At Play 2012, curated by Cally Trench and Dr Outi Remes, consisted of three exhibitions exploring ideas about play, focussing on the way that play can be free and spontaneous or bound by rules and conventions, and the spirit of the Olympics in the year that the summer Olympics came to Britain.

At Play 2012 also supported artists in making interactive and engaging work, and provided opportunities for artists' professional development through curatorial support, critique, research, conversations, talks and discussions, and workshops. At Play 2012 was produced by Dr Outi Remes.

At Play 2012 at the New Ashgate Gallery was an exhibition that invited visitors to participate in the work, to engage physically, emotionally and intellectually, and to touch, play and explore. It included games, drawings, artists' books, and sculptures. The exhibition ran from 8 June to 21 July 2012. The artists in At Play 2012 at the New Ashgate Gallery exhibition were Linda Francis, Flora Gare, Este MacLeod, Kirsty E Smith, Cally Trench, and eight artists from the artists' book collective AM Bruno (Sophie Loss, Ingrid Jensen, Marco Cali, John McDowall, Jane Grisewood, Steve Perfect, Cally Trench and Claire Deniau). The curators would particularly like to thank Laura James, then Intern at the New Ashgate Gallery.

On 25 June 2012 at the New Ashgate Gallery, Dr Outi Remes presented an academic research paper co-authored by herself and Cally Trench, At Play: Curatorial Notes about Playfulness, which they had previously presented at the Association of Art Historians annual conference on 30 March 2012 in 'Museum & Exhibitions Session: Performativity in the Gallery: Staging Interactive Encounters'. Jane Tadrist led a Crafts At Play workshop with children and lone parents at Sandy Hill Bungalow, Hale, Farnham on 7 June 2012, and the resulting 'medals' were exhibited at the New Ashgate Gallery. Gemma Cumming led Family Activity Box sessions, assisted by Flora Gare, on 23 June 2012 for children and their carers. On 25 June 2012, Kirsty E Smith and Este MacLeod gave talks about their work. A Board Games Event with Cally Trench, assisted by Philip Lee, took place on 9 July 2012.

Short film by Jonathan Roe: At Play 2012 on YouTube At Play 2012.

All photographs by Cally Trench unless credited otherwise.

At Play 2012 was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It was also supported by Farnham Town Council, and the Foundation for Contemporary Art, New York.

Cally Trench and Dr Outi Remes would like to thank all the artists; Kate Ratcliffe, Visual Arts Coordinator at South Hill Park; Lucy Phillips, Arts Coordinator at OVADA; and Laura James, then Intern at the New Ashgate Gallery. The curators would also like to thank Chantal Addley; Gemma Cumming; Jane Glennie; Diana Healey; Ingrid Jensen; Carol McFarlane; Roger Prynn; Jonathan Roe, Robert Harvey at B & H Motors, Dagnall; Donnington Doorstep; University of Westminster; and Sandy Hill Bungalow.