The training shoe has been around for over 100 years but in the last 50 years it has developed into a multibillion dollar global industry. In this exhibition we take a closer look at the design, technology, cultural influences and environmental impact of the trainer and showcase our own trainer collection, the largest owned by a public institution.

Art history lecture series Friday 4 November – Friday 2 December 10.15am - 12.15pm Our latest series of art history lectures takes its inspiration from our current exhibition strand exploring artists’ techniques and processes, which will be showing in Gallery 2 at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery until February 2023. If you have ever wondered what separates slipware from stoneware or how to tell an engraving from an etching, this lecture series is for you. Join us as we explore some of the creative processes’ artists have deployed over millennia and de-mystify the jargon surrounding techniques as diverse as pottery, medieval and modern sculpture, printing and tempera painting.