Chilterns Makers Hub

Date: 04th November 2024

This summer, the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs Landscape Partnership launched the Chilterns Makers’ Hub at Amersham Museum.

With support from Chalk, Cherries and Chairs and the Creating Connections project, funded by the Rothschild Foundation, makers can network and socialise at the museum and discuss what support they would like going forward.

The monthly sessions are planned to meet the needs of local, professional makers, building on focus group findings from the Museum’s A New View project that suggested networking and establishing a sense of community was something that local artists and craftspeople would welcome.

Creating links with the strong heritage of making in the area was also a key driver, both from the museum and as a direct legacy of the Chalk, Cherries and Chair’s Woodlanders initiatives.

There have been four sessions since the hub was created. The June meeting focussed on the history of local making, sharing a range of objects from Amersham Museum’s collection. In July, Kayleigh Anstiss from Chiltern Open Air Museum discussed what makes a good relationship between makers and museums.

Market & Me session at Amersham Museum

In September, the focus was on retail – with a chance to talk about venues, fairs, pricing and promotion, and in October, Sophie Eglin, founder and CEO of Market & Me, ran a social media and marketing workshop. The sessions have attracted between five and nine makers, with practices ranging from seascape painting and needle felting, to fabric painting and ceramics.

The hub’s networking has provided three makers the opportunity to supply products for the museum’s Christmas shopping weekend. The group hopes to continue to develop its activities into 2025 and build on the 23 registered members currently on the distribution list.

Future plans include a session exploring the history of the Chiltern Club of Arts and Handicrafts, founded by local suffragette supporters in 1919, some show-and-tell sessions with makers demonstrating their skills, and the potential inclusion of pieces responding to the museum’s collection as part of its second exhibition in 2025.

If you're a professional maker in the Chilterns, why not join!