The Petworth Detectives
2025
A pioneering project using participatory action research to transform how Petworth House engages, collaborates, and learns from its communities.
Project Downloads
The Petworth Detectives Report
Brick By Brick Song
The Petworth Detectives Findings Posters
In partnership with the inspiring team at Petworth House we brought Participatory Action Research methods into the world of audience engagement. Together, we explored how Petworth’s remarkable art collection could resonate more deeply with its local communities, reaching people from Petworth town and surrounding rural and coastal areas, and shaping a more inclusive and locally rooted approach to programming and interpretation.
Our Approach
To ensure the research reflected genuine community voices, we recruited and trained a team of local community researchers. They designed and led 24 creative research sessions across community venues, engaging 676 people through conversations, participatory workshops, and art-based activities.
The research process didn’t end with data collection. We held a series of collaborative analysis workshops, bringing together community researchers and the Petworth team to interpret the findings collectively. This approach ensured that insights reflected lived experience - not external assumptions - and modelled a new, more equitable way of doing audience research.
Key Findings
The research surfaced seven key themes to guide Petworth’s ongoing work with audiences:
Build on what people already love about Petworth – its art, stories, and sense of place.
Improve information and interpretation – making displays more engaging and accessible.
Expand special events and activities – creating new reasons to visit and return.
Provide more activities for children – encouraging families to feel at home.
Enhance accessibility – removing barriers to participation.
Leverage the appeal of landscape and nature – connecting art and environment.
Strengthen the local offer – positioning Petworth as a vibrant hub for its community.
Outputs
We wanted the findings to live beyond a report — to be seen, heard, and felt.
We collaborated with illustrator Kamal Kohonoor to create a set of beautifully designed illustrated findings posters, sharing insights in an accessible and creative way.
Working with writer Theresa Gooda and Rachel Waite from Holistic Harmonies, we co-created a song, “Brick by Brick”, which captured the spirit and messages of the research. The song was performed live at a celebration event - turning the findings into a shared, emotional experience.
The event also featured “The Living Painting”, a performance art piece about historical figure Catherine “Kitty” Fisher, written by Kathryn Attwood and Theresa Gooda, and performed by Rachel Fullegar. This imaginative work brought the research themes to life, connecting past and present in powerful ways.
Impacts and learnings
This participatory project fundamentally changed how Petworth House approaches audience engagement. By handing over power and embracing dialogue, the team began developing a more inclusive, experimental, and creative way of working with visitors and local communities.
As the Petworth House team reflected:
“Having embarked on this community action research project has fundamentally altered our approach to audience engagement and project planning. It has fostered a culture of dialogue and handed over power — setting in motion a way of working that will continue to shape our future.”
The insights gathered are already influencing programming, interpretation, and research strategy, helping Petworth to build stronger connections and more meaningful experiences for everyone who visits.
“This project has fundamentally changed how we approach audience engagement, handing over power and fostering a culture of dialogue.”
The Petworth House team
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