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The Lake District, Cumbria, has provided inspiration for a whole host of artists throughout the years, so it may come as no surprise that we’ve got a rich arts and crafts scene across the area! Here, you’ll find a range of art galleries and exhibition spaces that host an ever-changing calendar of works in virtually every medium.
Discover pieces by local and nationally known artists at venues including independent galleries and studios, to museums and seasonal fairs. Some offer the chance to take a piece home with you, while others host regularly changing exhibitions as well as permanent art collections.
There’s even the opportunity to check out art in the great outdoors: there’s a sculpture trail at Grizedale Forest, for example, as well as open air exhibitions as part of festivals and events throughout the year.
If you fancy trying it for yourself, several galleries and studios also host workshops and classes. Often, you’ll be able to get inspired by the stunning natural surroundings of your venue as you learn a new skill or hone existing abilities.
As well as viewing some fantastic art pieces, here in Cumbria we also invite you to explore the studios and workshops where that work was made; and even meet the artists who create it.
Keep an eye out, too, for touring exhibitions to see something a little different while in the Lake District, Cumbria. Discover our galleries and exhibitions below.
Useful/Beautiful marks 25 years of contemporary craft at Blackwell – the Arts & Crafts house,…
If you’re visiting the Ambleside area why not pop into the Old Courthouse Gallery? We have a…
Connie Flynn's Text & Textile! explores everyday sayings rooted in the textile trade. Using…
A contemporary art gallery 9 miles east of Carlisle. located close to Hadrian’s Wall, the Scottish…
Head to the Great Barn at Sizergh to see an exhibition from a creative collective of artists,…
Join us for a powerful multi-media exhibition exploring stories of fragility and survival, told…
"Our personal encounters within Morecambe Bay." This exhibition brings together the creative voices…
A diverse exhibition celebrating printmaking techniques, creativity, and artistic exploration by…
Eskdale Mill is a unique experience, nestled in one of the Lake District's most beautiful locations…
Great exhibitions, activities, gift shop and café in a glorious park setting amongst the mountains.…
The Paper Quilt Project is a living exhibition in which a community art piece is created while on…
Discover the creatures that came before the T.REX. Step back to the Carboniferous period, 100…
Discover documentary photographer Joanne Coates's powerful exhibition about women in agriculture in…
Conceived by the British painter Daniel Sturgis, On the Thick and Thin of Painting explores the…
Roman museum displaying the internationally significant collection of Romano-British altars,…
This exhibition brings together two emerging portrait painters. Lela Harris gives depth and…
Inside just got interesting. Step off the trail and into a space where the Lake District is…
Grizedale Observatory and planetarium for stargazing under the dark skies of the Lake District.…
Venture into the fateful night that inspired one of the world's greatest gothic tales: Mary…
REACTOR is a new multimedia installation by Felicity Hammond, launching on Thursday 28th May at 6pm…
Discover 200 years of Rock Climbing history, from the earliest scrambles to the modern sport we…
Step inside the charming world of Tabitha Twitchit's second-hand bookshop in Hawkshead, where every…
We are celebrating our new exhibition in style – with a Gothic summer garden party! Step into a…
Reactor, by Felicity Hammond, is a new multimedia installation exploring the possibilities of the…


You may leave the Lake District, but once you’ve been, it’ll never leave you.

Number of results: 73
, currently showing 41 to 60.
Bowness-on-Windermere
A magical indoor attraction that brings to life all 23 Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit tales. Meet all your favourite characters and find out more about Beatrix Potter herself.
W Strand, Whitehaven
Discover the creatures that came before the T.REX.
Step back to the Carboniferous period, 100 million years before the dinosaurs. Visit tropical forests and swamps teeming with bizarre and ferocious ancient monsters, some of which had larger teeth…
Nr Kendal
Discover documentary photographer Joanne Coates's powerful exhibition about women in agriculture in Holeslack barn, on Sizergh's estate.
Nr Kendal
Head to the Great Barn at Sizergh to see an exhibition from a creative collective of artists, inspired by soil.
W Strand, Whitehaven
Before we say goodbye to I Grew Up 90s exhibition (on 21 June), we wanted to celebrate the decade a little close to home - with a special event dedicated to what like was really like in Whitehaven, and the surrounding areas during the 1990s.
Step…
Kirkland, Kendal
This exhibition brings together two emerging portrait painters. Lela Harris gives depth and humanity to figures who have been overlooked or marginalised by history, while Joshua Donkor collaboratively embeds the personal histories and cultural…
Keswick
Located in Keswick, the home of the first pencil, visitors enter this museum through a replica graphite mine which would have served as the source of the pencil industry over three centuries ago.
Kendal
Regional artists know all too well how few spaces are available to show their work, so the recent opening of this large gallery space in Kendal is an exciting new addition to the Lakeland arts scene. With around a hundred square metres of space, the…
W Strand, Whitehaven
Pop in and meet Bry Cooper, our family history expert, for a free informal session packed with helpful hints, tips and advice to help you uncover your family story.
Whether you're just starting your research or looking to overcome a stumbling block,…
Kirkland, Kendal
Join us for a powerful multi-media exhibition exploring stories of fragility and survival, told through the voices of people in Barrow and Kendal.
Step into an unseen world through immersive sound and film, artwork, poetry, and images created by…
Barrow-in-Furness
Reactor, by Felicity Hammond, is a new multimedia installation exploring the possibilities of the autonomous submarine. This exhibition marks a new collaboration with Hammond, following her 2017 Signal commission In Defence of Industry, which won…
Garsdale Rd, Sedbergh
Seven perspectives, bound by a mutual reverence for natural form, fragility, and transformation.
As artists, we see Common Land not only as a reflection on the physical terrain, but as an exploration of the emotional and ancestral ground we all, in…
Kirkland, Kendal
The Paper Quilt Project is a living exhibition in which a community art piece is created while on display in the gallery. This project has been designed in response to the two adjoining exhibitions; Bellwethers and Joshua Donkor & Lela Harris. Both…
Bowness-on-Windermere
Blackwell – the Arts & Crafts house is a rare architectural gem in the heart of the Lake District and offers a perfectly preserved snapshot of early 20th-century living.
Station Rd, Keswick
Discover 200 years of Rock Climbing history, from the earliest scrambles to the modern sport we know today at our latest community gallery exhibition, in partnership with the Mountain Heritage Trust.
To honour this incredible milestone, the…
Barrow-in-Furness
The Dock Museum are proud to bring you the latest exhibition from John Duffin, "Look North" The exhibition will be full of new and unseen paintings. The exhibition is accessible to all and is free to enter.
Windermere
Windermere Jetty Museum is a vibrant, family-friendly visitor attraction dedicated to the boats, people and the rich history of Windermere, England’s largest natural lake.
Garsdale Rd, Sedbergh
Seven artists explore shared landscapes, material connections, and personal perspectives on land, memory, and transformation.
Common Land: Septenary Perspectives brings together seven artists united by a shared reverence for natural form,…
Garsdale Rd, Sedbergh
Vibrant woven sails and textiles inspired by nineteenth-century Welsh shipwrecks and coastal histories.
Untangling Colour is an exhibition of bold, expressive rugs and wall hangings by artist weaver Vicky Ellis, inspired by shipwrecks along the…
Nr. Penrith
Brougham Hall is a 14th Century Fortified ruin home to a variety of working craft units, a cafe, both a gin distillery and a brandy distillery.
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