Latest News

Derbyshire open arts has been going for over 20 years and we feel it’s time to make some changes. The small committee of volunteers that has run this for so many years has decided to take a fallow year and come back in 2027 with some exciting plans and ideas.

We know this might come as a bit of a shock for the regular artists and makers that take part in this event, but we want to assure you we have your best interests at heart.

We are excited to have some much needed time to reset, and develop this fantastic event for the future, with some new great additions and tweaks that we think are going to be amazing.

We want to take this time to thank everyone that has been involved with Derbyshire Open Arts and encourage you to sign up to our newsletters and to keep an eye on our social media pages for our exciting updates and announcements.

Leigh Wood, Chair

Here we go again - for the 20th time! All artists and makers are invited to apply for the 2026 event. Find out more about it by clicking on "How the Event Works" and start your application from the "Click to Apply" button. If you would like to discuss starting a new, multi-artist venue use the "New Venue Form" button to find out more. If you don't already get our newsletter, make sure you "Sign Up to our Newsletter" so you don't miss any important announcements. 

Well, that's it for another year. We hope everyone who visited one or more of our venues over the weekend had a great time and saw (and maybe bought!) some fabulous art and makes. The artists pages on our website will remain active until the autumn. After that you can still see them via the Archive buttons at the bottom of the home page. So if you just keep thinking about that piece and know you have to have it, you can still find contact details for all the artists. Thank you for supporting Derbyshire Open Arts and we hope to see you again in 2026. 

How time flies! Only a week to go now until our 2025 event starts. Everybody - committee members, artists, venue organisers - is working hard to make it the biggest and best Derbyshire Open Arts event. Please join us at least one of our 68 venues over the weekend of 24-26th May, and feast your eyes on new and exciting artworks and makes. We look forward to seeing you! 

Here at Derbyshire Open Arts, we're all working flat out to prepare for this year's event. The brochures are being printed, the posters and flyers are being delivered to us from the printer, the balloons have been ordered and we're contacting venue organisers and artists to arrange distribution of everything!

You can expect to see brochures and other promotional material in libraries, tourist information boxes and many more places from the middle of April. 

Social media marketing has started - look out for Meet the Maker posts on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter - and print marketing and advertising are being organised. 

There's so much to do at this time of year, but we're carried along by the excitement of having 245 artists at 68 venues, and we're really looking forward to this year's event. We hope you are too! 

If you have applied Thank You! We're hoping that 2025 will be a fantastic year for Derbyshire Open Arts. 

If you haven't yet applied, today is the closing date for applications - 13th January 2025. If you haven't got a venue, and aren't signed up to our newsletter, email us on info@derbyshireopenarts.co.uk and we will send you the latest list of venues with spaces. 

If you're still thinking about joining us for 2025, there are still venues with spaces looking for you to join them. Sign up for our newsletter to get the next list; and email us on info@derbyshireopenarts.co.uk to be sent the one that has just gone out. 

If you want to apply for Derbyshire Open Arts 2025, but don't yet have a venue, make sure you sign up to receive our newsletter. We are sending out regular newsletters listing the venues that have spaces with contact details for the organisers. 

Applications for the 2025 event are now open. Please click on 'How the Event Works' for more information about the event; and to apply just click on 'Application Form'. The closing date is Monday 13th January 2025. We look forward to working with you!

The Derbyshire Open Arts Team is presently getting ready to open the application process for the 2025 Open Studio Style event. This may take some time as we have lost some of our Committee members and have new committee members taking their places.

We are all very enthusiastic and keen to make 2025 a good year throughout Derbyshire. Keep your eye on the website for the 'Applications Opening' date. Better still, sign up for the Newsletter on the Home Page and have it delivered to your in-box.

We look forward to exhibiting with you in May, any queries email us at info@derbyshireopenarts.co.uk.

Derbyshire Open Arts Team

Thank you from everyone at Derbyshire Open Arts for visiting us this year. We hope you had a splendid time viewing the art on display, chatting with the artists and touring round our beautiful county. We look forward to seeing you next year!