Lantern Making Workshops

Join our fourth and final free four-week art project of 2026, in lantern making with Frog Morris. Over October you will create spectacular handmade lanterns as solo work, culminating in the opportunity of making a large-scale group lantern to process as part of Light Up New Romney in December. Works will also be exhibited at the Marsh Academy Leisure Centre. All abilities welcome.

Frog will guide you step by step through the lantern-making process. Working collaboratively, learn how to bend and fix willow to create strong sculptural frames, then apply a layer of wet-strength tissue before adding colour, decoration and LED lighting. Lanterns are left to dry before final finishing. All materials will be provided.

Course outline

Session 1, 6 October. Introduction to willow. Learn to safely bend and fix willow, beginning with smaller lantern structures.

Session 2, 13 October. Covering and design development. Cover lanterns with wet-strength tissue and add decoration. Begin planning a larger collaborative showstopper lantern.

Session 3, 20 October. Building the large lantern. Work together to construct a larger sculptural frame, integrating lighting into the design.

Session 4, 27 October. Finishing and illumination. Cover, decorate and illuminate the large lantern, preparing it for exhibition and procession.

About Frog Morris

Frog Morris studied at Kent Institute of Art and Design in Canterbury and took his Masters at Goldsmiths College. He has created art for Tate Modern, the Barbican, the Royal Academy, Turner Contemporary, the BFI, Whitstable Biennale, Whitechapel Gallery, South London Gallery and Edinburgh Fringe, among others.

Lantern making continues the collaboration between JAM on the Marsh and the Romney Marsh Community Hub to bring inclusive, free art workshops, inspiring creativity, fun and sociability.