Programme of Events 2026
Finally, a sculpture for Dame Laura Knight in Malvern?
Dame Laura Knight – one of Britain’s most popular artists, and the first woman to have a retrospective exhibition at The Royal Academy – lived and painted in Malvern from the 1930s until the 1960s; yet there is little to commemorate her presence in the town nor the internationally important work she did here.
The Dame Laura Knight Society has been trying to put this right for some time, with local residents now fundraising for a work of art that will reflect Dame Laura’s contribution to Malvern and to British art. In partnership with local artist and blacksmith Andrew Findlay of Eastnor Forge, a striking metal wall plaque based on an early woodcut self portrait of Laura has been designed.
Andrew has created installations around the world, including two in Malvern’s Priory Park (www.eastnorcastle.com/blog/the-local-eastnor-forge).
He is about to commence work on this with a view to its installation in the newly refurbished Malvern Theatre – appropriately the very theatre where Laura was inspired to paint for Barry Jackson’s ‘Dramatic Festival’. The installation and unveiling is likely to be in the later part of 2027. It is hoped that locals and visitors alike will be able to enjoy the plaque and learn more about how Dame Laura put both British art and Malvern on the map.
But a new image of an important British woman painter to inspire a new theatre comes at a cost! So far local residents in the Dame Laura Knight Society have raised over £4000 from their members and town charities. But the Society is short of the £2000 it needs to complete the project.
The Society would welcome donations from local residents who would like to support this project and see one of our most important British artists remembered in Malvern. Please pledge your support via our crowd funder:
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/sculpture-to-honour-dame-laura-knight
Much is Lost, Much Remains
Marian Edwards a long standing member of the societies committee is also an artist and art educator working in a variety of printmaking media. Despite considerable sight loss 20 years ago, she has returned to her own work with renewed belief in the transformative power of art.
In this latest exhibition at Winterbourne House and Garden, Marian Edwards takes inspiration from the objects and plant collections around the historic house and garden, as well as drawing on Byam Shaw’s magnificent portrait of Margaret Nettlefold that hangs in the hallway.
This brand new collection includes woodcut prints, collage, drawing and photography, building on a long-standing history of artists who have reimagined Winterbourne’s beautiful architecture and landscape through a range of media.
Visit the exhibition
Much is Lost, Much Remains, will be running at Winterbourne House and Garden from 21st March to 20th September 2026.
Location: Top floor, Winterbourne House
Tickets: This exhibition is free to all Winterbourne visitors, but please note that standard admssion prices apply.
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
This event has now passed
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.