Louise Weller is the Curator at the Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery and is responsible for the exhibitions; researching, presenting and protecting the exhibits and conserving their own collection.

She talks to Mike Waddington about her role and making the Museum and Art Gallery as open to experience as possible, with well-presented exhibits, text and explanation, or just the opportunity to come and ‘stand and stare’ at something.  

There are also craft workshops around the events,

She speaks about ‘form and function’ in art and objects, how the two are linked and also the importance of learning about Petersfield’s history and  its rich artistic and craft traditions.  

The 2025 exhibitions continue that theme.

18 February – 3 May 2025- Bound Together: Modern British Bookbinding

Explore the internationally renowned bookbinder Roger Powell OBE  (1896-1990) who produced and worked on exquisite books out of his bindery in nearby Froxfield for five decades.

20 May – 13 September 2025  - Michael Craig-Martin

One of the best-known artists of his generation, and also highly influential for the next, Michael Craig-Martin (b.1941) has been celebrated worldwide for his instantly recognisable conceptual artwork.

30 September – 20 December 2025 - Rediscovering the photographs of Winifred Joseph, 1917 to 1945

Over 1,000 negatives capture the life of an artistic circle in Petersfield between the two world wars. Taken mainly by Winifred Joseph (1894-1966) at the home of Dr Harry Roberts, an East End-based doctor, the house in Hampshire named ‘Oakshott Hangers’ became a much-used country retreat; a unique glimpse into 20th-century rural life, and the people who enriched it.