Welcome to
The Stradling Collection
Founded in 2007 and rooted in the history of the Bristol Guild of Applied Arts, The Stradling Collection holds over 2,000 objects of mid-century design, craft and fine art. Through our exhibitions and education programme, we share them as a place to learn, make and be inspired.
| Finnish Design: Myths and Moomins
26th Sept to 20th Dec
Finland’s landscape, its forests, lakes, ice and shifting northern light, has long shaped a national imagination in which the natural and the mythic are inseparable. Elemental forces, transformation, resilience and craft run through generations of Finnish storytelling, and those same qualities resurface in the country’s modern design: clarity, restraint, quiet strength, and a profound respect for the natural world.
Current Exhibition
Upcoming Events
Modern KintsugiThu 22 Oct48 Park Row
Strange, Odd & Slightly Creepy - A Tour of the Stradling CollectionSat 31 Oct48 Park Row
Finnish Myths and Moomins: A Curator's TourThu 08 Oct48 Park Row
Learning & Engagement
Ken Stradling’s vision was that the Collection should inspire future generations of designers, makers, and collectors. Our learning programme is how we carry that forward. We open the collection to schools, colleges and curious visitors connecting people with the projects, makers behind them, and their ideas that design can carry.
About Us
The Stradling Collection is a Bristol charitable trust celebrating a remarkable collection of 20th and 21st century craft and design. Rooted in the legacy of Ken Stradling MBE, whose buying for the Bristol Guild helped shape post-war taste, it continues his passion for making good design accessible to all. Through exhibitions, education and outreach, we inspire new generations of makers, students and enthusiasts and keep alive the stories behind the objects that shape our everyday lives.
