Hergest Croft Gardens appoints Miranda Whitten-Walker as Artist in Residence for 2026
Hergest Croft Gardens, the internationally renowned arboretum and gardens near Kington, has announced the appointment of Miranda Whitten-Walker as its Artist in Residence for the 2026 season
.A Kington-based contemporary artist and printmaker, Miranda Whitten-Walker will undertake a 12-month residency from March 2026, working on site throughout the seasons and drawing inspiration from Hergest Croft’s celebrated landscape, champion trees and rare plant collections.
Specialising in nature and landscapes, Whitten-Walker is particularly known for her complex, multi-layered linocut prints, which explore British hill ranges from unusual perspectives.
Her work typically begins as plein-air sketches made outdoors, before being developed in the studio into prints with a distinctive painterly quality, blending abstract and realistic elements.
Strongly influenced by the textures and erosive forces shaping the rural environment, her practice reflects a deep engagement with landscape and place.
An emerging figure in the UK art scene, Whitten-Walker was the 2025 recipient of the h.Art Emerging Artist Bursary Award, having shifted to full-time art in 2024 from a career as a biologist. She is a self-taught artist, a Fellow of the RSA and a member of Aberystwyth Printmakers.
Her work has been exhibited widely across the Welsh Borders and beyond, including in Ironbridge and at Liverpool’s Bluecoat, and has featured in publications by the BBC and Oxford University Press.
During her residency at Hergest Croft Gardens, visitors will be able to see the artist working on site, engage with her creative process, and take part in workshops, talks and exhibitions, offering a rare insight into how art responds to landscape across the changing seasons.
The residency follows that of artist Chris Williams and forms part of Hergest Croft’s ongoing Artist in Residence programme.
Austyn Hallworth, Head of Marketing and PR at Hergest Croft Gardens, said: “Miranda’s work speaks beautifully to the spirit of Hergest Croft – it is rooted in landscape, shaped by observation and enriched by time spent outdoors. Her residency will offer visitors a deeper, more reflective way of experiencing the gardens, while strengthening our commitment to creativity, heritage and community.”
Owned by five generations of the Banks family, Hergest Croft Gardens spans 70 acres and is home to 130 champion trees and more than 5,000 rare and unusual trees, plants and shrubs, making it the second largest privately owned arboretum in the UK.
The gardens attract visitors from across the region and beyond, and the Artist in Residence programme continues to build meaningful connections between horticulture, art and the local community.
