A friendly, untutored clay group enjoying making hand built pottery and sculpture. Beginners welcome and helped to start with some clay, the group tool kit, library and masses of helpful advice.
The group meets every Mondays, 9:30am to 12:30pm.
£8 per session.
Watercolour classes with tutor Nicky Clarke
Tuesdays: Nov 3, 10, 17, 24, Dec 1, 8
Morning session: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Afternoon session: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Cost: £20 per session
To book, please contact Nicky Clarke directly on randnclarke@hotmail.co.uk or ring 01460 281773.
Fully Booked
Painting is about ‘looking’ and drawing exercises our ‘looking’ skills and our awareness.
We will draw and paint on this course. Drawing exercises will designed to help us ‘see’ but painting is where we are aiming!
Beginners and experienced are all welcome to a relaxed class where everyone is encouraged and supported to work on individual choices and their own personal artistic development.
6 week course: Nov 4, 11, 18, 25 Dec 2, 9
Wednesdays 9:45am - noon
£132 for 6 sessions
To book, contact Juliet directly on: 01278 795364 or email: julietfarnese@gmail.com
FULLY BOOKED!
Learn to paint gorgeous, floral paintings in acrylics in these weekly sessions. Let your imagination flow as you explore a loose and expressive style with experienced tutor Karen Huwen.
Nov 4, 11, 18, 25 Dec 2, 9
Wednesdays 1:00 - 3:00pm
Cost: £95 for 6 weeks
To book, please ring: 01460 54973, between 9.30am and 3pm Tuesday to Saturday, or pop into the Arts Centre during those hours.
Get into the Christmas spirit and create something truly special this season. Join us to craft beautiful, handmade Christmas cards with a fused glass decoration—a beautiful greeting card and a keepsake gift all in one!
Give your loved ones a truly unique surprise, or keep your handmade creations to brighten up your own home.
No Experience Needed: Beginners are warmly welcome! Michelle will guide you step-by-step through the process.
Expert Guidance: Learn from tutor Michelle Joy, who brings over 18 years of glass-fusing experience to the workshop.
Key Information
Cost: £40 per person (Includes all materials, tools, and professional kiln firing) You will get to choose your card, the greetings topper as well as make your glass to add to your card.
Saturday 7 November, 10:00 - 12:00
You will make 3 cards with glass decorations from a selection including a wreath, a tree and a bauble
OR
3 decorations choose 1 of each style from Robin, Santa, Snowglobe, wreath or bauble which are different in size to the card options
A Gift to Look Forward To
Once your festive decorations are designed, Michelle will take them away to be professionally fired in the kiln. They will be ready for you to collect from the Ilminster Arts Centre just 10 days later—perfectly timed for holiday mailing or gifting.
What to Know Before You Come
What to bring: A closed-top drink. (To keep the workspace safe, no food or open-topped drinks are allowed in the workshop).
What to wear: Please wear closed-toe shoes where possible, and avoid garments with long, floaty sleeves.
To book, please ring: 01460 54973, between 9.30am and 3pm Tuesday to Saturday, or pop into the Arts Centre during those hours.
*Please note that bookings for workshops are not refundable unless we are fully booked and have a waiting list. Refunds are subject to a £5 admin charge.
Choose Your Festive Project:
A Free-Standing Tree: A beautiful glass tree set into an especially designed pot.
Or
A Tree Tealight: A glowing, festive tealight holder to warm up winter nights
No Experience Necessary!
Come along for some festive fun and try a wonderful, hands-on craft. Michelle Joy will guide you through the entire process, sharing tips from her 18+ years of glassmaking experience.
Cost: £40 per person (All-inclusive: tools, materials & firing)
Saturday 21 November, 10:00 - 12:00
Collect in 10 Days: Your glass creations will be fired and ready to pick up from the Ilminster Arts Centre 10 days after the session ready for decorating your house or gifting
Workshop Safety & Comfort:
Drinks: Please bring a closed-top drink only. No food or open cups in the studio.
Clothing: Please wear closed-toe shoes and avoid floaty sleeves.
To book, please ring: 01460 54973, between 9.30am and 3pm Tuesday to Saturday, or pop into the Art Centre during those hours.
Christmas is quite possibly the best time of the year for calligraphy! Joining this Christmas Brush Pen Calligraphy class will give you time to get ahead of the game and be ready to send thoughtful handmade cards and add beautiful tags to all of your gifts this year.
If you've always wanted to learn calligraphy but felt daunted and a little overwhelmed, not knowing how to begin then this is the class for you! In this two-hour workshop, you will learn the techniques necessary to produce beautiful lettering.
A workbook will be provided and is yours to take home and keep practising. You will also take away your own professional brush pen trio so that you can continue your new hobby at home.
Your tutor, Nicki, will give you individual support as you learn this wonderful skill. A pop-up shop will be available at the class should you wish to purchase extra supplies such as cards, tags or more brush pens.
You don't need to bring anything - just yourself and lots of enthusiasm but feel free to bring an apron if you wish. All materials supplied by ND Calligraphy are vegan and cruelty-free.
Cost: £30 plus £10 payable to the tutor on the day to cover extra materials
Saturday 5 December, 10.30 - 12.30
To book please ring the Arts Centre on 01460 54973, between 9.30am and 3pm Tuesday to Saturday, or pop into the Arts Centre during those hours.
Christmas is quite possibly the best time of the year for calligraphy!
Joining this Christmas Brush Pen Calligraphy class will give you time to get ahead of the game and be ready to send thoughtful handmade cards and add beautiful tags to all of your gifts this year.
If you've always wanted to learn calligraphy but felt daunted and a little overwhelmed, not knowing how to begin then this is the class for you! In this two-hour workshop, you will learn the techniques necessary to produce beautiful lettering.
A workbook will be provided and is yours to take home and keep practising. You will also take away your own professional brush pen trio so that you can continue your new hobby at home. Your tutor, Nicki, will give you individual support as you learn this wonderful skill and make cards, tags and bookmarks.
A pop-up shop will be available at the class should you wish to purchase extra supplies such as cards, tags or more brush pens. You don't need to bring anything - just yourself and lots of enthusiasm but feel free to bring an apron if you wish.
All materials supplied by ND Calligraphy are vegan and cruelty-free.
Cost £30 plus £10 payable to the tutor on the day to cover extra materials.
Saturday 12 December, 10.30 - 12.30
To book please ring the Arts Centre on 01460 54973, between 9.30am and 3pm Tuesday to Saturday, or pop into the Arts Centre during those hours.
Fenella Humphreys, winner of BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2025, 2023 and 2018, has attracted critical admiration and audience acclaim with the grace and intensity of her remarkable performances.
Promoted by Concerts in the West
Tickets £20
Step back into 1934 and join Detective Chief Inspector Appleby at Ilminster’s historic Meeting House, where the Minister has been found dead in the pulpit. Was it a tragic accident, a supernatural curse, or something far more sinister? With four key suspects under suspicion, secrets begin to unravel and tensions rise as Appleby races to uncover the truth. Can you help solve the mystery before the evening is over?
Enjoy an atmospheric evening of 1930s glamour, a welcome drink on arrival and a delicious two-course meal. Dressing in 1930s style is encouraged but entirely optional.
Tickets are £39.50 per person.
To Book: 01460 54973
Top jazz pianist Mike Denham is joined by Julia Titus - an actress, poet, singer and songwriter. Among her assets are the voice and verve to put over convincingly the songs of the great blues & vaudeville singer, Bessie Smith.
The phenomenal Ma Bessie hit the big time a century ago. She sang about the things her audiences were living and feeling, decades before hip-hop artists rapped about black working-class life. With uplifting lyrics, sometimes dark, often humorous, Smith and her sister blues women advanced the revolutionary idea that black women's lives mattered.
Tickets: £20
Students £10 (with a valid student ID)
This special event features a talk by Dr Matthew Spring exploring the early life, musical connections and legacy of Dorothy Petre Wadham, foundress of Wadham College Oxford, followed by a concert by Sirinu featuring Elizabethan and Stuart domestic music from Dorothy’s childhood home, Ingatestone.
Tickets: £16
Ilminster Voices – Ilminster’s own community choir - are returning to Ilminster Arts Centre, to present an enlivening Christmas mix of pop, show and traditional songs, along with a few seasonal favourites!
The concert is a fundraiser for the arts centre, so what better way to start this final month of 2026 than joining us for an uplifting evening of glorious harmony singing.
Tickets £8
Come and experience the exciting Parisian jazz scene of the 1930s with The Transatlantic Hot Club as they perform at Ilminster Arts Centre on their 2027 UK tour! Featuring Adrien Chevalier (New York) on Violin, Ben Creighton Griffiths (Cardiff) on Harp, Jeremy Lohier (Corsica) on Accordion, and Ashley John Long (Cardiff) on double bass. Expect to hear Swing classics, Django standards, Corsican Song, and Latin Bossa Nova during this exciting performance.
Tickets: £20
Ilminster Arts Centre Photography Open Exhibition 2026. This judged exhibition invited photographers from across the region to submit their work for the chance to be showcased in in this special Open event.
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM. Free Entry.
Exhibition ends on Friday 13th November, 15:00
Sponsored by GTH & Portcullis Freemasons Lodge No 2038
Supported by Awakenings at Wick: Artist Residency
A curated collection that brings together work created by individual local artists and craft makers. A perfect opportunity to find unique gifts in many different mediums from fused glass, woodturning, ceramics to paintings and prints.
Open Tuesday - Saturday 09:30-15:00
Exhibition ends on Saturday 19th December, 15:00
Free Entry
