As part of The Year of Wright, our popular Life Drawing Classes return to The Wardwick at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, a celebration of all bodies and the human form. From 12-1pm there will be a facilitated one hour session designed for beginners and from 2-4pm there will be an unfacilitated intermediate session designed for those with experience of life drawing. Materials will be provided but participants are welcome to bring their own materials should they choose to. Suitable for those 18+ Limited places advanced booking essential Accessibility at Derby Museums [https://derbymuseums.org/accessibility/] Produced by Derby Museums, supported by Derby College

Joseph Wright's 1782 portrait of Ellen Morewood of Alfreton Hall shows an elite woman in a landscape. What is not immediately obvious is the significant contribution Morewood made to the industrial revolution in Derbyshire nor her determination to control her life on her terms. Join Dr Collinge as he explores Morewood's portrait and her eventful life. Dr Peter Collinge is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His research focuses on female enterprise in Georgian Derbyshire, the poor laws, and health, leisure and tourism. Recent publications include articles on Kedleston spa and inn, and country house visitors in the eighteenth century. Suitable for Adults (18+) Booking essential. Limited places. Accessibility at Derby Museums [https://derbymuseums.org/accessibility/]

Inspired by The Year of Wright, join Derby Museums for a special after-hours addition of our popular Life Drawing class, complete with a glass of wine on arrival! Socialise, learn new, or develop your skills and enjoy a relaxed two-hour workshop, with a facilitated introduction, followed by a free draw to finish off the night. Ideal for absolute beginners and experienced sketchers alike. Suitable for those 18+ Limited places - advanced booking essential Accessibility at Derby Museums [https://derbymuseums.org/accessibility/] Produced by Derby Museums, supported by Derby College

Author and playwright Elaine Pritchard tells the story of Vale Rawlings, a World War One conscientious objector from Burton-on-Trent in this talk with dramatic, live performance elements. Why was this man, just four feet, 11 inches tall, who suffered from congenital heart disease and severe rheumatism, passed for active service in Category A? Does the answer lie in a note found in Staffordshire archives saying: It is against the national interest for this man to remain in civil employment? Is there a connection with anti-war activists the Wheeldons of Derby now widely believed to have been framed and subjected to a show trial for their support for conscientious objectors? Elaine will explore these questions in a presentation that blends a traditional talk with dramatic, live performance elements. Actors will bring Vales story to life using letters he and his sister Lily wrote in 1917 and original statements made to court cases and military tribunals. Presented as part of Derby Peace Week 2026, all proceeds raised split between Derby Museums and Derby Peace Week partners Suitable for adults Accessibility at Derby Museums [https://derbymuseums.org/accessibility/]

Celebrating 20 years of fantastic events, Derby Folk Festival returns to the city centre. The Weekend Pass gives access to all of the ticketed concerts, taking place across the whole weekend in Derby Museum’s Wardwick, The Old Bell Hotel, and Chapel Street Arts Centre, giving you the chance to enjoy artists in different venues, as well as experiencing the variety of shops, food and drink that the city’s Cathedral Quarter offers. Derby’s Cathedral Quarter will host a packed weekend of entertainment, including concerts, dances, workshops and crafts. With a mix of ticketed and free events, all in the city centre, there’s lots of options for everyone to experience the festival whether they’re a seasoned festival goer, or passing shopper. Derby Market Hall will be the festival hub, with dance displays, ceilidhs, workshops, the Artisans Uncovered market – and more! Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands in Derby Market Hall, or at Chapel Street Arts Centre.

Celebrating 20 years of fantastic events, Derby Folk Festival returns to the city centre. The Weekend Pass gives access to all of the ticketed concerts, taking place across the whole weekend in Derby Museum’s Wardwick, The Old Bell Hotel, and Chapel Street Arts Centre, giving you the chance to enjoy artists in different venues, as well as experiencing the variety of shops, food and drink that the city’s Cathedral Quarter offers. Derby’s Cathedral Quarter will host a packed weekend of entertainment, including concerts, dances, workshops and crafts. With a mix of ticketed and free events, all in the city centre, there’s lots of options for everyone to experience the festival whether they’re a seasoned festival goer, or passing shopper. Derby Market Hall will be the festival hub, with dance displays, ceilidhs, workshops, the Artisans Uncovered market – and more! Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands in Derby Market Hall, or at Chapel Street Arts Centre.

Celebrating 20 years of fantastic events, Derby Folk Festival returns to the city centre. The Weekend Pass gives access to all of the ticketed concerts, taking place across the whole weekend in Derby Museum’s Wardwick, The Old Bell Hotel, and Chapel Street Arts Centre, giving you the chance to enjoy artists in different venues, as well as experiencing the variety of shops, food and drink that the city’s Cathedral Quarter offers. Derby’s Cathedral Quarter will host a packed weekend of entertainment, including concerts, dances, workshops and crafts. With a mix of ticketed and free events, all in the city centre, there’s lots of options for everyone to experience the festival whether they’re a seasoned festival goer, or passing shopper. Derby Market Hall will be the festival hub, with dance displays, ceilidhs, workshops, the Artisans Uncovered market – and more! Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands in Derby Market Hall, or at Chapel Street Arts Centre.

Celebrating 20 years of fantastic events, Derby Folk Festival returns to the city centre. The Weekend Pass gives access to all of the ticketed concerts, taking place across the whole weekend in Derby Museum’s Wardwick, The Old Bell Hotel, and Chapel Street Arts Centre, giving you the chance to enjoy artists in different venues, as well as experiencing the variety of shops, food and drink that the city’s Cathedral Quarter offers. Derby’s Cathedral Quarter will host a packed weekend of entertainment, including concerts, dances, workshops and crafts. With a mix of ticketed and free events, all in the city centre, there’s lots of options for everyone to experience the festival whether they’re a seasoned festival goer, or passing shopper. Derby Market Hall will be the festival hub, with dance displays, ceilidhs, workshops, the Artisans Uncovered market – and more! Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands in Derby Market Hall, or at Chapel Street Arts Centre.

Celebrating 20 years of fantastic events, Derby Folk Festival returns to the city centre. The Weekend Pass gives access to all of the ticketed concerts, taking place across the whole weekend in Derby Museum’s Wardwick, The Old Bell Hotel, and Chapel Street Arts Centre, giving you the chance to enjoy artists in different venues, as well as experiencing the variety of shops, food and drink that the city’s Cathedral Quarter offers. Derby’s Cathedral Quarter will host a packed weekend of entertainment, including concerts, dances, workshops and crafts. With a mix of ticketed and free events, all in the city centre, there’s lots of options for everyone to experience the festival whether they’re a seasoned festival goer, or passing shopper. Derby Market Hall will be the festival hub, with dance displays, ceilidhs, workshops, the Artisans Uncovered market – and more! Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands in Derby Market Hall, or at Chapel Street Arts Centre.

Celebrating 20 years of fantastic events, Derby Folk Festival returns to the city centre. The Weekend Pass gives access to all of the ticketed concerts, taking place across the whole weekend in Derby Museum’s Wardwick, The Old Bell Hotel, and Chapel Street Arts Centre, giving you the chance to enjoy artists in different venues, as well as experiencing the variety of shops, food and drink that the city’s Cathedral Quarter offers. Derby’s Cathedral Quarter will host a packed weekend of entertainment, including concerts, dances, workshops and crafts. With a mix of ticketed and free events, all in the city centre, there’s lots of options for everyone to experience the festival whether they’re a seasoned festival goer, or passing shopper. Derby Market Hall will be the festival hub, with dance displays, ceilidhs, workshops, the Artisans Uncovered market – and more! Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands in Derby Market Hall, or at Chapel Street Arts Centre.

Discover the incredible stories of astonishing treasures found by everyday people and delve into how they are reshaping our understanding of British archaeology and history. Every day, new archaeological discoveries are transforming our knowledge of Britains rich past. Most of these finds are made by ordinary members of the public rather than by professional archaeologists. Some are chance finds; others are recovered by the thousands of hobbyist metal detectorists, fieldwalkers, and mudlarks who scour Britains countryside and waterways looking for artefacts as a way into the past. Beneath Our Feet is a celebration of this growing public involvement in archaeology, and of the groundbreaking work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme managed by the British Museum in England and Amgueddfa Cymru Museum Wales in Wales. Its mission is to encourage public finders to report their discoveries so they can be recorded on a national database to share this new knowledge about the past. From the 3,500-year-old Ringlemere Cup to the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard, a heart pendant connected to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and a jar of American gold coins buried by a Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis, these are the stories of astonishing treasures, the people who found them, and how they are reshaping British history Suitable for Adults (18+) Booking essential. Limited places. Accessibility at Derby Museums [https://derbymuseums.org/accessibility/]

In the later third century AD, the outer reaches of the Roman empire were being threatened on all sides by hostile powers. Along the southern and eastern coasts of Britain, a series of ten, possibly twelve, vast fortified enclosures were built beside strategic harbours to defend against external threats, mainly from Germanic marauders. Through sixteen centuries, impressive vestiges of most of them have survived, although three have vanished virtually without trace. Several became the sites of Norman castles; others have associations with early Christianity; all have a story to tell. Taking the story from the colossal surviving fort at Portchester in Hampshire to the empty, windswept site of Brancaster on the north Norfolk coast, Seeking the Saxon Shore is an introduction to exploring these ancient sites and for bringing them to life; acting as a practical guide to locate and access them. In describing the origins of the forts, their ancient settings, their functions and subsequent histories, this talk will enable us, in the modern landscape, to recognise and visualise the distant past. The talk is based on a book, Seeking the Saxon Shore which is a Roman-themed voyage of discovery undertaken by Max and Carole Craven in June 2017, taking in the more obscure sections of the southern and eastern coasts of England interspersed with sections on basic facts, location, access and contact details of each, interspersed with enjoyable non-Romam interludes. Copies of the book will be available at the talk. About Dr. Maxwell Craven Dr. Maxwell Craven was born in London, educated in the West Country, at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and brought up in North Wales and southwest Herefordshire. He came to Derby first in 1966, took his degree at Nottingham University, which he followed by qualifying as a teacher in 1974 and then studying for an MPhil in Roman Prosopography at Leicester, the latter whilst working as Keeper of Education at Derby Museum. He spent 18 years as Keeper of Antiquities, and was instrumental; in suggesting the purchase of Pickfords House for adaption as a Museum of the Enlightenment and it was, from its acquisition in 1984 until 1988 part of the Antiquities department when it made a separate entity. He oversaw the re-display of the Archaeology Gallery in 1984, and curated exhibitions on Derby Clockmaking, Robert Bakewell, and Derbyshire Country Houses. He undertook three archaeological excavations for the Museum and liaised closely with Professor Martin Biddle during the long excavations at Repton. In 1982 he was appointed Derby Cathedral Archaeologist. He lectured widely during this period, published the first edition of his monograph on John Whitehurst FRS in 1996 but was made redundant by the City Council in 1998. He then spent a decade writing a twice weekly heritage page for the Derby Telegraph and working (as he still does) as a part time valuer at Bamfords Auctioneers and writing heritage statements for historic buildings. He wrote his first book about Derby with senior colleague Roy Hughes in 1980 and has since written over thirty others, mainly about Derby but three about Roman History, most recently Magnus Maximus: A Forgotten Roman Emperor and his Legacy (2023). He also writes family histories to order. The University of Derby in 2013 awarded him a DLitt. With Derby Museum geologist Michael Stanley he wrote The Derbyshire Country House in 1982, which ran to three editions, and his new Lost Houses of Derbyshire is due out in April from Amberley. He has contributed to various learned journals on architectural history, as well as having written for numerous magazines, including Country Life, Derbyshire Life and Country Images. Maxwell Craven lives in Derby with his wife, Carole, who drives him everywhere, dispenses excellent advice and frequently collaborates on the creation of magazine articles and they have a daughter, who also makes her living writing. He became AMA in 1986, was made MBE and elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1999 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015. He was twice chairman of the Friends of Derby Museum after 1998, is currently chairman of the Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee and has twice served as chairman of Derby Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee. Suitable for adults. Booking essential. Suggested donation 5 / FREE to Derby Museums Friends. Accessibility at Derby Museums [https://derbymuseums.org/accessibility/]

What transforms an object into officially recognised Treasure? And what stories can these treasures reveal about Derbys past? Join us for an evening in-conversation with Meghan King exploring the world of Treasure finds, metal detecting and archaeology. Through a hands-on encounter with objects spanning prehistory to modern day, hear more about how discoveries by local metal detectorists and archaeological enthusiasts have helped inform our understanding of the local area. This event will offer the opportunity to handle the artefacts up close as well as hear some of the stories behind the finds. MEGHAN KING BA(Hons), MA is the Finds Liaison Officer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. She has worked for the Portable Antiquities Scheme for seven years, first as a Treasure Registrar at The British Museum and now in her role as Finds Liaison Officer. She is actively engaged in increasing public awareness and volunteer involvement with the Scheme in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This is an exclusive event for members of the Derby Museums Business Network.

As part of Derby Museums Year of Wright celebrations join Lucy Bamford for an exclusive behind the scenes look at Wright of Derby: From The Shadows. At this after-hours event, Lucy will uncover her favourites among the works on display, sharing what was going on in Wrights life at the time and his experience as an artist whilst taking in some of the broader scientific, philosophical and popular cultural context. Having spent the last 24 months working on From the Shadows, Lucy will share some of the unexpected challenges of working on an exhibition of this scale and ambition as well as aspects of Wrights artistic practice, demonstrating how he achieved his effects through his secret technique the use of a lightbox, that has been reinterpreted exclusively for Derby. Lucy Bamford is the Senior Curator of Art for Derby Museums Trust, where she manages a large and broad-ranging collection of art dating from the 17th century to the present day. However, Lucys main interest is the life and work of the 18th century artist Joseph Wright of Derby, of which Derby Museums holds the largest and most comprehensive collection in the world. Lucys post at Derby Museums represents her first curatorial role, which she began in 2008 following her graduation from the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2007. This is an exclusive event for members of the Derby Museums Business Network.

In this session, you will explore our newly refurbished Unearthed galleries, learning about the history and wonders of the collections pieces on display. You will then get a unique opportunity to handle our collections that span from throughout history. Makers will then create observational drawing's but using unusual and unexpected materials to draw, creating a body of work that you can take home with you! you do not need to be good at drawing to do this session, just ready to be creative and have fun! This session will be delivered at our Museum and Art Gallery site and led by Derby Museums Programmer and maker, Rachael Wayne. For more information please contact [email protected]. EMERGENCY CONTACT DETAILS In the event of an emergency, you will be contacted as soon as possible by Derby Museums. So that this can be done quickly, we need to have up-to-date details of possible contacts. Please fill in all relevant information when completing the booking. Derby Museums would like to ask for your permission to take images and/or recordings (photographs, video or audio) of your child/the person in your care for the purposes of publicity, fundraising and evaluation. How will the images and/or recordings be used? Images and recordings (photographs, video or audio) are used in a variety of ways to promote Derby Museums , to evaluate our work, for fundraising, and to illustrate particular areas of activity, e.g. exhibitions and community workshops. This includes (but is not limited to) advertisements and other publicity materials such as leaflets, brochures and posters, direct mail, books, newspapers, magazine articles, television programmes, podcasts, social media, web articles, press releases and funding applications. The images and recordings we capture may be published immediately or used in future to illustrate our work. We will not include names in connection with any of the images or recordings we use. How long does consent last? Consent continues with no time limit, however the majority of images and recordings we capture are used for around five years. They are then archived for possible future use. We cannot withdraw images and recordings that have already published, but image consent can be changed or withdrawn at any time by notifying Derby Museums in writing either by email: [email protected] or at the following address: Museum & Art Gallery, The Strand, Derby, DE1 1BS. Please answer all questions regarding consent when processing your booking. Please let us know in advance if you are unable to attend to allow other young people to access the session: [email protected] Please note that sessions are limited to two sessions per person. Please let us know if you would like to be added to a waiting list for any other sessions that don't sell out. Images - CC Pictoria Pictures

In this session, you will explore our title exhibition 'From The Shadows', featuring the works of Derby's very own Joseph Wright; makers will analyse artworks in order to understand the effect of light and dark, called Chiaroscuro. They will then test out their understanding of light with 3D building skills and make create cave dioramas that reflect the work of Joseph's work, on display at the museum. This session will be delivered at our Museum and Art Gallery site and led by Derby Museums Programmer and maker, Rachael Wayne. For more information please contact [email protected]. EMERGENCY CONTACT DETAILS In the event of an emergency, you will be contacted as soon as possible by Derby Museums. So that this can be done quickly, we need to have up-to-date details of possible contacts. Please fill in all relevant information when completing the booking. Derby Museums would like to ask for your permission to take images and/or recordings (photographs, video or audio) of your child/the person in your care for the purposes of publicity, fundraising and evaluation. How will the images and/or recordings be used? Images and recordings (photographs, video or audio) are used in a variety of ways to promote Derby Museums , to evaluate our work, for fundraising, and to illustrate particular areas of activity, e.g. exhibitions and community workshops. This includes (but is not limited to) advertisements and other publicity materials such as leaflets, brochures and posters, direct mail, books, newspapers, magazine articles, television programmes, podcasts, social media, web articles, press releases and funding applications. The images and recordings we capture may be published immediately or used in future to illustrate our work. We will not include names in connection with any of the images or recordings we use. How long does consent last? Consent continues with no time limit, however the majority of images and recordings we capture are used for around five years. They are then archived for possible future use. We cannot withdraw images and recordings that have already published, but image consent can be changed or withdrawn at any time by notifying Derby Museums in writing either by email: [email protected] or at the following address: Museum & Art Gallery, The Strand, Derby, DE1 1BS. Please answer all questions regarding consent when processing your booking. Please let us know in advance if you are unable to attend to allow other young people to access the session: [email protected] Please note that sessions are limited to two sessions per person. Please let us know if you would like to be added to a waiting list for any other sessions that don't sell out.