Step into the heart of Birmingham’s artistic legacy – a city that helped define the Arts & Crafts movement – and experience its beauty, not just as an observer, but as a maker.

Your experience begins at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery with privileged, behind-the-scenes access to one of the world’s most important Pre-Raphaelite collections. In partnership with Birmingham Museums Trust, you’ll enjoy a private, expert-led tour that goes beyond the gallery floor, revealing rarely seen works including The Star of Bethlehem by Edward Burne-Jones.

As you move through the collection, you guide will bring to life the ideals that define the movement – craftsmanship, storytelling, and the celebration of beauty in everyday objects – whilst exploring the work of artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and the wider circle of creatives who helped position Birmingham and the West Midlands at the centre of a global artistic shift.

This philosophy of making then becomes your own.

A short walk leads you to our intimate studio setting, where you’ll take part in a carefully curated tufting workshop inspired directly by the collection you’ve just explored.

Working with a selection of premium yarns chosen for their richness of colour, durability and tactile finish, you’ll create a piece that reflects both historic design principles and contemporary craft.

Ahead of your session, you’ll select from a series of exclusive, artist-developed designs, each rooted in Birmingham’s Arts &Crafts and Pre-Raphaelite heritage:

A nature-led bird motif inspired by William Morris
A decorative pattern drawn from the Museums’s historic tearoom interiors
A flowing peacock feather pattern inspired by Burne-Jones’ The Star of Bethlehem
A romantic rose inspired by Emma Sandys’ Young Women Holding a Rose
Guided step-by-step by an experienced maker, you’ll learn the techniques behind tufting – layering colour, texture and form to bring your design to life. The process is both immersive and mediative, echoing the Arts & Crafts ethos of slowing down and taking pride in the act of making.

With small group sizes, expert guidance, this is a creative experience designed to feel personal, considered and quietly luxurious. You’ll leave with a beautifully finished 25x25cm textile piece and a deeper connection to one of Britain’s most influential artistic movements.

Planned schedule:

12.20PM – Meet at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery for a private guided experience

13.30 – Tufting workshop begins (approx. 15 minute walk from the museum)

16:00 – Finish