The Lakeland Arts Trust is an independent charity (reg. no. 526980) based in the Lake District in the north west of England. The Trust was originally set up in 1957 to save Abbot Hall, an important Grade I listed Georgian Villa on the banks of the River Kent in Kendal. In 1971 the stable block was opened as the Museum of Lakeland Life, and this won the first Museum of the Year Award.

In the late 1990’s the Trust became aware of an important Arts and Crafts movement house which was threatened with re-development. The Trust raised the money to acquire Blackwell which was designed by M.H. Baillie Scott in 1898. Built in a spectacular position above Lake Windermere, the house was opened to the public in 2001, and is one of only a handful of Grade I listed houses from this period.

Since Abbot Hall was opened in 1962, the Trust has built up important collections of fine art, furniture, craft and the applied arts, which are displayed in the context of the period of houses for which they were made. The collections also include contemporary art which has been a strong thread since the Trust was formed.

The temporary exhibition programme has achieved a national profile and, together with the collections, Abbot Hall provides a valuable resource for both children and adults to learn from and experience art at first hand. The exceptional qualities of the buildings and their settings are used to present art in a way that is more accessible and inspired than in many of the more institutional galleries. The Trust has worked with several artists to explore the interplay between art and architecture, and how a more human, domestic scale can encourage a more intimate, less formal relationship with art.

In 2007 a new site on the shores of Lake Windermere was acquired by the Trust, together with an exceptional collection of historic boats. These will form the basis of a major new development which will link many of the key areas the Trust is concerned with. A place will be created that combines the enjoyment of the Lake with an inspirational setting for art, and which will appeal to a wide and diverse range of audiences.