The Arts Society

Home
United Kingdom
London
The Arts Society

Call Directions Website Contact the organisation

Making the arts mean more to more people

We are a volunteer-led organisation that connects people with the arts and with each other.

We offer highly-rated talks and events across 360 local Societies in the UK and abroad. In 1965 The Chiltern Antiques Group was founded by Patricia Fay and a pioneering group of young woman eager to be educated about the arts. Just a few years later, in 1968, eleven such Societies came together to form the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS). On 17 May 2017, following a major rebranding exercise, The Arts Society replaced NADFAS as our operating name. After 50 years, we needed to evolve to keep up with changing times in order to reach out to more people in more places. The Arts Society is now a leading arts education charity with a global network of 360 local Societies, brought together through a shared curiosity for the arts.

30/10/2026

Our new issue of The Arts Society Magazine has landed!

On our cover is acclaimed artist Garry Fabian Miller ( Garry Fabian Miller ).

Known for his pioneering work in contemporary fine art photography, Fabian Miller is the maker of electrifying, meditative, luminous photographic images – all created without a camera.

His work is about light and colour…and there is an element of time travel too. For decades the artist has felt a powerful connection to the figures of the English Romantic movement and, in particular, its leader, artist Samuel Palmer (1805–81).

Why is this so? And how has that connection led to a new exhibition, opening shortly at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum ?

Our Editor-at-Large met Fabian Miller at his home in Dartmoor to seek answers. Capturing our portraits on the day was photographer Cristian Barnett ( Field Bureau ), and assisting on the shoot was Louis Stopforth .

The Ashmolean exhibition is called ‘Garry Fabian Miller: Between the Moon and the Hawthorn’; it runs from 26 November–13 June 2027 and will feature beautiful works by both Fabian Miller and Samuel Palmer.

Elsewhere in this winter issue…
- art historian Melissa Sophia Baksh explores the story of the kiss in the history of art (catch the new
show ‘The Last Human Kiss’ at Sainsbury Centre | Art Museum )
- The Arts Society lecturer Caroline Levisse reveals how Monet made his remarkable snow scenes
- Arts writer Susan Gray looks at the nun’s story in art, from the works that came from Renaissance convents to today’s NunTok phenomenon
- and we bring you our definitive guide to the winter arts events nationwide that are not be missed

Our award-winning magazine goes direct to members of The Arts Society. To find out how to join, head to the link in our bio!

28/10/2026

‘Five things hit me immediately when I look at this painting: the scale, the drama, the emotion, the mystery and the jeopardy.’

In the first of a new series in the magazine titled ‘Object Lessons’, author, broadcaster, writer and Arts Society President Hilary Kay shares her insights into a single fascinating artwork.
For Hilary’s first column she discusses ‘An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump’ (1768) by Joseph Wright of Derby.

See the piece in person at Derby Museums in the exhibition ‘Wright of Derby: From the Shadows’ until 1 November.

Image: © The National Gallery, London

20/10/2026

With autumn here, there’s no better time to head inside and discover some of the exhibitions taking place around the UK.

📍In London, discover the newly opened Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell, with exhibitions including ‘Quentin Blake: Performance’ and ‘MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like…’
📍In Wakefield, visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see ‘Hold to This Earth: Works by Contemporary Indigenous North American Artists from Tia Collection’
📍In Southampton, head to Southampton City Art Gallery for ‘Art Then! British Painting, Sculpture and Drawing, 1910–1960’

For more inspiration, dip into the latest issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’, our gift to our members. Head to our website to join today. https://theartssociety.org/

Seen here is ‘Cried a river and drowned the whole world’ (2022) by MURUGIAH. Photo: © MURUGIAH

14/10/2026

‘Taste often served as a channel for expressing and experimenting with gender and relationships, a freedom made possible by the privacy of the home.’

In our latest issue Indigo Dunphy-Smith seeks out the LGBTQ+ stories hidden within Britain’s historic houses.

These range from the secret passageway linking King James VI/I’s state apartment with the chambers of George Villiers, on through time to Sissinghurst in Kent: the home of Vita Sackville-West, who is believed to have inspired the gender-bending character of Orlando in Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel of that name.

Read on in the summer issue of the magazine – our gift to The Arts Society’s members. To join, head to our website now.�https://theartssociety.org/

📸 Sissinghurst Castle - National Trust in Kent. Photo: Alamy

06/10/2026

‘In a late letter he wrote: “I have a bunch of tulips, so gay, of so many colours: orange, pink, different pinks, a strange one – pure brick red – which is my favourite; so sensitive to warmth; the tulip with the strange hot smell which seems to stir deep memories…”’

Arts Society Lecturer Amanda Herries has curated ‘COLOUR: The Palette of S.J. Peploe’ at Kircudbright Galleries. In our summer issue she takes a closer look at a celebrated still life by the Scottish Colourist painter Samuel John Peploe.

Head to our website to become a member, and you’ll never miss an issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’ – our gift to our members. https://theartssociety.org/

🎨 ‘Tulips and Fruit’, c.1919, SJ Peploe. Private collection

28/09/2026

‘People realised that the river was like this big history book. I always say the Thames is the best river in the world to mudlark because you need tides and it has 2,000 years of intense habitation.’

So says Lara Maiklem, expert mudlarker and author of ‘A Mudlarking Year: Finding Treasure In Every Season’. In our latest issue, Jessica Johnson digs deep into why a growing number of creatives – from artist and designer Yinka Ilori to ceramic artist Raewyn Harrison – are taking inspiration from the treasures hiding in the mud.

Read on by picking up the summer issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’ – our gift to our members. Head to our website now: https://theartssociety.org/

📷 London Mudlark: Lara Maiklem Mudlarking with a few of her finds on the Thames foreshore. Photo: Christian Sinibaldi

22/09/2026

‘All works, no matter what or by whom painted, are nothing but bagatelles and childish trifles… unless they are made and painted from life’ – Caravaggio

Go deep into European art of the 16th to 17th centuries – from the High Renaissance to the Baroque – with ‘Decoding History’s Art’, a five-part lecture series led by Dr Geri Parlby this autumn.

Members of The Arts Society can enjoy a diverse array of Study Days in person and online; upcoming events include:
⁃ ‘Modernist Trailblazers: Russia’s Female Artistic Revolutionaries’ (16 Oct)
⁃ ‘Jade: A Stone of Ancient Empires, A Resplendent Art Deco Jewel’ (5 Nov)
⁃ ‘I Know It So Well: Musicals and Their Inescapable Hit Songs’ (13 Nov)

Discover what’s on inside the latest issue of the magazine – and to join, head here now: theartssociety.org

🎨 ‘Boy With A Basket Of Fruit’, c.1593, Caravaggio. Galleria Borghese, Rome

14/09/2026

Did you know that the Bayeux Tapestry is not actually a tapestry at all? 🤯

In our latest issue, David Musgrove – co-author, with Michael Lewis, of ‘The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry’ – unpicks what makes the 68-metre-long embroidery so extraordinary.

In case you missed it: the Bayeux Tapestry is returning to England for the first time since its creation nearly 1,000 years ago. It will be at the British Museum from September 2026–July 2027.

🧵 Seen here is a detail from the famous 11th-century work, which is usually housed in the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Normandy. Photo: © Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux

08/09/2026

With more than 300 Arts Societies across the UK and beyond, there’s always something going on. Here’s a small glimpse at some of the community and arts projects supported by our Societies.

🟠 The Arts Society Salisbury match funded by The Arts Society Wessex Area supported conservation of a 6.5-metre-high stained-glass window by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones at Salisbury Cathedral, seen here

🟠 Members of The Arts Society Sandwich and The Arts Society Dover, Deal and Sandwich have been volunteering at Goodnestone Park Mansion in Kent

🟠 The Arts Society Wycombe funded an arts project at a school for young people with disabilities, while a Society volunteer created an exhibition for parents and carers
Get inspired by more news in the latest issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’, our gift to our members.

Seen here is head glazier Sam Kelly examining Salisbury Cathedral’s Burne-Jones window pre-restoration. Photo: Finnbarr Webster

26/08/2026

‘The List’ is your essential update of events and openings this summer – a new feature we’ve debuted in the latest issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’.

To whet your appetite, here’s one of those need-to-know items: the 300th anniversary of what’s often called ‘the UK’s Sistine Chapel’.

The artist James Thornhill completed the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich three centuries ago – its breathtaking Baroque interiors took him 19 years to finish. Why not celebrate its tercentenary with a visit?

Get more ideas in the summer issue of the magazine – our gift to The Arts Society’s members. To join, head to our website.

Address

LABS 90 High Holborn
London
WC1V6LJ

Telephone

+442070387590

Website

http://www.theartssociety.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Arts Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.