Creative Programme
Our Creative Programme brings unique artistic interventions to our sites in the form of contemporary visual art, theatre, literature, dance and other creative art forms that bring England’s stories to life.
The programme commissions artists, often in partnership with organisations, to produce creative works that draw inspiration from our iconic sites and collections and encourage engagement with heritage and history in new and thought-provoking ways.
Members and visitors can enjoy our creative and artistic projects as part of a regular visit to a site, with a series of exciting new projects, partnerships and collaborations planned for the year ahead.
What’s been happening
Our Creative Programme was launched in 2020. Since then, we've programmed a series of stimulating projects including a major art installation on Hadrian’s Wall in 2022, celebrating the Wall’s 1,900th anniversary. We’ve also commissioned a new artwork at Scarborough Castle, and hosted a poetry fellowship.
Our programme has included exciting partnerships with the British Textile Biennial, Forward Arts Foundation, Ikon Gallery, Invisible Dust, Newcastle University, Northampton University, Poetry Takeaway and Vigo Gallery.
Explore some of our most recent and ongoing Creative Programme projects below or look back further to some of our past creative collaborations here.
More on the Art Installation at HousesteadsRecent and Past Projects
As part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of Elizabeth I’s 19-day visit to Kenilworth Castle, British artist Lindsey Mendick was invited to produce a new temporary installation within the grounds of the castle in 2025. The work will re-examine the events of 1575 from the perspective of a female gaze.
More on the Wicked Game installation at Kenilworth-
Dion Kitson: Silver Lining
Silver Lining was a 2024 exhibition by contemporary artist Dion Kitson at the JW Evans Silver Factory, Birmingham. Kitson honoured a lost industrial past, utilising new technologies to create sculptural interventions in the factory, celebrating the history and popular culture of Birmingham and the Black Country.
The exhibition was in collaboration Ikon Gallery which hosted Kitson’s first major solo show at the same time.
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Strike a Pose: Stephen Farthing and the Swagger Portrait
In 2024 works by Stephen Farthing were exhibited alongside the Suffolk Collection at Kenwood, in London, featuring paintings inspired by swagger portraiture including Kenwood’s series by Jacobean artist William Larkin. Farthing was also in residence in Kenwood’s Dairy where he created new works in response to Kenwood’s collections.
Image: Stephen Farthing, A Dance To The Music of Time (Cecil after Larkin), 2020. Photograph © Moira Jamrisko
More Past Projects
Over the years we have been privileged to work on a number of collaborations with emerging and established artists, local communities and other creative organisations to produce art commissions, site-specific works, sound installations, exhibitions, performances and events at our sites across the country.
Explore our Past Projects