Sketching in the Museum

Join us at the Museum of Edinburgh for a fun and informal sketching workshop at the Past Shelves exhibition with queer artist, Annie Lord. No experience necessary! Annie will lead some guided drawing exercises to get you started then you are encouraged to spend time sketching anything in the exhibition or museum that catches your interest.

Our Past Shelves exhibition explores the impact of LGBTQ+ reading, publishing, and bookselling. The exhibition is inspired by Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops, community experiences of reading and life in Scotland from 1980-2000. Discover the world of Lavender Menace and West & Wilde with us, through books, magazines, costumes, interviews and more.

Annie Lord is a visual artist and writer with a socially engaged, place-based practice. Her artworks combine environmental interventions, drawings, text and community collaborations. She is fascinated by how we find meaning in matter, transforming plants, animals and minerals into objects of artistic, scientific and domestic value.

Annie’s work includes The Neighbouring Orchard, a dispersed community orchard commissioned by Art Walk Projects. Sketching in Stone was a place-based residency in Berwick-upon-Tweed, commissioned by Connecting Threads. Her work-in-progress book, Morphoses, was shortlisted for the 2023 Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing and she is currently developing it into a full-length manuscript.

An informal creative workshop in a small-group setting. The workshop lasts for 2 hours with a break in the middle. No experience necessary and no advance preparation needed. We will have material for you to use here but feel free to bring your own sketchbook, paper, or drawing materials (nothing too messy please!) if you have preferences. 

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

The workshop and exhibition take place at the Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DD.

The main entrance has 1 step. There is no lift and no ramp and the upper levels are accessible by stairs only. There is level access from the main entrance to the Foyer section of the exhibition and the accessible toilets. Some parts of the exhibition are located upstairs, which are accessible by stairs only.

Please email us: [email protected]

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Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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