Adult Workshops and Talks - Rugby Art Gallery & Museum
Adult Workshops and talks
A packed programme for our 25th Anniversary year
Please scroll down the page to see the full range of workshops and talks available. All workshops must be booked unless stated otherwise.
January 2025
February 2025
First Thursday Talk
Stranger than Fiction
With Vanessa Morgan
6 February 1-2pm
£5
Vanessa has lived in Worcestershire all her life and as a genealogist worked for 34 years researching family and local history in Worcestershire, Birmingham and Warwickshire. In this fascinating talk aimed at writers, Vanessa shows how old newspapers and registers can give ideas for stories or novels and help authentically set the scene for the period. Vanessa is the author of several books including 'Warwick Murder and Crime' and 'Coventry Murders'!
Drypoint with Leicester Print Workshop
Drypoint workshop with Leicester Print Workshop
Saturday 15 February, 9.30am – 3.30pm
£60
Join Nichola for a day exploring the Printmaking intaglio process of 'drypoint' - you will work on a malleable surface to make marks and drawn lines which you will then ink up and see the soft burr describe your image. This is a lovely Printmaking technique that gives beautiful results and you will receive expert tuition and plenty of opportunity to perfect not only your mark making but also the inking to produce a mini edition of prints to take home. Suitable for beginners or those wishing to refresh their skills.
Life Drawing
Thursday 27 February, 6-7.30pm
£10
Develop your skills and enjoy the relaxing benefits of this self-guided lifedrawing session.
Suitable for all abilities, welcoming beginners and professional artists alike. Materials not provided. Suitable for 18+.
Creative Counsel
Merchandising your artwork with Jess Hartshorn
Thursday 27 February, 4 – 5pm
FREE
Join local illustrator Jess Hartsorn for this session on transforming your art into must-have merchandise
March 2025
Two day graphite pencil workshop: Peacock
With Jamie Boots
Friday 14 & Saturday 15 March,
9.30am – 3.30pm
£90
Subject: Peacock
Join Jamie for a two-day exploration into the nuanced world of graphite pencil art. This class delves beyond basic sketching, offering insights into the subtle techniques that breathe life into your creations. Participants will discover the art of manipulating pencil sharpness, pressure and tones to convey fine details such as fur, skin textures and expressive eyes.
All materials will be provided to be used for the duration of the class. Tables are provided but if you prefer to work from your own easel please feel free to bring one. Any reference material that we use in class is always copyright free so there is no restriction on use.
First Thursday Talk
Our Canal Heritage
With Roger Butler
6 March
£5.00
This illustrated talk will provide an introduction to our fascinating canal heritage. Distinctive features include locks, bridges, tunnels, aqueducts and plenty of quirky landmarks - only the National Trust and the Church of England have more listed buildings than our 2,000-mile canal network.
U-dig
With Rugby Archaeology Society
Guest speaker: Derek Roberts, Director of excavations
Saturday 8 March 2025
Meeting and Talk 10am-12pm
FREE no booking required.
Highlights from the Ingram Collection
Wit Jo Baring, Director of the Ingram Collection of Modern British and Contemporary Art.
Saturday 29 March 2025
3pm
£5
Jo Baring is an art historian who is passionate about making art accessible to all. Her popular podcast series Sculpting Lives was The Guardian’s ‘Podcast of the Week’ and was picked as a leading arts podcast by The Times, The Royal Academy and The Evening Standard. She is the editor of Revisiting Modern British Art which was called ‘a game-changer’ and writes for museums and national publications. This talk accompanies our exhibition 'Beyond the Canvas'.
April 2025
First Thursday Talk
Great Gods in the Gardens
With Michael Brown
3 April 1-2pm
£5
Statues were placed in gardens throughout history for decoration and perhaps to suggest that the owner resembled the figure in the statue, bravely heroic in the case of Hercules. Learn the stories behind the statues.
Leicestershire town and village history
With Rugby Archaeology Society
Guest speaker: Dr Pamela Fisher
Saturday 12 April 2025
Meeting and Talk 10am-12pm
FREE no booking required.
Life Drawing
Thursday 24 April, 6-7.30pm
£10
Develop your skills and enjoy the relaxing benefits of this self-guided lifedrawing session.
Suitable for all abilities, welcoming beginners and professional artists alike.
Creative Counsel
Community Gathering
Thursday 24 April, 4 – 5pmFREE
Network, discuss and share your memories of the Art Gallery and Museum over the last 25 years.
Clay Heads and Techno with Beccy Roberts
26 April, 9.30am – 3.30pm
£50
Come and have a fun time with Clay & Good Vibes!! Great for Total Beginners as our aim is to Have Fun AND Sculpt a Head! .. of your choice!… from lovely lovely Clay! To help us all relax we’ll be enjoying Fnoob Radio too…. lots of Demonstrations and one to one Tuition included.
There will be lots of Instruction and Demonstrations of Techniques including one to one help & encouragement!!
All equipment is provided. You can keep your Head to continue at home … and once dry it can be painted/ glazed and fired.reat for total beginners as our aim is to have fun and sculpt a head of your choice! All equipment and materials are provided.
May 2025
First Thursday Talk
Lady Dorothie Feilding at War
With Christine Cluley
1 May 1-2pm
£5
Join researcher and writer of the book ‘Lady Dorothie Feilding at War: Right at the Heart and Pulse of Things’ for this talk on the Rugby born heiress and decorated WWI volunteer nurse, who was the first woman awarded the Military Medal for bravery.
Coral Reef Felted picture workshop
With Eve Marshall
17 May, 9.30am – 3.30pm
£50
Learn how to create a wet and needle felted Coral Reef Picture using colourful Merino wool, silk threads and lots of other vibrant textures.
Begin by choosing all your favourite colours of wool and we will lay them out to create the ocean background. Learn how to layer lots of textural fibres to embellish the background and make it look like an underwater paradise. This class will focus on how to create bold shapes and patterns in your wet felted art plus add realism in your needle felting.
In the workshop we will be working with wool and fairy liquid. If you are allergic to either please bring gloves. Aprons are not required, but feel free to bring one along. Please bring along a small hand towel, all other materials will be provided.
The wet and needle felting process will need some hand and arm strength. The whole process can be done while sitting down. This process takes about half an hour of using your hands and requires some arm strength.
Your finisihed piece will be approximately 40 cm square once felted and it can be displayed on a wall or sewn onto a cushion or bag later on.
June 2025
First Thursday Talk
Rugby's Early Photographers
With John Frearson
5 June£5.00
This talk will provide an insight into early photographic businesses in Victorian and Edwardian Rugby. Covering twenty Rugby photographers from the 1840s, including the prolific E H Speight and his family, and the interesting stories they had to tell.”
The Major Finds of Tripontium
With Rugby Archaeology Society
Guest speaker: Dr Irene Glendinning
Saturday 14 June 2025
Meeting and Talk 10am-12pm
FREE no booking required.
Creative Counsel
Framing advice with Anna Lorimer
Thursday 26 June, 4 – 5pmFREE
Join local framing expert Anna Lorimer for tricks and tips on framing your artwork for selling and exhibiting your work.
Life Drawing
Thursday 26 June, 6-7.30pm
£10
Develop your skills and enjoy the relaxing benefits of this self-guided life drawing session.
Suitable for all abilities, welcoming beginners and professional artists alike.
Monoprinting with Leicester Print Workshop
Saturday 28 June, 9.30am-3.30pm
£60
Come and join us for a day full of colour, layering and experimentation. Under the expert eye of LPW tutor Nichola you will discover a world of unique Printmaking - with no two pulls from the press being the same you can be sure this will challenge and delight you. Suitable for complete beginners or those wishing to push their usual image making or simply have a fun day of shared activity.
July 2025
Engaging with Conservation with Pieta Greaves
With Pieta Greaves3 July
£5.00
Discover local archaeological conservation and research initiatives in the Midlands, exploring how these efforts are preserving history for generations to come and revealing untold stories.
Stacking Ring Workshop
With Zoë Hodgson
12 July, 10am – 3pm
£65
With guidance from Zoë you can make three silver rings to stack together, using a variety of textures to pattern the surfaces. Learn how to texture, saw, shape, file, solder and clean up, starting at the design process and ending up with your finished handmade rings.
September 2025
Willow Weaving - Berry Basket
With Kate Morrell
27 September, 9.30am – 3.30pm
£ 95
Kate will take you through the process of weaving your basket and will help you to achieve it in the time given so everyone goes home with a finished sculpture
Price includes all materials and refreshments
October 2025
Willow Weaving - Duck Sculpture
With Kate Morrell
18 October, 9.30am – 3.30pm
£ 95
Kate will take you through the process of weaving your Duck and will help you to achieve it in the time given so everyone goes home with a finished sculpture
Price includes all materials and refreshments
November 2025
Two day graphite pencil workshop: Clouded Leopard
With Jamie Boots
Friday 7 & Saturday 8 November,
9.30am – 3.30pm
£90
Subject: Clouded Leopard
Join Jamie for a two-day exploration into the nuanced world of graphite pencil art. This class delves beyond basic sketching, offering insights into the subtle techniques that breathe life into your creations. Participants will discover the art of manipulating pencil sharpness, pressure and tones to convey fine details such as fur, skin textures and expressive eyes.
All materials will be provided to be used for the duration of the class. Tables are provided but if you prefer to work from your own easel please feel free to bring one. Any reference material that we use in class is always copyright free so there is no restriction on use.
Macrame Angel
With Sally from Knot Sew Simple
Saturday 29 November,
1.30pm – 3.30pm
£25
This beginners workshop is a great way to get started with macrame. You will be given step by step instructions and guidance from Sally in this 2 hour workshop to create what is needed to make an Angel decoration that can be hung and displayed on your Christmas tree at home.
Each person will be given a kit with everything they need to create an Angel. The rope used is recycled cotton of the finest quality and eco friendly.
All materials are provided and worksheets can be taken home.
Participants could bring fabric scissors with them but not essential.