Workshop Programme at The Horton
A series of creative workshops exploring themes of place, memory, and connection through hands-on activities. While some sessions will draw on The Horton's heritage, others will take a broader, more playful approach.
As Public Programme and Communities Coordinator at The Horton, I will be working for a year (2026/2027) on The Music of Life, a Heritage Lottery-funded project that uncovers the pioneering history of music therapy at the Epsom hospital cluster, once a world-leading centre for mental health treatment.
The project explores how music was used to support patients long before music therapy was widely recognised, and it brings together archives, oral histories, and a programme to connect and activate this hidden heritage with communities today. The project is in collaboration with King's College London's Department of History.
As part of this role, I have designed and facilitated a range of workshops. Some are closely tied to the project's heritage themes, working alongside activities already planned as part of the funding programme. Others are more independent.
At the heart of it all is facilitation. Creating welcoming spaces, listening to what participants bring, and trusting the process. Whether a workshop is rooted in history or something more playful, my approach is the same: generous, participatory, and led by the people in the room.
MEMORIES IN MOTION
Represent your own memories in art – the soundtrack of your life.
Using original music sheet music discovered in Horton Chapel when it was abandoned, participants will create collages, adding fabric off-cuts, magazines, newspapers, art materials and personal materials.
COMMUNAL FABRIC ART – REFUGEE WEEK
Enjoy collaboratively painting, writing, drawing, sewing, or knitting in groups on found fabrics discovered in Horton Chapel before its renovation.
The theme of Refugee Week this year is Courage. Each piece of work will be inspired by this theme, with a focus on connection, shared creativity, collective memory, group collaboration and healing. Each group will decide the design.
MUSICAL CREATURES
A fantastic art workshop for children aged 6-11 accompanied by a parent or carer.
Create your own fantastical creatures inspired by music and sound. Choose from a large selection of art materials and collage to build your creature. This workshop will develop imagination and storytelling by exploring.
ADVENTURE MAPS – EXPLORE YOUR WORLD
Children will have the chance to create imaginative maps of The Horton, transforming familiar areas into fantasy worlds. We will explore the garden, build a big puzzle together, and then draw, paint, collage and picking natural materials from the garden to create our own map of the place, inviting imaginative play, observation, and storytelling.
GROUP PAINTING PAINTING AND DISCUSSION WORKSHOP
Participants will co-create a painting on shared boards with a focus on the theme “collective roots”. Each group will discuss which perspective to give to the theme. You can use different art materials, including natural materials and/or marking the surface. The final work will be combined in a big “collective roots” mosaic.