Creativity at The Box

We couldn't wait to catch up with Jo Clarke from The Box about what makes the museum such a lively and distinctive space in the heart of Plymouth, and to hear more about how creative engagement shapes their work. Jo shares how drawing and participation brought their Big Draw programme to life during the 25th anniversary of The Big Draw Festival, from family sessions to life drawing classes, and gives us a sneak peek at what’s coming up in 2026.

For those who may not be familiar with The Box, could you tell us a bit about the organisation and your role within it?

The Box is Plymouth’s museum, art gallery and archive. We opened in autumn 2020 following a multi-million pound redevelopment of the former City Museum and Art Gallery, Central Library and St Luke’s church buildings. I’m one of three people in the marketing team here and my role includes PR, communications, advertising, graphic design and social media.

What do you think makes The Box such a distinctive museum, gallery and archive?

I might be a bit biased, but I think there’s something for everyone at The Box - whether you’re interested in history, art or you just want to enjoy the atmosphere while you enjoy something to eat and drink in our Kitchen & Bar. We’ve got a really varied offer. We’re also ambitious which means people don’t have to travel to some of the bigger cities in the UK to enjoy high quality exhibitions and events.

Your mission focuses on reimagining the future through the past, and on connecting people, ideas and collections. How does this shape the way you approach public programming and community engagement?

Our mission is integral to everything we do: whether it’s giving artists access to our historic collections and archives to help inform and inspire new work they’re producing, interpreting objects and artworks from our collections in different ways to help highlight contemporary issues, running events alongside our main exhibition programme to give people different ways to connect or working in partnership with local organisations and individuals to co-curate. It underpins everything we do to be honest.

In October you took part in The Big Draw Festival for its 25th anniversary year! What inspired The Box to get involved?

We’ve loved The Big Draw for years. We used to regularly take part when we were the City Museum and Art Gallery, so it’s been great to get involved again now we’ve evolved into The Box! It always has a great theme and it’s good to be part of a wider annual event that gives people the opportunity and confidence to be creative. 

Across the month you offered a mix of activities, from self-guided paper sculpture making to family charcoal sessions and Life Drawing classes. We’d love to hear more! What were some of the highlights from your Big Draw programme?

The family-friendly charcoal sessions had a lovely atmosphere, and it was great to see different generations from the same families working together. One parent commented that it was the first time in ages that her children had done an activity together and not fallen out! I think the sessions did a great job of linking in with this year’s theme which was all about collaboration and connection.

Running the life drawing classes meant we could offer an activity specifically for adults too. They proved to be so popular that we’ve scheduled more for 2026. Our January and February workshops are already fully booked!

Your event on 4th October tied into both the Plymouth Community History Festival and the opening of ‘Remember Respond Resist’. Did drawing help visitors connect with those stories and ideas?

Definitely. ‘Remember Respond Resist’ was part of the UK/Poland Season 2025 and our exhibition was quite wide ranging with works by more than 20 artists that explored some pretty big themes. The drawing activities gave people a really helpful introduction and offered them a different way in.

Finally, looking ahead, are there any exhibitions, public events or community projects coming up that you’re particularly excited about sharing with audiences in 2026?

In January we opened a huge exhibition about Beryl Cook - an artist who was based in Plymouth for many years and had a very distinctive painting style that celebrated everyday people. After that we have a series of other big shows that will see us working in partnership with national partners as well as young people from across the city. It’s going to be a big year - although I think I say that every year!

Thank you, Jo!

To find out more about The Big Draw Festival and how you can get involved, click here.