and thresholds emerge strongly throughout the exhibition. Many artworks depict walls, doors, windows and hatches — symbols of confinement but also of movement, vision and possibility.
Together, the works explore journeys through obstacles, routine and sadness towards freedom, capturing both the excitement and the fear that such transitions can inspire.
Light and dark, inside and outside, and the movement between these states recur across the exhibition. The colour blue, which features prominently in both the artworks and the exhibition design, underscores this duality.
Blue is associated with melancholy and cold, but also with blue skies, open horizons and possibility, as well as the unknown depths of the ocean.
Some of the artworks will be available to purchase through the Koestler Arts website, with proceeds shared between the artists, Koestler Arts and Victim Support. Visitors are also invited to leave written feedback on selected works, which will be sent directly to the artists.
One of the exhibition’s co-curators said: “Enjoy the variety in this exhibition. Contemplate the stories behind these works. See the hope and often the humour. Be drawn along the journeys illustrated here. These artists are showing you their world and their future.”
Fiona Curran, Chief Executive Officer of Koestler Arts, said: “I am delighted that Koestler Arts has been able to produce its first show in Oxford, with the Old Fire Station.
“The powerful artwork in the exhibition represents the hard work of hundreds of people in the area who have put their efforts into sharing their voices with the outside world through the 2025 Koestler Awards, and the many educators and staff supporting them to access the benefits of creativity.”
