Date: Sunday 22 February 2026, All Day
Venue: York Castle Museum
Creative Studio
Open daily
Drop-in, self-led activity
Sketch out your dream Victorian outfit using the fabrics, hats, shoes and dresses on display for inspiration.
Events
Creative Studio – Sun 22 Feb 2026
Kirkgate Talks – Sun 22 Feb 2026
Date: Sunday 22 February 2026, All Day
Venue: York Castle Museum
Kirkgate Talks
Daily
11.30am and 2pm
Included in general admission
Learn about the creation of the Victorian street, Kirkgate, one of the oldest recreated indoor streets of its kind in the world.
Sunday Sounds – Sun 22 Feb 2026
Dates: Sunday 22 February 2026–Monday 23 February 2026, 10:30 am-4:00 pm
Venue: York castle museum
Sunday Sounds
Sunday 22 February 2026
Performance times: 10.30am, 12.30pm, 3pm and 4pm
Drop-in, included in general admission
Enjoy live performances of songs inspired by travelling and changes of transport through time as you explore Kirkgate. This upbeat duo will have your toes tapping before you know it!
Talk by Sir Gabriele Finaldi, Director at National Gallery London – Wed 25 Feb 2026
Date: Wednesday 25 February 2026, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm
Venue: Tempest Anderson Hall
The National Gallery: A Growing Collection, a talk by Sir Gabriele Finaldi, Director at National Gallery, London Wednesday 25 February 2026, 6:30pm – 7:30pm
£15 per person | Book Now
Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum
Come and listen to this fascinating talk as part of the Friends of York Art Gallery lecture series. Sir Gabriele Finaldi will give a talk, ‘The National Gallery: A Growing Collection’, followed by a conversation with Professor Charles Martindale, Chair of the Friends, about his career and role as Director of one of the greatest galleries in the world.
The National Gallery has been much in the news recently. On May 10 2024 it became 200 years old, and the bicentenary celebrations continued into 2025, including the National Treasures exhibitions across the country (York receiving Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond). Its redisplay of the entire collection was received with great enthusiasm by art critics and public alike. The Sainsbury Wing entrance has now been remodelled as the Gallery’s principal entrance, and a new Members House has been designed. More recently it has won very substantial funds for further exciting capital developments, including space for 20th-century art and a research centre. And all this at a time of massive financial challenges in the cultural sector as a whole.
Sir Gabriele has been the principal architect of these successes. His doctoral thesis at the Courtauld was on the Spanish baroque artist Ribera. In 2002 he was appointed Deputy Director for Collections and Research at the Prado in Madrid, and he has a special association with Spanish art (including Velázquez, Zurbarán, Murillo, Sorolla, Picasso). As a curator he has taken the lead in numerous exhibitions in the UK, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. He was appointed Director of the National Gallery in 2015, and knighted in 2025 for services to art and culture.
This is a rare opportunity to hear this major art-world figure.
This event is ran in collaboration with Friends of York Art Gallery.
Gallery Babies – Thu 26 Feb 2026
Date: Thursday 26 February 2026, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery
Gallery Babies
Thursday 26 February 2026, 10am – 12 noon
Free | Pre-booking required | Sold out
Burton Gallery
Drop-in sensory play sessions every Thursday during term-time, for pre-walking babies and their grown-ups, set in the atmospheric surroundings of York Art Gallery.
Drop-in sensory play sessions for pre-walking babies and their grown-ups in the atmospheric surroundings of York Art Gallery.
Using our beautiful sensory toolkit, a collection of colourful squishy sculptural objects, sessions will be gently facilitated, exploring shape, colour and texture.
Gallery Babies is a welcoming and supportive space to relax, bond with your baby and meet other parents and carers, providing a bit of calm and care to your daily routine.
The session starts at 10am and finishes at 12pm, but you can drop in and out at any time. Even after the session has finished, our sensory toolkit will remain on gallery for you to continue to explore with your baby.
These sessions are designed for pre-walking babies, however we understand that you may have your hands full with more than one child! If that’s the case the Studio will be open and can be used as a space to play, read and eat much needed snacks outside of the galleries if needed. Buggy parking and baby changing facilities available.
We are also offering a special offer in Sketch café for anybody attending a session: Hot drink and cake £7.00 and lunch and drink £15.00.
Please note: Gallery Babies admission includes free access to the permanent gallery spaces, tickets for temporary exhibitions require a separate admissions ticket.
Paddling in the Surf – Fri 27 Feb 2026
Date: Friday 27 February 2026, 11:00 am-4:30 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery
Paddling in the Surf
Friday 27 February 2026 | 11.00am- 4.30pm
£7 pp | Drop in
Celebrate the opening of Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Printing by creating your own A5 monochrome Prussian print using traditional materials and techniques guided by artist, Andy Green.
Join this drop in activity in the ground floor foyer area. Each print takes approximately 15 minutes to create and cost £7. The prints dry quickly and you’ll be provided with an envelope to take your creation home safely.
Viking North Creative Workshop: Make a Silver Wrap Ring – Sat 28 Feb 2026
Date: Saturday 28 February 2026, 10:30 am-1:30 pm
Venue: Yorkshire Museum
Viking North Creative Workshop: Make a Silver Wrap Ring
Saturday 28 February 2026 10:30am-1:30pm
Suitable for ages 16+ |£55 per person | Sold out
Learn the basics of silversmithing as you design and make your own silver ring, this is a wrap ring so there is no soldering involved in the workshop. After choosing from a range of designs you will be guided through the making process by your tutor. You will learn how to use basic jewellery making tools to form your ring and how to apply different techniques to create textures and finishes.
What you will make Using techniques such as forming, stamping and texturing you will produce your own silver wrap ring. Who is the workshop for? This workshop is suitable for beginners, no experience is needed, it is a great introduction to basic jewellery making techniques.
Do I need to bring anything? All materials and tools are provided, please wear comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting a bit dirty or bring your own apron. The process of hammering metal can get a bit noisy, ear plugs will be provided but please feel free to bring your own ear defenders if you have them.
Your Tutor Genevieve Broughton is a jewellery designer and maker with over 20 years experience, her work combines precise geometric shapes and stylised natural forms in minimal designs created using traditional silversmithing techniques. Genevieve is based in Wakefield and her jewellery is exhibited and sold in numerous shops and galleries around the UK.
All materials will be provided. No experience is necessary
Ages 16+ (under 18 must be accompanied by an adult)
The Great Wave Print Party – Sat 28 Feb 2026
Date: Saturday 28 February 2026, 2:00 pm-5:00 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery
The Great Wave Print Party
Saturday 28 February | 2.00pm-5.00pm
Suitable for ages 16+ | £50 per person | Tickets coming soon
Create your very own version of Hokusai’s iconic Under the Great Wave off Kanagawa with woodblock laser-carver Andy Green, using authentic Japanese materials and techniques. Andy will guide you through the sequence of inking up the woodblocks, accurately positioning the washi paper and burnishing the ink to build up an A4 print using seven separate blocks, one for each colour.
You’ll also learn about Hokusai, ukiyo-e prints and Edo-period Japan together with some interesting background behind this work, which has been described as the defining image of our era. You’ll be able to compare a variety of surviving prints taken from the original 1831 woodblocks – we’ll aim to be using colour mixes that match the Maidstone print displayed at York Art Gallery as part of Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Printing.
Please note that printing Japanese style is quite a workout, requiring a degree of arm, wrist and finger strength. The inks are water-based and the other equipment and materials are otherwise completely safe.
All materials provided
Suitable for those aged 16+ (under 18’s must be accompanied by an adult)
Gallery Babies – Thu 5 Mar 2026
Date: Thursday 5 March 2026, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery
Gallery Babies
Thursday 5 March 2026, 10am – 12 noon
Free | Pre-booking required | Sold out
Burton Gallery
Drop-in sensory play sessions every Thursday during term-time, for pre-walking babies and their grown-ups, set in the atmospheric surroundings of York Art Gallery.
Using our beautiful sensory toolkit, a collection of colourful squishy sculptural objects, sessions will be gently facilitated, exploring shape, colour and texture.
Gallery Babies is a welcoming and supportive space to relax, bond with your baby and meet other parents and carers, providing a bit of calm and care to your daily routine.
The session starts at 10am and finishes at 12pm, but you can drop in and out at any time. Even after the session has finished, our sensory toolkit will remain on gallery for you to continue to explore with your baby.
These sessions are designed for pre-walking babies, however we understand that you may have your hands full with more than one child! If that’s the case the Studio will be open and can be used as a space to play, read and eat much needed snacks outside of the galleries if needed. Buggy parking and baby changing facilities available.
We are also offering a special offer in Sketch café for anybody attending a session: Hot drink and cake £7.00 and lunch and drink £15.00.
Please note: Gallery Babies admission includes free access to the permanent gallery spaces, tickets for temporary exhibitions require a separate admissions ticket.
Gallery Babies – Thu 12 Mar 2026
Date: Thursday 12 March 2026, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery
Gallery Babies
Thursday 12 March 2026, 10am – 12pm
Free | Pre-booking required | Sold Out
Burton Gallery
Drop-in sensory play sessions every Thursday during term-time, for pre-walking babies and their grown-ups, set in the atmospheric surroundings of York Art Gallery.
Using our beautiful sensory toolkit, a collection of colourful squishy sculptural objects, sessions will be gently facilitated, exploring shape, colour and texture.
Gallery Babies is a welcoming and supportive space to relax, bond with your baby and meet other parents and carers, providing a bit of calm and care to your daily routine.
The session starts at 10am and finishes at 12pm, but you can drop in and out at any time. Even after the session has finished, our sensory toolkit will remain on gallery for you to continue to explore with your baby.
These sessions are designed for pre-walking babies, however we understand that you may have your hands full with more than one child! If that’s the case the Studio will be open and can be used as a space to play, read and eat much needed snacks outside of the galleries if needed. Buggy parking and baby changing facilities available.
We are also offering a special offer in Sketch café for anybody attending a session: Hot drink and cake £7.00 and lunch and drink £15.00.
Please note: Gallery Babies admission includes free access to the permanent gallery spaces, tickets for temporary exhibitions require a separate admissions ticket.
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Events calendar
Next events
- York Residents’ Weekend
Saturday 31 January 2026–Sunday 1 February 2026 - York Residents’ Weekend
Saturday 31 January 2026–Sunday 1 February 2026 - York Residents’ Weekend
Saturday 31 January 2026 - Viking North Creative Workshop: Natural Dyeing
Saturday 31 January 2026 - York Residents’ Weekend
Sunday 1 February 2026
