Make a Date for Melbourne Festival…
Art & Architecture Trail
20-21 September 2025
In 2024, 68 hosts welcomed 163 regional artists and nearly 6,000 visitors to Melbourne for the Art & Architecture Trail.
Melbourne Festival is a fantastic event thanks to the support of our hosts, helpers, volunteers, and artists. And, entry has remained at £5 per adult since 2008.
Melbourne Festival puts art at the heart of South Derbyshire.
Come and see for yourself!
THE CALL FOR ARTISTS IS NOW CLOSED
Thank you to all artists who applied.
HOT
at Creative Melbourne Gallery
Creative Melbourne is the home of Melbourne Festival.Our current exhibition HOT features an extraordinary collection of original artwork - paintings, prints and mixed media works by an impressive line-up of artists, whose work includes a collection of stunning images inspired by the many shades of Summer to brighten up your home.
OT opened on Wednesday 23rd July with sultry semi abstract oils of the classic English Garden but with an Indian twist referencing artist Sujata Aten’s childhood in India. The exhibition also features ethereal oils by Paula Kemp featuring smokey skies and summer sunsets. Acrylic landscapes and iPad paintings by Laura Donalson inspired by the local area, Ali Hunter is exhibiting at Creative Melbourne for the first time with some new pastel work influenced by her roots in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. The exhibition also features prints and photographic images by Bernie Rutter including some new digital work created with painter Vitor Azevedo, the layered combination of his painterly mark making are combined with Bernie’s altered land/seascapes to create yet to be discovered places.
The exhibition also features delicate wire flowers by Judith Brown, functional ceramics by Louise Roe at Furnace Lane Pottery, Raku pottery by Andy Mason and quirky ceramic sculptures by Anna Binns. The exhibition is open until Saturday 6th September, when the Gallery becomes a hive of activity making the final preparations for Melbourne Festival Art & Architecture Trail on Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st September.
In addition to our featured artists don’t miss the stunning work by our studio artists Sujata Aten, Michelle Holmes and Patrick Twiss-Prentice.
Open Wednesday - Saturday 10am to 4pm until 6th September
We look forward to seeing you at Creative Melbourne, Church Street DE73 8EJ soon!
JOIN OUR VOLUNTEER TEAM!
Would you like to meet new people, learn new skills, or feel you could help in some way??
You may have an interest in art or would like to be part of an organisation that helps the local and wider creative community.
We are looking for new volunteers to expand our friendly team of volunteers who help at our Creative Melbourne Gallery and at Melbourne Festival. Flexible hours morning or afternoons, one session a month or more! Full training will be given.
Or just call 07765 819 428, email us, or drop into Creative Melbourne Gallery
SPACES TO CREATE…
Creative Melbourne Gallery and Studio launched Spaces to Create, a new mentored artist development programme, in 2023. The programme aims to promote the creative industries in South Derbyshire by supporting creatives in becoming self-sustaining small businesses.
Phase One of the programme ended in May 2024, and we recruited our next group of artists in September 2024.
This opportunity is not solely for visual artists: our 2023/ 2024 artists included a poet, a digital creative, and a photographer.
Spaces to Create is open to creative people who can utilise the hotdesking space and benefit from supported development. We have now launched Phase 2 Applications.
The six artists who participated in the Pilot Project took up hotdesking residence in our newly launched space above the Gallery. This opportunity is not solely for visual artists; you could be a writer, digital creative, photographer, game designer, or producer. We are open to creative people who can utilise the hotdesking space and benefit from supported development.
Spaces to Create aims to promote the creative industries in South Derbyshire by supporting creatives in becoming self-sustaining small businesses. Please contact us at info@melbournefestival.co.uk if you would like to find out more!
We would like to thank South Derbyshire District Council for their support for Spaces to Create.
Thank you for visiting our website. Melbourne Festival & Creative Melbourne are both part of Arts Melbourne CIC