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art & craft fairs Events

Christmas Fayre | Saturday 29th November

Christmas Fayre at designermakers21, with 11 visiting artists stalls, alongside our studio members, and work by associates in the galleries.
Saturday 29th November 10am-4pm, with wonderful handmade gifts, festive drinks and nibbles!

Artist Stalls:

Mark Papworth – Leatherwork

Becky Whatley – Painting & Needle Felted Creatures

James Collier – Pargetting

Heather Richards – Ceramics

Roz Barnet – Textiles

Teresa Frampton – Painting & Book Binding

Kate Heath – Jewellery

Sue Hulme – Felting

Suzanne Campbell – Fused Glass

Matt Brewer – Jewellery

Rachel Heather – Wooden Wears

Opening Times: 10am-4pm, Free Entry

Location: downstairs at designermakers21, Diss

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Events Archive

‘Have a Go’ Day Saturday 25th October 11am-3pm

Come and try your hand at a variety of crafts practised at designermakers21. Explore our unique community, and learn a new skill.

Our members will be running fantastic drop-in activities between 11am-3pm. Unleash your inner creativity and have a go at…

  • Making a lino printed card
  • Pronto plate printing
  • Creating a community mosaic
  • Expressive mark-making

and, just in time for Halloween, get all spooky

  • Creating clay ‘beasts’
  • Designing Halloween inspired tetrapac prints
  • Making Besoms (think witch’s broom!)

£5 per activity, with all proceeds going to designermakersCIO fundraising.

No booking required, but at busy times you may be asked to wait before taking part in an activity. All ages welcome, children must be accompanied at all times.

Opening times: 11am-3pm

Location: ground and first floor studios at designermakers21

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Events Archive

Showcase Exhibition | August – October 2025

We are delighted to welcome three local artists in the Showcase for August, September and October.

Displaying their work are Heather Richards, Becky Morgan and Sally-Ann Utting.

Heather Richards – ‘I produce an expansive range of whimsical ceramics. Mugs, jugs, vases, MUSHROOMS, hearts, beautiful up-facing flowers that catch the rain for bees to drink and a great deal more’

Becky Morgan (The Tulip House) – I am a textile artist and create a range of wildlife cushions and art works which incorporate repurposed fabrics. I use natural fibres such a wool, cotton and linens and try to champion UK produced textiles. My work is scanned to produce a range of prints and cards. My focus on repurposing textiles has also led me to create a range of gloves and scarves using repurposed second hand cashmere.’

Sally-Ann Utting – ‘I produce recycled art, inspired by surface, pattern, texture and order. Reused aluminium beer cans as a material has been a significant component of my work. my process has led to a cycle of collecting, selecting, cutting, weaving, manipulating and placing materials, producing collage and sculptural effects.’

You can visit the Showcase any Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm upstairs in the main building at designermakers21. All works on display are for sale.

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Events Archive

Summer Expo ’25 | 7th – 30th August 2025

‘Summer Expo ’25’


An exhibition of art by local people, celebrating their talent and creativity.

Featuring a wonderful variety of work including: painting, collage, print, textiles, embroidery, sculpture, wood, metal, watercolour & ink & felt.

Exhibition celebration afternoon Saturday 9th August 12-2pm, all welcome.

Opening Times: Thursday-Saturday, 10am-5pm

Location: Upstairs Exhibition Space at designermakers21, Diss

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Events Archive

Summer Artisan Fair | Saturday 21st June

Join us on Saturday 21st June, for the Summer Artisan Fair at designermakers21.

Entry: FREE

Times: 10am-4pm

16 invited artist/makers will be showcasing their work, all with a tantalizing selection of high quality handmade items for sale.

  • Leatherwork
  • Silver Jewellery
  • Ceramics
  • Pargetting
  • Textiles
  • Needle Felting
  • Pyrography
  • Embroidery
  • Printmaking
  • Collage
  • Resin Clocks

designermakers21 will be open 10am-5pm, with access as normal to our members’ studios, galleries and Showcase exhibition.

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Events Archive

‘Being Woman’ Workshops at designermakers21 | 22nd March – 26th April

Would you like to explore a new medium, reanimate a skill, or immerse yourself in creating for a day?

Have a look at the programme of artist-led workshops running alongside ‘Being Woman’ exhibition at The Corn Hall in Diss. All workshops will take place at designermakers21. For more information, and to book a place on any of the workshops please visit the Being woman 2025 Eventbrite.

Workshops:

Saturday 22nd March – Unlock Your Creativity Day | 11am-3pm

Saturday 29th March – Moon Goddess Vessel | 11am-2pm

Saturday 29th March – Explore Self-Portraits | 11am-3pm

Saturday 29th March | Puppets, Petticoats & Paper | 10.30am-4.30pm

Three Day Egg Tempera Painting Course, Saturday 5th, 12th and 19th April | 10am-4.30pm

Saturday 5th April – Embroidered Illustration | 12.30-3.30pm

Saturday 5th April – Paint a Mythical Woman | 11am-4pm

Saturday 12th April – Nature & Conservation Ceramics | 10am-2pm

Saturday 12th April – Create a Clay Goddess | 10am-1pm

Saturday 19th April – Print a Mother Earth Linocut | 10.30am-4pm

Saturday 19th April – Cyanotype Goddess | 1-4pm

Saturday 26th April – Print a Female Inspired Lantern | 10.30am-2.30pm

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Events Archive

Showcase Exhibition | February – April 2025

We are delighted to welcome three local artists in the Showcase for February, March and April.

Displaying their work are Becky Whatley, Cathie Fiddling and Keri Lowe (Fibre and Earth Studios).

Becky Whatley – Multi-talented, Becky is showing her fabulous pictures, which she creates with precision pyrography, and oil paint to finish. Becky also creates rather wonderful felted creatures.

Cathie Fiddling – Cathie makes attractive mosaics using broken crockery. Adding extra interest, and a little bit of humour with lettering in a very charming fashion.

Keri Lowe (Fibre and earth Studios) – Keri is a potter and sculptor. She hand builds with coils, slabs, and throws on the wheel. Her work is decorated using sgraffito. All are beautiful pieces of work, often functional, sometimes sculptural, with a focus on surface decoration.

Visit the Showcase upstairs at designermakers21 every Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm.

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events in Diss Have a Go activities

FREE ‘Have a Go’ Craft Activities | Saturday 15th Feb, 11am-3pm

Come and try your hand at a variety of Crafts practiced at designermakers21 for FREE.

Explore our unique community of makers and learn a new skill.

Activities include: making a community mosaic, printmaking, making a collaborative ‘clay-scape’, concertina sketchbooks, making a community quilt, metalwork and weaving.

No booking required, however at busy times you may be asked to wait before taking part in an activity.

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Events Archive

Summer Expo ’24 | 1st -24th August

designermakers21 fourth Summer Open Exhibition showcases the work of 50 local artists, working across disciplines including painting, print, textiles, metalwork and wood sculpting. It is a celebration of local talent and creativity!

The exhibition is free to visit, and runs from the 1st – 24th August 2024, and is on display in the upstairs gallery at designermakers21, open Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm.

summer exhibition 2024 at designermakers21 the image shows a range of work from the exhibition, which is open until the 24th august every thursday to saturday 10am-5pm
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Events Archive

‘Nurture’, An exhibition by East Anglian based Design Nation members | 4th – 27th July 2024

Nurture (verb) – care for and protect (someone or something) while they are growing

Thursday 4th July to Saturday 27th July
Open Thursday-Saturday 10am to 5pm in the Upstairs Gallery at designermakers21

Saturday 20th July 11am-3pm – Meet the Makers

Design Nation is the leading membership portfolio for contemporary craft and design in the UK. The East Anglian group hub was formed in 2020, and connects makers working from their studios in Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk. Having met frequently over zoom for the past four years, six members have come together to exhibit their work. ‘Nurture’ encapsulates an exploration of each maker’s connections with their local environment.

Working across disciplines including Weave, Embroidery, Ceramics, French Beading and Mixed Media, the conversations, and connections, between makers’ practices centre around becoming increasingly environmentally conscious.
Makers draw upon a variety of backgrounds and experiences, from working in the fashion and textile industry, to an increasing awareness of the amount of plastic in everyday life. The impact of human activity and climate change on the East Anglian landscape, serve as a catalyst for all six makers to strive to reduce the environmental impact of their work. Many utilise waste materials; transforming single use plastic, paper pulp and nylon offcuts into highly tactile, contemporary art works, and repurposing textile industry surplus yarns to create handwoven interior pieces.
Where materials cannot be repurposed, artists make conscious decisions about sourcing sustainable materials, minimising waste and energy consumption. All seek to achieve balance and harmony with the natural environment.

Featuring Work by:
Caroline Hyde-Brown
Holly Parr
Pamela Print
Lucie Summers
Kate Welton
Karen Whiterod