LONDON.- With over 100,000 people due to take part, this will be the first time many of The Arts Society’s members will attend their first face to face event since March 2020. September 2021 marks an important milestone into the reopening of the arts with art history lectures re-starting, as well as coffee meetings, cultural visits, volunteering and arts discussion groups taking place locally, in person and online, across the country.

More than 400 separate events will be taking place across the country from Cornwall to Cheshire and from London to Lancashire. Artists and topics covered by some of the planned lectures include: Banksy, Grayson Perry, The Bayeux Tapestry, Caravaggio, Manet, Holbein as well as Histories of Canals, Wallpaper and Diamonds, to name just a few.

While heritage visits include Eltham House, Norwich Castle, Syon House, a virtual visit to Venice and some events include cream teas and walking tours in Oxford.

The Arts Society provides a welcoming space for art lovers to come together – locally, nationally and globally, in person and online – with the opportunity to hear expert lecturers share their specialist knowledge about the arts. Some of the more unusual lecture topics include parks, fans and artists working within the criminal justice system as well as topics on interior design, jewellery, music and naval history.

With a programme full of events, The Arts Society is inviting non-members to attend events this autumn and also encouraging membership of what is the country’s leading arts education charity, that encourages its members to expand their minds, celebrate the arts and make new friends. The Arts Society is a vital opportunity for those who are isolated or who live alone to connect with likeminded people and make new friends through a shared passion for the arts.

Just some of the lectures taking place this autumn include:

• Banksy – Fraud or Genius by Pepe Martinez at Normandy Village Hall (The Arts Society Woking, West Surrey) on 12th October

• Pots & Frocks: The World of Grayson Perry by Ian Swankie at The Corn Hall in Norfolk (The Arts Society Diss) on 21st September and at Assembly Room, North Street, Chichester (The Arts Society Lavant Valley, West Sussex) on 12th October

• A Decorative Art: History of Wallpapers by Jo Banham at Chalfont St Peter (The Arts Society Chiltern, Buckinghamshire) on 23rd September

• Art Behind Bars by Angela Findlay at University of Portsmouth Eldon Building (The Arts Society Portsea Island, Hampshire and Isle of Wight) on 12th October

• Caravaggio: the Master of light and shadow by Shirley Smith at Cley Village Hall (The Arts Society Glaven Valley, Norfolk) on 21st September

• Paintbrushes at Dawn: the world’s greatest artistic feuds, rows and quarrel by Barry Venning at ARCA Hall (The Arts Society Canterbury, Kent) on 15th September

• Treasures of the Fan Museum by Jacob Moss at Christ Church Harrogate (The Arts Society Nidd Valley, Harrogate) on 15th November

• Edouard Manet and Music by Dr Lois Oliver at The Arts Centre, Evesham (The Arts Society Evesham and Pershore, Worcestershire) on 8th September




• Japonism to Modernism: Japanese Influence on Western Art by Suzanne Perrin at The Sarisbury Green Community Centre (The Arts Society Sarisbury Green, Hampshire) on 17th September

• Canal History & Heritage by Roger Butler at The Masonic Hall (The Arts Society Gravesend, Kent) on 14th September and at Saxton Hall, Southend-on Sea (The Arts Society Thames Estuary) on 6th October

• A Concise history of our great British parks by Paul Rabbitts at 37 Club, 1 West Approach (The Arts Society Sedgemoor, Somerset) on 1st September

• Ships, Men and Women of Nelson’s Navy by Dr Helen Doe at Rockingham Forest Hotel Corby (The Arts Society Rutland, Northamptonshire) on 16th September

• Clare Blatherwick on Diamonds at Painswick Centre (The Arts Society Painswick, Gloucestershire)

• The Invention of Photography and its impact on Early Modern Painting by Caroline Levisse at The Franklin Rooms (The Arts Society Medway, Kent) on 21st September

• Fashion, Fury and Feminism: Women’s fight for change by Tessa Boase at The Hub Easton Street High St (The Arts Society High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) on 11th October

• Victorians: Shakespeare and Elephants by Giles Ramsey at The Hawthorne Theatre, Campus West (The Arts Society Welwyn Garden, Hertfordshire) on 15th September

• The Story of Crystal Palace by Ian Gledhill at Holmewood House School Tunbridge Wells (The Arts Society Chiltern, Buckinghamshire) on 23rd September

• Holbein (The Arts Society Tilling, Sussex) on 1st September

Visits and guided tours include:

• Crome exhibition at Norwich Castle on 1st September hosted by The Arts Society Glaven Valley

• Syon House and Park on 22nd September hosted by The Arts Society Grayshott

• Summer Cream Tea hosted by The Arts Society Bromley

• Real-time tour of Venice via Zoom hosted by The Arts Society Kent

October events include a guided walking tour of Longford Castle and Heraldry in Oxford, a walk along the Estuary Coast, and a visit to Eltham Palace and Red House. Additionally, The Arts Society in Rutland are enabling ‘Bring a friend in October for free’.