Messums Studios is the educational branch of Messums West.
The Tisbury-based pioneering multi-purpose gallery and Art Centre established Messums Studios in Chilmark in July 2021 as a teaching art studio. Its aim was to support life-long creative learning with the emphasis on the individual’s development of creative language through the tuition of making skills and material knowledge. Underpinned by the ambitious and eye-opening programme of art exhibitions, events and academic symposia, Messums Studios helps to foster a community of creatives of all ages, abilities, and levels of expertise.
Clay, pottery and ceramics was and remains the topic of primary focus. However, now in our fourth year we have expanded into drawing and painting and we seek to explore and grow our creative learning offer to other media and methods such as print and woodwork.
MESSUMS STUDIOS | Spring Term 2025
13 January – 29 March 2025
MESSUMS PRODUCTIONS
It may sound obvious but creating art is a language as much as speaking or writing.
Making Introductions was conceived in 2019 with seed funding from Jonathan and Lucy Wood to make those language of creativity more accessible and comprehensible.
MAKING INTRODUCTIONS
YAN WANG PRESTON
duration: 5:59 minutes
Dr Yan Wang Preston has created numerous acclaimed series which explore the mercurial relationship between people and place. She has recently exhibited and had work acquired by the V&A. She has also been awarded the RPS Award for Environmental Responsibility.
JEAN-VINCENT SIMONET
duration: 5:53 minutes
Jean-Vincent’s practice fuses analogue images, digital techniques, collage, montage, sculpture and painting with remarkable fluidity. His work is permeated by a sense of overload and exuberance.
POLLY PENROSE
duration: 6:13 minutes
Polly Penrose has been taking self-portraits on a ten-second timer and more recently a remote for nearly 20 years. Her work is unpremeditated and spontaneous and records her responding to her environment.
JACK MCGARRITY
MARTIN SMITH
TOM WAUGH
THIÉBAUT CHAGUÉ
FRANCESCO POIANA
PETER BROWN
TUESDAY RIDDELL
ANTONY WILLIAMS
KENNEDY MUNTANGA
TYGA HELME
Our Active Environmentalism programme builds our knowledge and ways of seeing and considering our relationship with our environment.
Our own decisions and reasonings are personal but by being informed there is no doubt we are in a better position to make the right choices. Collectively they can help add up to positive change.
Register interest to be kept up to date with future talks and events
Lisa Blair Sails the World
Lisa Blair’s Climate Action Now was born as a means to spread this message, to empower communities to become involved and give individuals a voice on how we can support a positive climate future. As part of this project Lisa has launched a ‘Post it Note’ campaign which will become an art installation with messages of individual efforts to help the environment.
Send us your message to become part of the artwork.
Image credit : Corrina Ridgeway
After discovering sailing when she was 25 years old, a short 7 years later in 2017, Lisa Blair etched her name in history. Lisa becomes the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica with one stop after surviving a dramatic dismasting at sea, demonstrating her resilience and determination. An extraordinary feat aboard her yacht named Climate Action Now. This symbolic name reflected her commitment to a sustainable future and inspired others to take action through her post-it note campaign.
Lisa then went on to lead the first all-female team to compete in the 2017 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 16 years. She set two more world records in December of 2018, when she sailed solo, non-stop and unassisted around Australia, spending 58 days at sea, all while sleeping for no more than 20 minutes at a time. 2019, she raced her yacht Climate Action Now in the Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race with co-skipper Jackie Parry becoming the first double-handed female team to finish in the history of the race.
On May 25th, 2022, Lisa achieved her latest milestone by becoming the fastest person to sail solo, non-stop, and unassisted around Antarctica, shaving 10 days off the previous record. During this record-setting journey, Lisa seized the opportunity to amplify her message of Climate Action Now and collaborated with a number of scientific organizations such as the Bureau of Meteorology, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the Seabed 2030 project.
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
TESSA CAMPBELL FRASER
Whales – A Deeper Dialogue
5 October – 13 January 2025
British sculptor and climate change advocate, Tessa Campbell Fraser aims to unravel the interspecies communications between man and animal that are currently at the forefront of scientific research. Three monumental (5.2m, 4.6m and 3m respectively) sculptures of sperm whales will hang from the roof of the tithe barn.
OH! IS FOR OCEAN
Active Environment Symposium
Sunday 6 October 2024
With the help of a number of environmental experts we aimed to shed light on the problems that confront us as individuals and what we can do collectively to mitigate the damage. We also hear dabout technological advances being made to resolve the many issues we face and how to facilitate further changes in our way of thinking about our relationship with the environment.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
TIM GEORGESON AND WILLIAM BARTON 'THE HIDDEN'
6 May – 9 July 2023
The Hidden was a sound and film installation by Australian filmmaker and artist Tim Georgeson and composer, performer and proud Kalkadunga man, William Barton. It offers a personal account of the Bundanon land and waterscapes in New South Wales, Australia.
SHAUN FRASER
26 April – 26 May 2023
Shaun Fraser’s work frequently comments upon notions of identity, links to landscape and connections with place. His practice questions how the landscapes, spaces and places which we inhabit form us and can be translated through personal engagement, privileging one’s own memory as a principal source.
TIDELINE
7 May – 3 July 2022
The artists selected engage and expand our understanding of this extraordinary ecosystem and bellwether to change. Their work sets out not just to alert and inform, but to key into our empathy with the underwater environment, to sow the seeds of our imagination and drum up our own sense of agency for change.
SONIA LEBER AND DAVID CHESWORTH 'WHAT LISTENING KNOWS'
16 July – 5 September 2021
What Listening Knows was a 3-channel audio and video installation by Australian artists Sonia Leber & David Chesworth. Three performers acted as ‘field recordists’ in the landscape.
UNKEMPT
16 July – 12 September 2021
Unkempt was an exhibition recognising the advent of a changing aesthetic in landscape – one that is by its nature wild, messy and more empathetic to the environment.
GROUND
7 May – 5 June 2021
Common is the ground we stand on, and perhaps what is now taking place is a shift in our own aesthetics, based on that common knowledge that is helping us to see and appreciate our landscape through subtly different filters.
TALKS ARCHIVE
January 2021
Online conversation with Olly Steeds on his mission to accelerate the sequencing of the ocean genome.
Oliver is Chief Executive and Mission Director of Nekton – a not-for-profit, charitable research foundation established to accelerate the scientific exploration and protection of the ocean.
ENVIRONMENTALISM & CONSERVATION WITH BEN GOLDSMITH
January 2021
Ben Goldsmith, who owns a 300-acre farm, near Bruton in Somerset, plans to transform it into a wild habitat within the next four years.
Ben is chair of the Conservative Environmental Network and is on the Board of DEFRA.
REWILDING WITH ISABELLA TREE
January 2021
Online conversation with writer and conservationist Isabella Tree who spoke with the travel writer and novelist Philip Marsden about her pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex.
Isabella is an award-winning author and travel writer. She had published five non-fiction books and writes for publications such as National Geographic, Granta, The Sunday Times and The Observer.
WILDFLOWERS FOR THE QUEEN WITH HUGO RITSON THOMAS AND PROFESSOR SIR GHILEAN PRANCE
February 2021
Fine Art photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas joined us for an online talk with ecologist and botanist Professor Sir Ghillean Prance.
In partnership with conservation charity Plantlife, Hugo was inspired by the achievements of the Coronation Meadows established by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2013
February 2021
Online talk with Brigit Strawbridge Howard wildlife gardener, naturalist, and advocate of bees.
Earth is home to more than 20,000 different species of bee. Around 280 of these can be found in Britain & Ireland.
ENVIRONMENTAL LAND MANAGEMENT
February 2021
The NFU’s Nick von Westenholz joined us to discuss Environmental Land Management.
In England 69% of our landscape is farmed, under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, farmers will be paid for work that enhances the environment, such as tree or hedge planting, river management to mitigate flooding, or creating or restoring habitats for wildlife.
IS PRESERVATION DESTRUCTION BY ANOTHER NAME?
February 2021
Online discussion with Sir Tim Smit where we debated radical thinking at the intersection of science, necessity and the environment.
Sir Tim Smit KBE is a leading environmentalist and businessman particularly recognised for his work on the Lost Gardens of Heligan and founding the Eden Project International.
THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS
March 2021
Chief Executive of the RSPB, Beccy Speight discussed what our migrating & permanent residents tell us about wider changes to the environment.
Since it’s inception in 1889 the threats to birdlife and their habitats have continued to grow but the RSPB have ambitious and wide-reaching conservation plans to change the fate of nature.
April 2021
Husband and wife team David and Annie joined us to discuss the microbial roots of life and health.
Good health—for people and plants—depends on microbiomes, the communities of Earth’s smallest and least-loved creatures.
ARCADIA OR WILDERNESS?
April 2021
Online conversation with landscape architect Kim Wilkie who has worked on the grounds of the Natural History Museum & the V&A.
As a landscape architect Kim tries to understand the memories and associations embedded in a place and the natural flows of people, land, water and climate.
CARBON - THE SOLUTION NOT THE PROBLEM
May 2021
For the past 20 years Charlie Paton has been developing his Seawater Greenhouse concept.
This harnesses solar energy, photosynthesis, evapo-transpiration and the condensation potential of cool seawater to create a virtuous cycle that produces fresh food and potable water in locations where shortages are a significant problem.
SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE
October 2021
With Hugo Tagholm, who leads the national marine conservation and campaigning charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
SAS takes action from the beach front to the front benches of Parliament, where it unites a voice for the ocean through its Ocean Conservation All Party Parliamentary Group. It mobilises over 100,000 community beach and river clean volunteers annually.
November 2021
Coinciding with Cop 26 we discussed how to make land pay in an online talk with wildlife conservationist Julian Matthews.
Matthews is the founder of Real Wild Estates, the UK’s first ecosystem and species restoration business.
FARMING TODAY. LEADING OR LOST?
December 2021
NFU President Minette Batters in discussion with Johnny Messum on why farming is facing potential ruin through ill advised trade deals.
What are farmers doing for the environment and net zero and what more they could do given the chance. Minette has agreed a target for the NFU of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
Register interest to be kept up to date with future talks and symposiums
The Barn at Messums West is a 13th century barn and wooden roof over the heads of discussions and the sharing of information in person about creativity and our environment.
Our season of talks brings together experts and audiences to discuss the role of creativity and the relationship with environment across a range of topics from Art to architecture and Oceans to writing.
Thematically the days explore and share the means of making, the ideas and sources for inspiration and the drivers for change in a positive way.
We allow the space for discussion and time for consideration and hope that the information shared allows our audiences to form their own opinions and effect change in whatever way they feel is personally appropriate.
Talks are free to attend for Students and can be joined in person and online.
Tickets are available in advance and where possible up to a limitation of numbers we try to have lunch together on one table for up to 80 people to break bread and share thoughts.
FORTHCOMING SYMPOSIUMS
CERAMICS SYMPOSIUM
Saturday 1 March 2025
Join artists, writers and curators in a day of insight and investigation into ceramic and the innovative artists making with clay today.
DOES ART WORK?
Saturday 24 May 2025
This Symposium seeks to illustrate by way examples from experts within the creative industries, science, education, politics and welfare why the arts not only create but work.
LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD - ART, MAKING & THE ENVIRONMENT
Saturday 14 June 2025
In an age dominated by environmental crises, what is the future of making? It is clear that we cannot justify continuing to extract the planet’s dwindling resources and create objects which neither last, nor can be recycled; and so, as a species, we must find a new, sustainable way to exist.
STATIC OBJECTS IN A CHANGING WORLD
Saturday 12 July 2025
What is the place of sculpture in the 21st century? In an era which has seen government funding for the arts hit record lows, the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence in art and culture, the destruction of historic statues around the globe, and a crisis in art education, what is the fate of this medium that has been an integral part of human creativity for milenia.
THE LANGUAGE OF BUILDINGS
Saturday 4 October 2025
This symposium invites us to pause and look harder at contemporary architecture and ask the question, ‘what do the buildings that we encounter every day tell us about the world we live in?’. In talks and panel discussions, architects, designers, architectural historians and critics, will explore the buildings of modern Britain.
SYMPOSIUMS ARCHIVE
Monday 11 November 2024
A platform for discussions that bridge artistic expression with environmental awareness, focusing on how landscapes can inspire and be transformed by creative endeavours.
Saturday 5 October 2024
The symposium was in partnership with Ocean Rising (an alliance connecting the ocean with culture) and was dedicated to the understanding of our oceans with leading scientists and experts as guest speakers.
ARCHITECTURE: RESTORE NOT MORE - REIMAGINING EXISTING BUILDINGS
Saturday 7 September 2024
This year’s annual architecture symposium focused on the positive impact that rejuvenating, repurposing and refurbishing existing buildings has on both design and sustainability.
PAINT SYMPOSIUM 2024
Saturday 27 July 2024
A symposium on the subject of painting today and the Inaugural John Golding Lecture Series. Leading artists, academics, curators and art historians explored contemporary painting including concepts of abstraction and discussing the current position of abstract painting.
CERAMIC SYMPOSIUM 2024
Saturday 6 April 2024
This symposium took place during Earth Month and focussed on the themes of our ‘Of the Earth’ exhibition. It drew attention to makers that are engaging with the raw materiality of clay and connection with the landscape.
Saturday 7 October 2023
This year topics will included creative spaces for arts in the community, the relationship between art and architecture, the interface between sculpture and architecture and the role of beauty in architectural practice considering the relationship between aesthetics and functionality.
ACTIVE ENVIRONMENTALISM SYMPOSIUM
Saturday 3 June 2023
The symposium examined some of the issues we are currently facing in problem solving around the environment. One of the key ones is understanding the metrics we are all working to and whether they are working, is there a consensus?
CERAMIC SYMPOSIUM 2023
Saturday 1 April 2023
The symposium programme included presentations by the exhibiting artists and writers and curators of ceramic. The symposium was paralleled by a ‘Young Clay Symposium’ organised by Messums Creative where participants aged 10+ could celebrate ceramic through hands-on learning.
ARCHITECTURE SYMPOSIUM: RE-USE, RE-CYCLE, RE-IMAGINE
Saturday 17 September 2022
Our 2022 symposium celebrated the latest innovation and evolution in construction and design. Examining changing practices with current examples of creativity, and ideas of what might be possible.
LIVING WITHIN - ARCHITECTURE 2020
Saturday 7 October 2020
Our architectural models exhibition opened with a symposium that considered the radical changes going on in the spaces we inhabit. From the context of both our own private and individual environments, we have all become increasingly aware of the space we are ‘living within’.
CONTACT INFORMATION
- Messums Studios
- Unit 1 Homeland Security, Chilmark, SP3 5DU
Opening Hours
- By appointment (Tuesday - Saturday)
- Sunday and Monday - Closed
REFUNDS & CANCELLATIONS
We appreciate that sometimes things can change. Please see our Refunds & Cancellations Policy for more information.
