Weave a willow Deer with Dragon Willow’s Leilah Vyner. All materials are supplied – just bring yourself and have fun.

Have a look at Leilah’s website for more information about Willow Weaving.

Fee: £90 Includes lunch and materials

Location: The Yorkshire Arboretum Peter Sowerby Building

To book please click further down the page

Unfortunately this event has been cancelled, we apologies for any inconvenience

Guest poets Will Kemp, Katy Skipwith and Chris Bridge (Arboretum Trustee and Volunteer) will be reading poetry in the stunning surroundings of the arboretum.

Katy Mahon is a Northern Irish musician and poet brought up in London and living in York. She has taken courses with Helen Ivory through the National Centre for Writing/UEA, and Gallery Press's ‘Gallery Goes Workshopping’ with Grace Wilentz. During 2021, Katy collaborated with English seascape artist Carolyn Coles for York Open Studios, and she was a reader for the Quiet Compere tour. In 2022, Katy was New Irish Writing’s featured poet in the Irish Independent, and her debut chapbook Some Indefinable Cord was published. Her poems have appeared in various Irish and English journals, most recently HOWL New Irish Writing, Bad Lilies and Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal. Her pamphlet can be purchased through Some Indefinable Cord KATY MAHON | Hybriddreich Ltd.

Will Kemp has won several competitions, been well-placed in others and had four collections published as well as many poems in various journals including: Ambit, The Guardian, Iota, Magma, The North and The Rialto.  He teaches Creative Writing at York University and judges the Keats-Shelley Prize.  For details, visit: www.wkemp.com

Chris Bridge is the Arboretum’s Poet in Residence. He has three published collections: Walking Through, Tracks and Of Trees and Time in The Yorkshire Arboretum. He specialises not in winning but in being the runner up or highly commended. He has achieved this in the Stanza competition, Hippocrates  and the National Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in Pennine Platform, Tribune, Poetry Nottingham and Other Poetry.

In this workshop you will learn how to make a free-standing willow deer, guided by Dragon Willow’s Leilah Vyner.

All materials are supplied and lunch is included - just bring yourself, have fun and get into the festive spirit!

This is an opportunity to meet artist-in-residence Sue Walsh and see the work featured in her new exhibition ‘The Language of Leaves’ at The Yorkshire Arboretum.

"It's such an honour to have been invited to be artist-in-residence at the Yorkshire Arboretum for the next year. It will give me a chance to discover a whole new range of more unusual trees and other plants to print with as the seasons unfold. I relish this opportunity to grow my knowledge and intimacy with this unique collection of trees."

For more information about Sue Walsh please visit her website here.

Includes a complimentary first glass of wine and nibbles – any donations gratefully received thereafter.

The event is free to attend but please book your place below.

Join Jonathan Pomroy for a day of sketching in the arboretum. The workshop will focus on how to enjoy using a sketchbook. The aim will be to have several pages of sketches in pencil or watercolour or both. Jonathan will demonstrate his sketching techniques at several locations. 

We will use the beautiful grounds of Yorkshire Arboretum, especially the lake area, to wander and sketch landscapes, birds, flowers or trees. The day will be very flexible allowing students to draw subjects which inspire them within an area Jonathan can be accessible to all.

He will guide students through the sketching process rather than concentrate on studio painting. He believes sketching can create a special record of time and place and that the process involves really immersing yourself in the natural world. There will be plans for really wet weather alternatives.

A light lunch will be provided.

This event is also taking place on Wednesday 17 August - for details please click here.

Equipment

• Watercolour paints and brushes of choice

• Good quality cartridge paper or watercolour paper sketchbook- A5 or bigger, landscape or portrait format depending on choice

• Range of pencils between HB-6B

• Water carrier

• Folding stool if desired

• Waterproofs

• Stout footwear

• Binoculars/ telescope if you want to sketch birds- optional

• Flask of tea or coffee if desired

• Shoulder bag or rucksack to carry equipment round

Join Jonathan Pomroy for a day of sketching in the arboretum. The workshop will focus on how to enjoy using a sketchbook. The aim will be to have several pages of sketches in pencil or watercolour or both. Jonathan will demonstrate his sketching techniques at several locations. 

We will use the beautiful grounds of Yorkshire Arboretum, especially the lake area, to wander and sketch landscapes, birds, flowers or trees. The day will be very flexible allowing students to draw subjects which inspire them within an area Jonathan can be accessible to all.

He will guide students through the sketching process rather than concentrate on studio painting. He believes sketching can create a special record of time and place and that the process involves really immersing yourself in the natural world. There will be plans for really wet weather alternatives.

A light lunch will be provided.

This event is also taking place on Wednesday 24 August - for details please click here.

Equipment

• Watercolour paints and brushes of choice

• Good quality cartridge paper or watercolour paper sketchbook- A5 or bigger, landscape or portrait format depending on choice

• Range of pencils between HB-6B

• Water carrier

• Folding stool if desired

• Waterproofs

• Stout footwear

• Binoculars/ telescope if you want to sketch birds- optional

• Flask of tea or coffee if desired

• Shoulder bag or rucksack to carry equipment round

Join guest poets Stuart Pickford and Sarah Wimbush, plus Poet-in-Residence and Arboretum Trustee Chris Bridge, for a midsummer’s evening of poetry reading in the stunning surroundings of the arboretum.

Chris Bridge

Chris Bridge is volunteer, trustee, guide and Poet in Residence at the Yorkshire Arboretum for 2021 to 2022. His first collection, Walking Through, was published by Graft Poetry in 2016. His second collection Tracks was published by Graft in 2021. His latest bookley, Of Trees & Time, inspired by the Yorkshire Arboretum, is released in March. His poetry has featured in Pennine Platform, Tribune, Scrip and Other Poetry. 

Stuart Pickford

Stuart Pickford is the recipient of an Eric Gregory award. His first collection, The Basics, was published by Redbeck Press and shortlisted for the Forward Best First Collection prize. His second collection, Swimming with Jellyfish was published by smith/doorstop. Stuart lives in Harrogate and teaches in a local comprehensive school.  

Sarah Wimbush

Sarah Wimbush’s poetry is rooted in Yorkshire with tales of childhood, colliery villages and Gypsies and Travellers. A member of York Stanza and the recipient of a Northern Writers’ Award, she has published two prize-winning pamphlets: Bloodlines (Seren, 2020) and The Last Dinosaur in Doncaster (Smith|Doorstop, 2021). Her first collection, Shelling Peas with My Grandmother in the Gorgiolands, is released in 2022 with Bloodaxe. 

Your ticket includes: Entry to the arboretum from 5pm, for you to enjoy a walk before the reading; a free glass of wine; an evening of poetry in the glorious surroundings of the arboretum.

Join Artist-in-Residence Jonathan Pomroy for a day of sketching in the arboretum. The course will focus on how to enjoy using a sketchbook. The aim will be to have several pages of sketches in pencil or watercolour or both. Jonathan will demonstrate his sketching techniques at several locations. 

We will use the beautiful grounds of Yorkshire Arboretum, especially the lake area, to wander and sketch landscapes, birds, flowers or trees. The day will be very flexible allowing students to draw subjects which inspire them within an area Jonathan can be accessible to all.

He will guide students through the sketching process rather than concentrate on studio painting. He believes sketching can create a special record of time and place and that the process involves really immersing yourself in the natural world. There will be plans for really wet weather alternatives.

A light lunch will be provided.

Equipment

• Watercolour paints and brushes of choice

• Good quality cartridge paper or watercolour paper sketchbook- A5 or bigger, landscape or portrait format depending on choice

• Range of pencils between HB-6B

• Water carrier

• Folding stool if desired

• Waterproofs

• Stout footwear

• Binoculars/ telescope if you want to sketch birds- optional

• Flask of tea or coffee if desired

• Shoulder bag or rucksack to carry equipment round

This event is fully booked.

Join guest poets Robert Powell and Penny Boxall, plus Poet-in-Residence and Arboretum Trustee Chris Bridge, for a midsummer’s evening of poetry reading in the stunning surroundings of the arboretum.

Chris Bridge

Chris Bridge is volunteer, trustee, guide and Poet in Residence at the Yorkshire Arboretum for 2021 to 2022. His first collection, Walking Through, was published by Graft Poetry in 2016. His second collection Tracks will be published by Graft later in 2021. His poetry has featured in Pennine Platform, Tribune, Scrip and Other Poetry. 

Robert Powell

Robert Powell lives in York. He has published four poetry collections  - Harvest of Light, All, Riverain, and Aura, as well as A Small Box of River with artist Jake Attree; and co-produced three short films - The River Speaks, (Canal and River Trust), Source (AmosLAB Finland), and The Angels of Lendal Bridge (York Theatre Royal). His work has appeared in The North, The Rialto, Pennine Platform, and elsewhere in the UK and Canada. He was artist in residence with the Kone Foundation in Finland in 2018. His latest publication is Notes From a Border River, inspired by time spent in Ireland during Brexit negotiations.

Penny Boxall

Penny Boxall's collections are Ship of the Line (2014), Who Goes There? (2018) and, with artist Naoko Matsubara, In Praise of Hands (2020). She won the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award in 2016 and the 2018 Mslexia prize. In 2019 she was Visiting Research Fellow in the Creative Arts at Merton College, Oxford, and is currently Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of York. 

The arboretum will be open from 4pm for those wishing to take a stroll before the reading begins. Wine and soft drinks will be available to purchase. Readings will begin at 7pm.

THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

A rescheduled opportunity to meet the artist with this year’s Artist-in-Residence Meg Huby. Meg will be in the Arboretum Cafe all afternoon to chat about her work, her inspiration, and her process.

No booking is required.

Join our ever-popular wreath making workshop and make a luxury, rustic willow wreath for your home frm natural, locally-sourced materials. Show off your creativity and get into the Christmas spirit!

Booking essential. Complete the online form below or call 01653 648598.

Due to essential building work in the Visitor Centre, this event will take place at Welburn Village Hall.

This event is now sold out.

Member and friends are invited to mark the launch of this new exhibition by acclaimed artist Mark Hearld. Meet the artist and enjoy complimentary refreshments.

This event is free to attend, but booking is required. To reserve your place please call 01653 648598 or email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org

Join our new Artist-in-Residence, Meg Huby, for an informal day of drawing in the arboretum.

Spend a morning strolling and sketching among the trees, repair to the cafe for a delicious, warming lunch and spend the afternoon adding colour and interest to your drawings in the Visitor Centre.

No formal teaching is involved but encouragement, help and advice will be readily available. The aim is to have a fun day and enjoy the arboretum environment in new ways.

What to bring with you:

Do bring pens, brushes, inks and watercolours for the afternoon. But please don’t worry if you don’t have any. A small selection of materials will be available to borrow or buy on the day.

Find out more about Meg by visiting her residency page.

Book below. Please inform us of your dietary requirements for catering purposes:

A half-day workshop taking photographs and receiving advice and support from a qualified teacher from Ryedale Garden Photography who has many years experience.

The workshop is for a small number of people and is ideal for beginner photographers or for those who are new to digital photography. You will cover a range of topics such as composition, exposure, focus, camera settings, aperture and shutter speed. This is a great way to explore the arboretum, spending the morning with like-minded people and picking up advice on how to take better photographs.

£50 per person

For further information or to book a place click here.

Members and friends are invited to mark the launch of this new exhibition of our Artist in Residence, Lesley Seeger. Meet the artist and enjoy complimentary refreshments.

Booking required - please call 01653 648598 or email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org

Enhance your garden evenings with a delightful fairy light filled willow globe. No prior knowledge of willow weaving needed - just enthusiasm! All materials provided.

Bring your own lunch or take a break in the Arboretum Café. Booking essential.

Members and friends are invited to mark the launch of this new exhibition of work by Ryan Chadwick. Ryan’s stunning, unique pen and pencil work brings to life the striking beauty of the Earth’s creatures great and small, and shows how vital it is we treasure their existence for future generations.

Meet the artist and enjoy complimentary refreshments.

Booking required: Email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or call us on 01904 648598.