Derwent Delights is a community arts project run by Fleet Arts, for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Great Place Scheme, originally conceived in 2019 as a “geocache” trail. The project has been creatively re-imagined due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 as a celebratory exhibition, exploring the rich landscape and history of the Derwent Valley Mills.

Two Derbyshire artists were commissioned to create sculptures which were contemporary responses inspired by the attributes of the World Heritage Site:

Miles Halpin (RSS) is inspired by natural forms, maps and landscape. He designed and created five sculptured vessels depicting the different attributes and areas of the valley, characterised by the river.

Tan Draig (OBE) is inspired by local stories, heritage and landscape. He made five of his personal textile ‘Meki Meki’ characters to live inside the vessels. The sculptures are informed by the complex attributes of the Valley.

The project also included workshops led by local professional artists in textiles and poetry. Participants were able to take part through online workshops, live-streaming sessions on location, video tutorials, using postal kits and worksheets.

FrontRowFilms worked with young people from Captive Audience Theatre Group to enhance their photography and video making skills and the film can be viewed below.