Programme of Events 2026
Women in the Workplace
A lively account illustrating the occupations women were expected to fulfil from ancient times to the present day.
‘Thamar’ from a medieval manuscript, painting the Madonna 1403
Saturday 14th March 3:00pm Colwall Village Hall
Tickets on the door: £7 members/£10 non-members
Refreshments
Alice Foster M.A. Lecturer in History of Art
Alice is a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society, The Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford, and The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. She has led study tours across Europe, and recently toured Australia and New Zealand for The Arts Society. This year she will be travelling to Gibraltar and Spain on their behalf. She is also Art Historian in Residence at The Argyll Hotel, Iona, for short study courses on Scottish Art.
Women in the Workplace is a lively account illustrating the occupations women were expected to fulfil from ancient times to the present day: keeping fires, tending the sick and raising families, to pioneering women like Laura Knight who strove to have women’s professional status raised to equal their male counterparts. Alice’s lecture explores women working in cafes and laundries and factories to depictions of accomplished female artists.
Saturday 27th June 2026
A talk by art historian David Tovey ‘Lamorna Birch: his life and works and connection with the Knights’. More Information to follow
Colwall Village Hall 3pm Tickets on the door: £7 members £10 non-members
John Singer Sargent: an American in Worcestershire
Saturday 17 January – Sunday 14 June 2026 | Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum
Showcasing the work of John Singer Sargent, one of the most celebrated portrait painters of his time, this exhibition explores his role within the Broadway colony of artists in Worcestershire. His summers spent in the county saw the American artist break free from the conventions of Salon-style studio painting to experiment with Impressionism and work ‘en plein air’, producing famed works such as Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, painted in a Broadway garden.
The exhibition reflects the importance of the Broadway colony of artists on Worcestershire’s artistic heritage; the circle of avant-garde creatives included Frank Millet, William Morris, Lawrence and Laura Alma-Tadema and Edward Elgar.
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm (last entry 3pm) and Sunday 10am – 3pm (last entry 2pm).
Closed Mondays, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
Dame Laura Knight: An Artists Appreciation
In November 2020 the DLK society commissioned an on-line lecture by artist and senior lecturer Brian Gorst titled ‘An Artists Appreciation’. Brian was able to offer a unique insight and perception onto DKL’s work and methods.
Initially only available to members we have now openly released this onto YouTube which can be accessed: here
Publication : Laura Knight in The Malverns
OUR PUBLICATION ABOUT LAURA KNIGHT IN THE MALVERNS.
Heather Whatley’s book ‘Laura Knight in the Malverns’ is now well established on the bookshelves. Heather is the founder of the Dame Laura Knight Society in 2008.
Most biographies of Laura mention her stay in Malvern but none give detail of the three decades from 1931 until 1961 that she lived here. Drawing on recorded memories of local people the author hopes to bring to life the woman as well as the artist, a dynamic personality who engaged socially with all the locals she met, many of whom she painted.
Using Society archives, photos, maps and illustrations of Laura’s local paintings the writer traces Laura and Harold’s stay in Malvern from early Festival days, their permanent stay during World War 2, when Laura was a prolific War Artist, to their frequent returns to the town post war to see old friends and to continue painting.
Dame Laura Knight claimed she did her best landscapes in Malvern and her paintings of this period demonstrate her love of our countryside in all seasons and leave us with a colourful record of the lives of ordinary working people and our cultural history.
The book is published by Aspect Printers, costs £7.50 and is available in Malvern Tourist Information Centre, Co-operative Bookshop Malvern, Malvern Museum and on-line at Amazon.co.uk.
To read a review of the book please click here.