Things to do in East Midlands, England: The Best Art Galleries

Art & Craft Studio running workshops in Stained Glass Art, Glass Fusion/Inclusion, Encaustic Wax, Painting & Drawing for Beginners, Mixed media, Textile Sculpture, Printing without a press. Great student/teacher ratio. Full day workshops lunch include. And all the materials required for your chosen workshops are included too – and you get to take home everything you make!!

Contemporary Art Gallery - selling fine art & ceramics. Opened July 2017. The Old Lock Up Gallery is situated within a beautiful stone building, built in the 1700’s, in the beautiful and historic Derbyshire village of Cromford. The building itself is steeped in history – as it was owned by Sir Richard Arkwright and used as the village jail, one of the first of it’s kind in the country.

Situated on the ducal Welbeck estate, the award-winning Harley Gallery shows contemporary exhibitions by leading visual artists. Exhibitions change five times a year, and range from ceramics to photography. The Portland Collection Museum displays works of art from Welbeck’s internationally significant historic collection, which has been built up over the centuries by the Dukes of Portland and their families. There are hundreds of treasures on show including Michelangelo’s ‘Madonna del Silenzio’, Van Dyck’s portrait of the Earl of Strafford, and the pearl earring worn by King Charles I to his execution. The Portland Collection opened in 2016 and has attracted critical acclaim and a national RIBA award for architecture. These two inspiring art galleries are accompanied by an award-winning gallery shop, which specialises in contemporary craft from leading names and emerging makers, Farm Shop and an award-winning Café.

Newarke Houses Museum is composed of two historic houses, Wygston's Chantry House and Skeffington House and tells the story of contemporary Leicester and the history of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment. The museum displays include a cinema experience, a collection of toys from Tudor to present day and a play area for children to try various games. Find out more about Leicester's famous son Daniel Lambert and visit a 1950s street scene inspired by Wharf Street that includes the Jolly Angler public house, a grocer and a pawnbroker, with sounds and conversations from the times. Discover more about the story of Leicester at War. Through personal stories find out about the home front and the history of the Regiment, including a recreation of a First World War trench with sound and lighting. Through oral histories, archive film, computer interactives and collections discover the histories of Newarke Houses, the surrounding historic area and contemporary Leicester.

Housed in a timbered 16th Century building within the Cathedral Quarter, Harding House Gallery provides a unique and exciting place for artists to exhibit their work. The Co-operative was set up in 1994 by a group of local artists who decided to establish a much needed outlet for the contemporary visual arts in Lincoln, and HHG is now one of the most successful artist’s co-operatives in the country. We are a diverse group of artists or makers of contemporary craft, and between us we are entirely responsible for the staffing and daily functioning of the Gallery. Our members are also active in other areas such as teaching, running workshops, arts consultancy, exhibiting in and supplying galleries and stores around the country, and generally promoting the arts throughout the region. We are open every day from 10am - 5pm, and 11am - 4pm on Sundays (Except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day).