The Month of Art at Hopton Hall

Name: Month of Art at Hopton Hall
Start: 2026-07-02T10:30
End: 2026-07-26T16:00
Location: Hopton Hall

The 2026 Month of Art has now ended.

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What is the Month of Art?

Each July, coinciding with the opening of the Walled Garden, Hopton Hall organises a summer celebration of art. Launched in 2023, the event brings together artists, art groups and art lovers from across the East Midlands.

Professional and amateur artists are offered free access to the extensive grounds and gardens of the Hopton Hall Estate where they can create an artwork taking inspiration from the gardens.

Artists that have created an artwork from their time in the grounds are invited to submit their finished work into the annual Month of Art competition.

Is artwork on sale at the event?

Wooden cabins – custom-made for the event – are offered free of charge to artists and art groups to display and sell their artwork, hold demonstrations and run workshops.

The newly renovated Stables at Hopton Hall, which was opened for the first time in 2026, provides an additional exhibition space.

Who selects the winners of the Month of Art competition?

The winner is decided by a public vote. Entries are exhibited in the ground floor corridor of Hopton Hall during the final weekend so that visitors can select their favourite pieces. They are also displayed on the Hopton Hall Gallery website. A full list of 2026 Month of Art entries is available here.

The artist with the winning artwork is awarded a prize of £1,000, with second place and third place awarded vouchers worth £250 and £100 respectively from Turners Art Supplies.

2026 Month of Art Winners

The Month of Art winners were announced on Sunday, 26th July 2026 as follows:

1st place: Roger Allen: The Picnic Party
2nd place: Marie South: July Leaves
3rd place: Colin Halliday: Hopton Hall Gardens

We asked our 2026 winning artists to tell us about their winning pieces. Here’s what they said:

First Place - Roger Allen
The Picnic Party

“Whilst exhibiting at the 2025 Month of Art I was taken by the grandeur of this large lime tree and completed a detailed drawing of it which became the basis of the 2026 painting.

I normally work in watercolour but decided that oil would be a better medium for this piece.

I spent six days, spread over three weeks, working in the grounds (in fairly torrid temperatures) whilst continuing in the studio in between visits.

The greatest challenges were the constantly changing shadows and judging colour values and tones in the brilliant sunlight whilst juggling a palette, brushes and protective umbrella with only two hands!”

Second Place - Marie South
July Leaves

“Derby Sketch Club encouraged members to take part in Hopton Hall’s Month of Art, and my husband, Larry, and I visited on three occasions. Each time, we found something new to inspire us, from the gardens and landscape to the opportunity to sketch and take photographs.

We are both printmakers, and having learnt lithography this year, we each produced a lithograph inspired by the Hall. I was so enthusiastic that I went on to make a relief print, a textile piece and an eco-print too!

For my eco-print, I collected young leaves and arranged them on thick printmaking paper, which had been wetted with an alum solution. I covered the leaves with a piece of thin fabric dipped in an iron solution, then rolled the layers tightly around a wooden dowel and secured the bundle firmly with string. I simmered the bundle outdoors for at least an hour. Once cooled, I unrolled it, removed the leaves, rinsed the paper and fabric, and left them to dry.

The finished prints revealed delicate impressions of the leaves, each one slightly different. That is part of the fascination of eco-printing: the results are wonderfully unpredictable, changing with the season, the plant and even the individual leaf.”

Hopton Hall Month of Art 2nd place: Marie Theresa South: July Leaves

Third Place - Collin Halliday
Hopton Hall Gardens

“Hopton Hall Gardens are a very inspiring place to have the opportunity to paint.

I paint in oil on location, plein-air painting. This is my preferred medium as the paint stays wet and is easier to move around and mix colours.

I work using palette knifes and sometimes brushes. I mix all my colours using just a warm and cold of the primary colours.

I chose this location because the red shades of the wall make the greens stand out more, also this section had a range of different flowers making it more abundant.

Using thick pure oil paint only serves to add to that sensation of Nature’s abundance.”