Art Events Across Oxfordshire This Summer

1. In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World
Until 16 August 2026 | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

This major exhibition explores the global journeys of familiar plants and flowers, featuring over 100 artworks including botanical drawings, paintings, prints and ceramics. For artists it offers a rich study in how natural forms have been recorded and interpreted across centuries, from early plant explorers to contemporary responses. The display highlights the technical skill of botanical illustration while showing how plant motifs have influenced broader visual culture.

Book tickets through Ashmolean Museum.

2. Kira Freije: Unspeak the Chorus
23 May – 16 August 2026 | Modern Art Oxford

Turner Prize-nominated sculptor Kira Freije transforms the upper galleries with life-size welded metal figures, animals and textiles in an atmospheric installation. The work creates intimate groupings that explore themes of connection, care and grief. Artists will find it a compelling example of large-scale figurative sculpture and spatial composition that invites emotional and formal response.

Book tickets via Modern Art Oxford.

3. Olivia Plender: Little Fennel’s Complaint
23 May – 16 August 2026 | Modern Art Oxford

Olivia Plender’s first UK institutional solo show since 2013 examines the history of women’s healthcare through embroidered textiles, watercolours, drawings, mobiles and sound. Drawing on research with Oxford collections, the exhibition connects early modern herbal knowledge and witchcraft accusations with contemporary issues of medical authority. It provides artists with a strong model of research-led practice that combines historical source material with contemporary media.

Book tickets via Modern Art Oxford.

4. The Muddle of the Muses
Until 4 September 2026 | Weston Library (Blackwell Hall), Oxford

Three of the stone muse heads normally high on the Clarendon Building roof are displayed at eye level, offering a rare chance to study the sculptures in detail. The free display reveals surface texture, inscriptions and craftsmanship that are usually invisible from the ground, providing useful reference for sculptors and anyone interested in historic figurative work.

Free entry – Find out more at Bodleian Library.

5. Oxford Art Market

This is a regular, community-run market where local artists and makers sell paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics, textiles and jewellery. The venue is James St Tavern, James Street, East Oxford (just off the Cowley Road). It normally takes place on the last weekend of the month (often the last Sunday).

Check the Oxford Art Market website for further details.

6. Timeless Tales at the Oxfordshire Museum
Woodstock, 18 July – 6 September 2026

This free exhibition about Oxfordshire folklore is accompanied by a full programme of hands-on community activities throughout the summer holidays.

These include free or low-cost drop-in craft sessions (clay modelling, peg people, dream-catchers, junk modelling, etc.), storytelling walks, and family workshops on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from late July into late August. Many of these are designed for all ages and have a strong local, participatory feel.

Visit the Oxfordshire County Council website for details and bookings.

7. Brickworks at the Banbury Museum
A brand-new interactive experience opening in the PYE Gallery from 18th July to 1st November.

A team of ingenious builder ants have arrived in Banbury and begun constructing their very own Brickworks, a bustling world powered by creativity, imagination and construction. But they can’t do it alone. They are inviting industrious Creators to join them, helping to test ideas, solve problems, experiment with builds and keep creativity flowing through the works.

Designed as a hands-on, screen-free experience for all ages, Brickworks encourages creativity, collaboration and playful exploration through imaginative building and problem-solving.

Creators can explore a series of interactive challenges and activities throughout the space. Build vertically on the giant brick wall, take on timed building challenges, experiment with the tube ball run, and help decode scrambled messages using a brick cipher. Younger visitors can enjoy a dedicated DUPLO® corner designed especially for the creators of tomorrow.

Visit the Banbury Museum website to learn more.