Night Sites

Welcome to NIGHT SITES, where during one weekend in May five museums and galleries open their doors late into the evening.

The venues will host special FREE events inspired by their collections and industrial heritage, for all the family to discover and enjoy. Events are free and take place across the weekend of 13-15 May 2011. We hope you can join us for 3 nights of fun and discovery.

NIGHT SITES Events:

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

Printmaking for all the family with artist Sarah Lawton

Fri 13 May, 6-7.30pm, FREE

Image: Sarah Lawton Print, Sarah Lawton

Artist Sarah Lawton hosts an evening of printmaking taster sessions. Working with old wallpapers and printing blocks you will make a range of hand pulled prints. Inspired by the vast collections housed at the musem and the upcoming work of artists Timorous Beasties, Sarah will be inspiring you to learn a new creative skill.

Haworth Art Gallery

Help make a sculptural installation with artist Becky Waite

Fri 13 May, 6-7.30pm, FREE

Image: Becky Waite Design, Becky Waite

To celebrate the unveiling of Stuart Haygarth's beautiful new commission 'Igloo', artist Becky Waite will be hosting an event where you can get creative through transforming a ubiquitous though often overlooked object - the plastic bottle.

Inspired by the beautiful Millefiori glass collection at the Haworth, you are invited to contribute to a growing sculptural installation of kaleidoscopic colour and pattern. Please bring along your empty plastic bottles!

Helmshore Mills Textile Museum

Lucky 13’s Twilight Mill Tour and textile weaving activity with artist Susanne Davies

Fri 13 May, 7-9pm, FREE

Image: 'Radial' Embroidery Thread, 200 x 160 Susanne Davies

At Helmshore Mills Textile Museum there is a special twilight evening tour giving visitors an opportunity to discover the fascinating history of the site and its occupants. Alongside this, artist Susanne Davies will be installing a piece of thread art amongst the Spinning Mules on the spinning floor. She will also be encouraging the audience to get creative, using the installation as inspiration for their own textile piece.

Both the tour and weaving are suitable for any age but numbers for the tour are strictly limited, so to secure your place call 01706 226459 or email helmshoremuseum@lancashire.gov.uk

Rossendale Museum

Dead Good Stuffed Stuff - an evening of storymaking

Sat 14 May, 6.30-8.30pm, FREE

Image: X-rayed Echidna, Rossendale Museum by Kaspar Wimberley

At Rossendale Museum Artist Helen Yates will be collaborating with the performer and story teller Robert Beckett, and they invite you to join them for an evening of storymaking for all the family. Helen will form a series of visual stories, creating the installation ‘Story Line,’ which will incorporate many of the curious and wonderful objects around the museum. Robert will interpret Helen’s work through stories and imaginings, encouraging everyone to look at things in a whole new light and create their own ‘story line’.

Queen Street Mill Textile Museum

'The Calico People' - art installation by artist Helen Yates and textile printing with designer Sarah Hussain

Sun 15 May, 7-10pm, FREE

Image: copyright Creative Concerns

On the evening of Sunday 15 May Queen Street Mill Textile Museum opens its doors and invites you to a special audio-visual and creative experience inspired by the fascinating history of cotton making in Lancashire.

‘Calico People’ - an installation by artist Helen Yates, will transform the weaving shed and a narrated poem written by young people from Burnley as part of the ‘Stories of the World’ project at the mill, will form an unforgettable background audio to the piece. Young fashion designer and textile artist Sarah Hussain, will run a block printing workshop using historical printing blocks on calico actually woven at the mill, so you can create your very own original and authentic piece during the evening.

Support and thanks

Night Sites is funded and supported by Arts Council England, Renaissance North West, Modern History through the European Regional Development Fund and Lancashire County Council.