Make a Date for Melbourne Festival…
Art & Architecture Trail
We are counting down to 19 & 20 September 2026
In 2025, 65 hosts welcomed 172 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. Melbourne Festival puts art at the heart of South Derbyshire, if you missed the 2025 Festival make sure you follow us on social media to ensure that you don’t miss any of the exciting activities, events and celebrations for “Melbourne Festival Coming of Age in September 2026!
Come and see for yourself!
THE CALL FOR ARTISTS IS NOW CLOSED ARTISTS WILL BE INFORMED AT THE END OF MAY IF THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED A SPACE.
Thank you to all artists who supported Melbourne Festival Art & Architecture Trail in 2025.
HUMANITY, NATURE & CREATIVITY
It is time to celebrate Melbourne Festival Coming of Age this Summer and confirming our place as the beating heart putting Art in the Heart of South Derbyshire.
Thanks to a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England this year we are delivering a series of commissions, workshops, events and showcases so please follow our social media for up to the minute details of how to get involved.
COMMISSION OPPORTUNITIES - CLOSING DATE 30TH May 2026
We would like to invite applications for three commissions representing artists interpretation of the theme “Humanity, Nature and Creativity”.
SCULPTURE COMMISSION -
We are commissioning an outdoor sculpture inspired by the work of 20th Century Modernist Sculptor RONALD POPE who lived and worked in Melbourne until 1997.
The piece
TWO - DIMENSIONAL ART COMMISSION
EMERGING ARTISTS COMMISSION
COAST
at Creative Melbourne Gallery
Creative Melbourne is the home of Melbourne Festival.
Forget the January blues and escape to the sea with Coast!
We are thrilled to welcome you to our first exhibition of 2026, COAST (Wed 14 Jan - Sat 21 Feb). Let the winter blues melt away and escape to somewhere sandy, where the seagulls call and waves wash onto shell encrusted shores.
Artist Ruby Beau joins us for the first time in the gallery with her ethereal seascapes: think rolling clouds, a soft candy colour palette, and seas that stretch out to the horizon. She is joined by landscape artist Michael Claxton, whose oil paintings capture both the drama and serenity of the sea, studying how light, colour and texture interplay to create dynamic works.
Ceramicist Jane Clowes makes a return to the gallery with her seaside inspired pottery. Jane makes functional earthenware pieces, incorporating her own bird drawings as enamel transfers.
We’re pleased to welcome Kathryn Borg, whose ceramics are inspired by the beauty and magic of rock pools. Each piece is like a treasure trove waiting to be explored - what hidden gems will you find in her vessels?
Glass artist Stevie Davies returns with pieces that evoke the tranquility of calm waters, using her eye for colour and shape to craft pieces you will love for a lifetime.
Watercolour painter Cheryl Wilbraham adds a softer touch to the exhibition, with pieces that gently lull back memories of beach walks and coastal cliffs. She is joined by gallery regulars Peter Watson and Steve Mcloughlin, whose work demonstrates the highlights of the English coast through contrasting lenses.
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
We look forward to seeing you at
Creative Melbourne, Church Street DE73 8EJ soon!
Creative Melbourne is at the top of Church Street, just off Melbourne Market Place so why not make a day of it - visit the gallery, the fabulous independent shops & cafes in the Market Place and pop down the hill to Melbourne Pool see Melbourne Church.
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