SYMPOSIUM: Victorian Sorority: Sisters in the Arts

Wednesday 25 March 2026

10am – 4pm

In celebration of Women’s History Month 2026, Watts Gallery presents a one-day symposium, Victorian Sorority: Sisters in the Arts, coinciding with our exhibition Women of Influence: The Pattle Sisters (Nov 2025 – May 2026). This event explores the creative, cultural, and political roles of sisters in Victorian Britain, showcasing new research from Watts Gallery and Surrey University, and fostering dialogue across the heritage and higher education sectors.

The symposium aims to connect scholars, art historians, and enthusiasts interested in familial, creative, and political sisterhoods of the nineteenth century, revealing the era’s fascination with what has been called the ‘sororomania’ of Victorian Britain.

Speakers include:

• Keynote Speaker: Serena Trowbridge – ‘No Friend Like a Sister’: The importance of relationships between Pre-Raphaelite women

• Corinna Henderson, Exhibitions Curator at Watts Gallery – ‘Sororal Salon: Sisterhood as Cultural Infrastructure at Little Holland House’

• Lucy Ella Rose, Lecturer in Victorian Literature, Surrey University – ‘Sororomania: Sisters and Sisterhood in Victorian Literature, Art and Culture’

• Eliza Goodpasture, Research Fellow, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford– ‘Sorority as methodology: Rehabilitating the Epps Sisters’

• Alex Round, Doctoral Graduate, Birmingham City University – ‘The Lives and Legacy of the “Sisters in Art”’

• Casey Maeve, PhD Student, Birmingham University – ‘The “Strange Sisterhood”: Sapphic women in creative partnership in the long nineteenth century’

Symposium Includes:

• Networking break

• Book sales and promotions

• Refreshments (tea, coffee, cake, biscuits)

• Entry to the main gallery and Women of Influence: The Pattle Sisters exhibition

For more information and to book your place, please visit the event’s webpage.

There are also two PGR assistant places available, which include a £50 thank you voucher. If you are interested, please reach out to Dr Lucy Ella Rose l.rose@surrey.ac.uk to enquire and express your interest.