The Arts Society

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The Arts Society 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.

‘Taste often served as a channel for expressing and experimenting with gender and relationships, a freedom made possible...
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

‘In a late letter he wrote: “I have a bunch of tulips, so gay, of so many colours: orange, pink, different pinks, a stra...
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

‘People realised that the river was like this big history book. I always say the Thames is the best river in the world t...
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

‘All works, no matter what or by whom painted, are nothing but bagatelles and childish trifles… unless they are made and...
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

Did you know that the Bayeux Tapestry is not actually a tapestry at all? 🤯In our latest issue, David Musgrove – co-autho...
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

With more than 300 Arts Societies across the UK and beyond, there’s always something going on. Here’s a small glimpse at...
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

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

What better way to enjoy the holidays than with the wealth of arts happenings taking place nationwide. Here are just a f...
18/08/2026

What better way to enjoy the holidays than with the wealth of arts happenings taking place nationwide. Here are just a few highlights:

🔴 Celebrate the 100th birthday of Norma Jeane with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery exhibition ‘Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait’
🔴 Head to the UK’s largest annual festival of visual arts: Edinburgh Art Festival (14–30 August)
🔴 Explore the glittering new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, an arts venue in Oxford that hosts exhibitions, concerts, lectures and more

Pick up the latest issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’ – our gift to our members – for more summer inspiration. Head to our website to find out how to join.

Pictured: ‘Marilyn Monroe, Ballerina Sitting’, 1954, by Milton H Greene. Milton H Greene © MHG Collective, LLC

‘Constable made it his life’s mission to share the beauty he saw through his art, and it was summer that formed the seas...
10/08/2026

‘Constable made it his life’s mission to share the beauty he saw through his art, and it was summer that formed the seasonal setting for his most famous works.'

In the latest issue of ‘The Arts Society Magazine’, Nicola Moorby explores how Constable captured fleeting moments in nature – and how grief darkened his palette as a painter.

In the mood for more? Visit ‘The Hay Wain: Walking Constable’s Landscape’ at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich Museums, until 4 October, and ‘Gainsborough, Turner & Constable: Inventing Landscape’ at Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury, until 11 October.

🎨 ‘Seascape Study: Boat and Stormy Sky’, 20 July 1828. Royal Academy of Arts. Photo: Alamy

🎨 ‘Self-portrait’, 1806, Tate. Purchased 1984. © Tate. Photo: Tate

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