Gallery, Venue
Dartington Trust
Dartington Trust is a centre for progressive learning, arts, ecology and social justice, based on a 1,200 acre site near Totnes, in Devon
The Dartington Experiment began in 1925, when wealthy pioneers and visionary thinkers Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst bought a crumbling estate and began to explore how a place could change the world. They attracted some of the greatest artists, educators and political philosophers of the 20th century in the process. The community this created was the catalyst for important British institutions – including the NHS and Arts Council – and ground-breaking experiments in education, social policy, farming and land use.
Dartington Trust endures/lives on as a centre for progressive learning, arts, ecology and social justice, based on a 1,200 acre site near Totnes, in Devon. Throughout its history Dartington has drawn leading artists and thinkers including Bernard Leach, composer Igor Stravinsky, cellist Jacqueline du Pre, musician Ravi Shankar, playwright Bernard Shaw, environmental activist Vandana Shiva, social activist and politician Michael Young and writer Aldous Huxley.
The Trust works locally, nationally and internationally with pioneering thinkers, teachers, artists and social entrepreneurs to achieve change in three crucial areas: the arts, the promotion of a fairer society and the future of our planet.
The many elements of the Trust today include: Schumacher College, Dartington Arts School and Research in Practice. It is a social-enterprise hub for like-minded organisations and charities, a place for nature with range of conservation, agroforestry and sustainable food-growing projects, a creative community with a year-round programme of art and craft short courses, theatre, music and dance events as well the independent Barn Cinema plus the Dartington Summer School & Festival which has been running since 1953. The estate is also a destination with Grade II* listed gardens, woodland walks, riverside trails, cafés, and restaurants and family-friendly activities.
Dartington Trust endures/lives on as a centre for progressive learning, arts, ecology and social justice, based on a 1,200 acre site near Totnes, in Devon. Throughout its history Dartington has drawn leading artists and thinkers including Bernard Leach, composer Igor Stravinsky, cellist Jacqueline du Pre, musician Ravi Shankar, playwright Bernard Shaw, environmental activist Vandana Shiva, social activist and politician Michael Young and writer Aldous Huxley.
The Trust works locally, nationally and internationally with pioneering thinkers, teachers, artists and social entrepreneurs to achieve change in three crucial areas: the arts, the promotion of a fairer society and the future of our planet.
The many elements of the Trust today include: Schumacher College, Dartington Arts School and Research in Practice. It is a social-enterprise hub for like-minded organisations and charities, a place for nature with range of conservation, agroforestry and sustainable food-growing projects, a creative community with a year-round programme of art and craft short courses, theatre, music and dance events as well the independent Barn Cinema plus the Dartington Summer School & Festival which has been running since 1953. The estate is also a destination with Grade II* listed gardens, woodland walks, riverside trails, cafés, and restaurants and family-friendly activities.