Author: Ada

Listen to Ada’s interview with Georgey Spanswick on the BBC Radio York Breakfast Show

YorKAOS founder Ada Jobling and the committee of Seth, Ellie and Olive, have been announced as finalists for the BBC Radio York Make A Difference Award, in the Young Heroes category. The nomination recognises their exceptional community impact through the creation and ongoing leadership of YorKAOS (York Kids Art Open Studios). The annual BBC Make…

We are thrilled to share that following the incredible success of YorKAOS 2026, the money raised from artwork sales and donations has been officially distributed to our five chosen local charities!

What an incredible week it has been! The dust has finally settled on YorKAOS 2026, and we are thrilled to share the final results of our “creative chaos” at SPARK:York during the February half-term.

Helen Turner, representing the Fine Art and Illustration at York St John University, attended the finale as our guest speaker! “Our very best university students are the ones who not only do their exhibitions as part of their course, but who go on and form groups to put on exhibitions independently. This independent, city-wide feat…

We were thrilled to welcome York’s own sci-fi surrealist artist, Lincoln Lightfoot, to lead an energetic, imagination-focused art workshop. Known for bringing monsters, alien invaders, and fantastical creatures into iconic York locations, Lincoln guided the kids through creating bold, action-packed artwork inspired by 1950s and 60s movie poster art. With a 3 meter wide York…

YorkMix visited the exhibition and wrote a great piece online!

We had an amazing art workshop with the brilliant local illustrator and artist Emily Sutton! Young artists joined us to try out exciting new ideas, play with colors, and learn real art secrets from a professional.Everyone got hands-on with paints, paper cut-outs, and collage! Emily showed us how to mix bold paints, build layers, and…

Timelapse of 2026 exhibition creation, with so many volunteers , it only took 2 hours…

It’s one of the busiest days of the exhibition – our super sized venue posters arrived early this morning. We are visiting the last two libraries and then mounting and labeling all of the artwork – it’s a big team event!

We set our alarms extra early this week to head to YorkMix Radio for a live interview on the Breakfast Club! Ada and Olive joined the wonderful Laura and Leigh to talk all things YorKAOS. If you were tuned in from 7 am, you might have heard us sharing our big plans for the 2026…

Ada visited New Earswick Primary School to pick up the collective artwork of Artikids Art Club run by practicing artist Ruth Clayden!

Today Ada, headed over to the YO1 Radio studios for a special interview with the one and only Jonathan Cowap.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Helen Turner, the Associate Head of Art at York St John University, will be joining us to give the official closing speech at our Exhibition Finale!

On Saturday we met with Stephen Lee Hodgkins at our local Library in Tang Hall. After discussing the theme of Stephen’s workshop, we all started making a new piece of art together.

We visited The Snappy Trust team in Tang Hall. Snappy seeks to maximise the personal development and provide good quality play and recreational opportunities for Children and young people with disabilities.

YorkMIX wrote a amazing article about the team and the exhibition…

As we get ready for our huge exhibition at, we’ve been thinking hard about the materials we use. We want every masterpiece on the walls to not only look amazing but also be kinder to the environment and other children.

We are amazed at how quickly the workshops have sold out, this has provided a great start to the fundraising of YorKAOS 2026, with £391 being raised – after deducting VAT and Ticketsource’s platform fees of £35.

After the interview with York Hospital Radio, we visited York Hospital Children’s Ward to donate art supplies and a collection wallet. We met the nursing team and the Play Lead who took our donation. We want ALL the kids in York to take part in the exhibition, even those who are in hospital. Ada donated…