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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,…
Venture into the fateful night that inspired one of the world's greatest gothic tales: Mary…
The Paper Quilt Project is a living exhibition in which a community art piece is created while on…
Discover 200 years of Rock Climbing history, from the earliest scrambles to the modern sport we…
Discover documentary photographer Joanne Coates's powerful exhibition about women in agriculture in…
Inside just got interesting. Step off the trail and into a space where the Lake District is…
Join us for a powerful multi-media exhibition exploring stories of fragility and survival, told…
Meet sculptor extraordinaire Tony Crellin as he brings to life a new sculpture within the Muncaster…
This exhibition brings together two emerging portrait painters. Lela Harris gives depth and…
We are very pleased to bring you a new exhibition to the Dock Museum, "What the sea decides to give…
Step inside the charming world of Tabitha Twitchit's second-hand bookshop in Hawkshead, where every…
Head to the Great Barn at Sizergh to see an exhibition from a creative collective of artists,…
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…
Conceived by the British painter Daniel Sturgis, On the Thick and Thin of Painting explores the…
We are excited to be working with Barrow AFC and Bluebird Supporters club to bring you the Barrow…
Discover the creatures that came before the T.REX. Step back to the Carboniferous period, 100…
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…
Grizedale Observatory and planetarium for stargazing under the dark skies of the Lake District.…
Celebrating the beauty, behaviour, symbolism and diversity of birds through the work of 57 UK…
Great exhibitions, activities, gift shop and café in a glorious park setting amongst the mountains.…
Explore the musical, interactive, piano sculptures of local artist Joshua Payne, exhibited across…
Join Rosehill this summer for The People's Gallery, a free, family-friendly exhibition showcasing…


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

Number of results: 65
, currently showing 1 to 20.
Blackwell - the Arts & Crafts house, Bowness-on-Windermere
Useful/Beautiful marks 25 years of contemporary craft at Blackwell – the Arts & Crafts house, celebrating the makers, ideas and objects that have shaped our collection since opening our doors to the public in 2001.
Set throughout the house, the…
Sedbergh
Farfield Mill is a Victorian woollen mill in the Yorkshire Dales. Home to artists’ studios, art exhibitions, heritage looms and tea room.
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…
Ravenglass
Explore the musical, interactive, piano sculptures of local artist Joshua Payne, exhibited across the Muncaster Estate.
Kendal
Conceived by the British painter Daniel Sturgis, On the Thick and Thin of Painting explores the materiality of the medium, its physical and ethereal boundaries, and the enduring subculture of abstraction.
The exhibition is framed as a visual…
Ravenglass
Arrive from 6:30pm before the journey begins at 7pm until 8pm.
Muncaster Parish Church.
Join us for a musical journey into the magical world of moss. These incredible organisms have inhabited and shaped the Earth for over 450 million years, and…
Nr Kendal
Head to the Great Barn at Sizergh to see an exhibition from a creative collective of artists, inspired by soil.
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…
Hawkshead
Come and discover all that Grizedale has to offer – take in Lake District landscapes, experience a whole range of contemporary art and enjoy an adventure, no matter your age!
Penrith
Fifty four artists will open their studios or create a pop-up exhibition as part of this free event which combines the opportunity to visit artists' studios, buy their work, and experience breath-taking scenery around Cumbria along the way.
Maryport
A solo exhibition of pastel paintings by Sarah Reid.
This solo exhibition brings together a collection of pastel paintings inspired by the ever-changing beauty of the Cumbrian coastline. Working with the rich, luminous qualities of pastel, Sarah…
Keswick
Inside just got interesting.
Step off the trail and into a space where the Lake District is reimagined. Sound, story and digital exploration blend into a hands-on experience that's full of life, built for curious minds and restless feet of all ages…
Grasmere
On Christmas Day it was Dorothy's Wordsworth's birthday! Find out how Dorothy and her brother William celebrated when she lived in Dove Cottage over 200 years ago. We'll read some of her birthday journal entries and then try some Regency era…
Ambleside
Join photographer Colin Potsig for a portrait drop-in session inspired by his Club Culture Cumbria project.
Following on from the successful launch of Club Culture Cumbria here at The Armitt, photographer Colin Potsig is setting up a studio in the…
Garsdale Rd, Sedbergh
A diverse exhibition celebrating printmaking techniques, creativity, and artistic exploration by Cumbrian printmakers.
Exploration and Discovery is an exhibition by Cumbria Printmakers, a cooperative of individual artists united by a shared passion…
Nr Kendal
Discover documentary photographer Joanne Coates's powerful exhibition about women in agriculture in Holeslack barn, on Sizergh's estate.
Kendal
Abbot Hall is one of Britain’s preeminent small art galleries, set in a Grade I listed Georgian building on the banks of the River Kent in Kendal. The gallery holds an outstanding collection of 18th-21st century art and hosts exhibitions. The…
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…
Penrith
Celebrating the beauty, behaviour, symbolism and diversity of birds through the work of 57 UK artists. Featuring ceramics, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles, alongside original children's book illustrations and a spectacular mural…
Grasmere
Venture into the fateful night that inspired one of the world's greatest gothic tales: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Beginning with the reimagined bedroom of Mary Shelley, step into a spellbinding world of moonlit woods, haunting seas and waking…
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