Online Spring Lecture Series 2026
Heroines and Heroes of the Arts and Crafts Movement
THESE TICKETS ARE FOR ONLINE ONLY. FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO ATTEND IN PERSON, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.
As a result of the pandemic, the Victorian Society’s two annual lecture series have since autumn 2020 taken place online, where they have drawn very large audiences. With the spring 2026 series, organised by Steven Brindle, Maya Donelan and Michael Hall, we are moving to a hybrid arrangement of in-person lectures that will be live-streamed as well as being available as recordings. The subject is one of perennial interest, the Arts and Crafts movement. Although it might be thought that there is little more to be learned about its leading practitioners, our speakers will be drawing on a large amount of new research, much of which is highlighting the often-neglected role played by women in a movement that remains of direct relevance to architects, artists and designers today.
TO BOOK THE COMPLETE SERIES, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.
NEW STARTING TIME: 6:30pm
Each lecture is recorded and sent out within a week after the talk. This recording can be accessed at any time.
There is new pricing in place. Each lecture costs:
£6 for members/ £8 for non-members / £3 for Young Victorians
Spring Lecture Series: 6
May Morris and the Art of Embroidery by Lynn Hulse
Wednesday 11 March, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
May Morris described design as ‘the very soul and essence of beautiful embroidery’ and ranked it chief among the four elements that make a piece of needlework truly ‘artistic’. Drawing on her substantial corpus of designs in the Ashmolean Museum, Lynn Hulse will explore May’s approach to translating a sketched idea into a finished piece of embroidery, contextualising her work within the artistic developments of needle-art that were taking place in the years leading up to and during her lifetime.
Dr Lynn Hulse is a textile scholar and practitioner, specialising in embroidered furnishings of the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements. She is the author of several publications on decorative needlework and editor of May Morris: Art & Life (2017). Her most recent book May Morris Designs was published by the Ashmolean Museum in August 2025. Formerly archivist at the Royal School of Needlework, Lynn now runs Ornamental Embroidery which delivers workshops, lectures and first-hand study sessions of objects in public and private collections.
The Victorian Society is an IHBC recognised CPD provider.
Image: Rose Wreath By William Morris / May Morris – https://wmgallery.org.uk/object/rose-wreath-embroidery/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118193247