Membership Renewals
Members are invited to renew their membership for 2026.
The Website
After 5 years we are progressively altering the format of this website better to use the full width of the screen and to take advantage of the improved ability of browsers to adapt what is displayed to the actual width of individual devices’ screens.
As we continue with the re-formatting you may encounter both the old and new!
2026 Lecture Programme
Our exciting programme of lectures for 2026 can now be viewed on the site.
Sunday 10 May
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Wednesday 13 May 2026
4-day residential visit led by Jenny Newman
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Cardiff and South Wales
Joint Visit with Sherborne u3a Art groups.
From our base in the capital we will explore South Wales and its art and culture, whers modern is juxtaposed with old, and the story of its history is revealed through its castles, cathedrals, museums and galleries.
Booking is now open.
Places are limited and will be allocated in the order in which members have registered interest by following the link below.
Welcome to The Arts Society Sherborne
chairman`s report 2025
I am pleased to report another very successful year for The Arts Society Sherborne.
Thanks in large part to Anne Gidney and Debs Edelman, last years Programme Secretaries, we have enjoyed a very rich and varied programme of lectures, ranging from John Singer Sargent, by way of Mughal Gardens, to The Queen Mother’s Jewellery. I like to think that we have provided something for everyone. Two particular highlights for me were the talks on Oscar Wilde and Grayson Perry, but you will all have had your own favourites. If there is any topic you feel we have neglected, please let us know!
We have also had two very successful and popular Study Days: one at the beginning of the year on ‘The Barbizon School and the Lure of Nature’ by Kathy McLauchlan and more recently three inspirational lectures on ‘British and American Artists in Venice’ by our own Julian Halsby. (The latter was so popular as to be almost over-subscribed!)
There have been two very contrasting tours this year: a 3 day trip to Henley-on-Thames and Coventry in search of John Piper in May – including an unscheduled mystery tour of Hampshire – and a sunny 6 day tour of the Côte d’Azur in October, both led by the indomitable Jenny Newman.
The highlight of our Social Calendar this year was a delightful Japanese-themed Valentine’s Day Lunch, followed by a fascinating talk on the meaning and history of the Kimono by Suzanne Perrin, another of our very talented Committee members. Suzanne brought some of her large personal collection of kimonos with her and they were truly breathtaking!
Meanwhile, we have continued to promote and subsidise arts events and trips for local schools and to support the invaluable work of the Church Recording Society, in preserving the heritage of our country churches.
Finally, I am delighted to announce that, whilst many societies – in the region and nationally – are struggling, we have managed to maintain a very healthy membership. At the last count, we had 386 fully paid-up members. It would be nice if we could make that a round 400, so if you haven’t already renewed your membership or would like to join, don’t forget that you can still get your subscription at this year’s rates.
Looking back, I am amazed that we have managed to cram so much into less than twelve months. Of course, none of this would have been possible without your support and without the dedication and hardwork of our Committee and their helpers. So, I would like to conclude by thanking all the Membership and the Committee for their continued support and by wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year! I hope to see many of you at the Twelfth Night Lunch on January 7th 2026.
With Best Wishes,
Richard Dankwerts (Chairman)
Membership
If you are, or might be, interested in joining The Arts Society Sherborne please click on the button below for further details and an application form. The fee of £55 (single) or £100 (joint) covers attendance at our 10 lectures and reduced charges for our Study Days, most visits and social events (although some of these are free) .
Next Events
Lecture
Wednesday 4 February 2026
Tom Flynn
Art Crime in the Cinema
Whenever a major museum is robbed of its treasures, the BBC website reports the event under the heading ‘Entertainment’. The implications of this are more interesting than they at first seem. Art thefts have been a constant presence in the news media since the early decades of the twentieth century and Hollywood and international cinema were not slow to catch on to the general public’s fascination with these dark developments. This talk seeks to draw connections between three strands — the rise of the international art market from 1900, the theft of major works of art from museums and private houses in the twentieth century, and the emergence of cinema as an art form in the early twentieth century. All three can be seen to feed off one another. Criminals noticed the extraordinary prices being paid for masterpieces and responded accordingly, while cinema latched on to these real-life thriller crime narratives, turning art thieves into glamorous anti-heroes such as Thomas Crown. More recently, art collectors have sought ever more secure locations in which to store their art, with freeport warehouses now holding billions of dollars of the world’s masterpieces. This talk traces the connections between some of the most popular art heist movies and the reality of the art market and reveals one or two little-known examples of early ‘art crime cinema.’
12th Night LUNCH
7 January 2026 1pm to 5pm
Talk by Jenny Newman
Theme: Night scenes painted under artificial light
LECTURE
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Frick – the Man and his Museum
Mark Meredith
Shot twice in the neck and stabbed five times in the leg, Mr Frick was back behind his desk within the week. Today, his name is synonymous with beauty and culture through the house on which he spared nothing, built with the sole intent of leaving it, and everything in it, as a gift to the nation. But just who was Henry Clay Frick, and how did this man who swapped a beehive oven for the classroom become the most prominent art collector of his generation in America, and the benefactor of its finest collection of European paintings? Join me on another astonishing ride from rural Pennsylvania to Gilded Age New York as we pull back the curtain on Frick: the man, and his museum.
Tuesday 10 March 2026
STUDY DAY
The Arts and Craft Movement in the Cotswolds and its Churches
kirsty hartsiotis
The Cotswolds was one of the first rural centres of the Arts and Crafts Movement, with architects and designers of the Movement moving to the area to work and craft from the 1890s onwards. The designers and makers who settled in the area became a key part of the artistic and cultural life of the area, their influence still felt today by the many crafters who life and work there. From the first, churches in the region of all denominations commissioned work from Arts and Crafts designers, from whole churches, including one of the so-called ‘cathedrals of the Arts and Crafts’ to some of the most important Arts and Crafts stained-glass schemes. Their work and its legacy is very much alive in Cotswold churches today.
Our activities
To view more details of our activities click on the associated image below
Lectures
Our lectures, by internationally acclaimed presenters on a wide variety of topics take place on the first Wednesday of each month (except January and August) at 3 pm and 7 pm.
As one of the larger Arts Societies in the South-West we offer a choice of timings for each of our ten lectures a year on arts-related topics enabling members and visitors to enjoy the lecture in either the afternoon or the evening. Across the two lectures we attract audiences of up to 350.
Lectures are normally held in the Digby Hall, Sherborne.
Visitors are welcome
STUDY DAYS
Each year we hold 2 or 3 Study Days in which the lecturer explores a subject in more detail over a series of 3 lectures. Coffee is served between two morning lectures, then a lunch with wine or soft drinks is enjoyed followed by a third lecture after lunch.
Our in-depth Study Days offer a smaller audience, normally up to about 70, an opportunity to address a topic of particular interest in greater detail over a series of 3 lectures and to enjoy an excellent buffet lunch.
VISITS
We organise both residential visits, both in the UK and overseas, and day trips to places of cultural and artistic interest.
We are very pleased that, after residential visits, in particular, were necessarily restricted during the Covid pandemic, we are now able to move back towards a full programme.
SOCIAL
A very sociable and friendly Society, we arrange special lunches and dinners during the year.
ARTS VOLUNTEERING
We have organised events for young people under our former “Young Arts” scheme now incorporated into a wider “Arts Volunteering” heading.
In 2022 we sponsored arts projects in two local primary schools. Funding may also be available for sponsoring other projects in support of the arts in the local area.
CHURCH RECORDERS
