Talks, tours, and workshops at the museums in autumn 2024
Talks, tours, workshops and more events take place across the museums throughout the year on a variety of topics – from mindful art workshops to creative writing and ghost story tours!
Here are a few highlights coming in autumn 2024 at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum and The Commandery.
At Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum
Enjoy weekly creative workshops led by artist Inner Knowings. Covering everything from doodling to origami, these artist-led workshops are the perfect opportunity to try out different creative methods with a focus on mindfulness.
Sessions are free to attend and open to everyone (aimed at adults).
What takes place in the museum after dark… in October? The most spookalicious Museum After Hours, of course!
Have a bop to hauntingly good tunes, sip a blood-curdling cocktail, and dress up in your most frightening finery in one of Worcester’s most iconic Victorian buildings.
Free entry; cash bar. Plan your visit to Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum.
Love gothic literature and creative writing? This is the event for you…
Enjoy an hour-long talk by the University of Worcester’s Dr Lucy Arnold all about poisons, potions and chemicals in literature. She’ll be touching on characters including Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the genre of crime fiction, and all things spooky.
After a break, write your own gothic and spooky text inspired by the contents of Steward’s Chemist Shop here in the museum, which houses intriguing bottles and boxes, weighing scales, and more… Dr Jack McGowan, Creative and Professional Writing course leader at the University of Worcester, will deliver this 2-hour workshop.
Attendees will receive 10% discount at Little Al’s Café at the Balcony on the day!
Talk: 11am – 12noon. Writing workshop: 1 – 3pm.
At The Commandery
After-dark tours are back at The Commandery for 2024!
Explore one of the oldest buildings in Worcester by torchlight this October…
The Commandery is once again opening its gates on autumn nights for you to discover its ghostly secrets.
Hear about strange sightings and mysterious rumours as you uncover the history of the building in a guided tour with a Halloween twist.
Keep your eyes peeled and make up your own mind about the paranormal activities said to have taken place over the years – if you’re brave enough!
| DATES | TOUR TIMES | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 15 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Thursday 17 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Tuesday 22 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Thursday 24 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Tuesday 29 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | |
| Thursday 31 October | 6.30pm | 8pm | 9.30pm |
What stories are waiting to be told inside one of Worcester’s oldest buildings?
In this creative writing workshop, run by Dr Jack McGowan and Dr Lucy Arnold of the University of Worcester, we will explore how heritage spaces and historical architecture have a unique relationship to the ghost story genre.
Through a series of writing exercises focusing on our physical presence in the space of The Commandery, participants will produce work which responds to this historical setting, writing a new chapter in The Commandery’s history and developing new ways of articulating our relationships to the historical past.
This workshop is for ages 18+ due to the nature of the material.
Please bring whatever writing equipment you prefer to work with.
Halloween is a good time to think about the prince of darkness.
In the age of the English Civil War, he loomed as a powerful and terrifying figure.
In this presentation, Professor Darren Oldridge invites you to turn the pages of seventeenth-century books that describe his various manifestations: from a spirit in the mind to a physical creature that could annihilate sinners.
If you’d like to explore the rest of The Commandery, you can purchase half-price day admission (£4.50, usually £9) from the shop on the day of the talk.
Enjoy!
