Local Artists Project

Original artworks, inspired by the Museum and created by four emerging, innovative, local artists.

We commissioned four local artists and invited them to engage with the Museum and its unique history, and to respond by creating an original artwork expressive of their own personal history and experiences.

We believe every body has a medical history, and this is an opportunity for emerging local artists to share their artwork and personal narratives with a wider audience.

Click on the artwork below to learn the story behind it and the artist who made it, as well as to shop the range of exclusive products we have featuring these beautiful bespoke designs!

A selection of lino printed apothecary bottles, some partially filled with light coloured liquids, on a white background.

Jo Elizabeth May

"With the opportunity to explore the deep variety of objects and stories at the Old Operating Theatre, I knew I wanted to pick something that would allow me to use all my favourite techniques and really delve into the history of the museum. That’s when the bottles stood out. Filled with all manner of herbal and plant-based concoctions I got thinking – Which of the plants and herbs around me have dyeing properties?"

Jo Elizabeth May

A blue and white design with an apothecary standing centrally holding a pestle and mortar, surrounded by objects from the museum; across the bottom of the page are drawers and shelves of apothecary bottles and jars

Jono Ganz

"As a designer, I’m particularly interested in the design of everyday things – packaging, advertising, the products and utilitarian objects we’re surrounded by that we rarely think of as aesthetic or beautiful. On my first visit to the Old Operating Theatre Museum, I loved looking at the branded pill boxes and newspaper clippings (like the one proudly advertising ‘CONCENTRATED MAGGOT WASH’), but what really stood out to me were the delftware ingredient jars, lined up prettily on a high shelf in the apothecary."

Jono Ganz

On the left is a cathedral and on the right is the museum's bell tower entrance; in the foreground is a herb garden; in the centre is the old operating theatre with crowd watching surgery; and at the top is the herb garret with bunches of herbs drying from the rafters

Katy Sleight

"Often my inspiration comes from heritage, history, nature and found objects. I enjoy researching old buildings and local history, collecting ideas in sketchbooks and taking photographic reference where possible.Weaving stories into my art is very important and when the opportunity came to create an artwork for the Old Operating Theatre it was a perfect setting to spark my imagination."

Katy Sleight

A black and white design, with a head in the bottom right hand corner, from which emanates a cloud of eyes of varying sizes; around this are plants and trephines

Nandhit Reddy Vasanth

"When producing this work, I was inspired by the surgical procedure of Trepanation (Cranial surgery) and the wide botanical collection featured in The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret. This artwork features the release of demonic spirits (the evil eye) and the release of higher consciousness (the third eye) through trepanation, or the use of psychoactive substances found in plants and herbs. "

Nandhit Reddy Vasanth