Blog

Towner welcomes families at all times and we hope everyone can enjoy our exhibitions in their own ways, but we understand that sometimes it feels hard to be yourself and let loose in the gallery environment. Join us on Wednesday 31 July from 10.00am for our special drop-in timeslot with Art Fund, when children are expected to be energetic and noisy while exploring our galleries.

We are seeking new trustees to join our board as the gallery enters a new phase in its history and embarks on an ambitious project.

For the summer holiday period, tickets to the exhibition will be free of charge.

We spoke to Charlotte Brunskill, archivist at the Paul Mellon Centre about their acquisition of the Lucy Wertheim Archive.

Towner are looking for young people aged 17 to 30 to become part of our new pilot Collections & Acquisitions Committee, to give valuable input into decision-making processes for collection development alongside being able to develop new skills.

Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC), in partnership with Towner Eastbourne, has today been granted planning permission to create a world-class arts, education and cultural centre in the unique landscape of the South Downs National Park. It is expected work will begin on the centre at Black Robin Farm in 2024, with first public access slated for 2026.

To celebrate our new publication on Lothar Götz’s joyful public artwork Dance Diagonal read an exclusive extract from an interview between Lothar Götz and Towner curator Noelle Collins included in the book. 

In this section, they chat about Lothar’s music, dance and cartographic influences and the theatrical nature of his monumental painting on Towner’s building. 

"Identity systems within the art world can often feel impenetrable, and can potentially even serve as barriers for wider participation and engagement. Our main goal when initially considering what direction to take for this year’s prize was to develop something that felt accessible and open to everyone, reflecting the ethos of the gallery itself." - David Whyte, co-founder of Tangent Graphic

We're really excited to announce that we've partnered up with Eastbourne Borough Council with plans to open up Black Robin Farm, a world-class culture and education centre in the unique landscape of the South Downs National Park.

The Sussex Art Shuttle is a new hop-on-hop-off minibus running every weekend from 15 September 2023 between Towner Eastbourne, Charleston, Seven Sisters Country Park and Charleston’s new arts space in central Lewes.

We're really excited to be welcoming the Turner Prize to Eastbourne this year, from 28 September 2023 to 14 April 2024. If you're coming to visit from afar, make sure you have a chance to experience all our sweet seaside town has to offer by staying for a night or two at one of our hotel partners:

Our current exhibition, Unseen, shines a light on artwork that has either rarely or never been on display at Towner, but is also a demonstration of all of the different ways that pieces come to be a part of the Towner Collection. Gifts and bequests have always been a huge part of collecting, and allow the gallery to represent the interests of artists and collectors who make up the surrounding communities. One notable gift, on display for the first time in Unseen, was donated by Oscar Thompsett (1931-2020), an avid collector and a painter himself, with a long career in teaching.

Ben Burbridge, Head of Art History at the University of Sussex, focuses his research on how art and politics have intersected during the past few decades. With a whirlwind 40-year socio-political history this lens can be applied to the prize.

The four shortlisted nominees for this year's Turner Prize are:

Jesse Darling

Ghislaine Leung

Rory Pilgrim

Barbara Walker

We are very pleased to announce a brand new stylish second-floor restaurant and bar, Light, which will open from mid-May.

King & Mcgaw, the Sussex-based leading art publisher and destination for fine art prints, has today been announced as the Sponsor of the Turner Prize 2023, which will be presented at Towner Eastbourne this Autumn. 

An ambitious community programme for East Sussex to coincide with Turner Prize 2023 - which takes place at Towner Eastbourne - is announced today and has been supported by a £480,000 award through the Arts Council’s Place Partnership Fund, made possible thanks to National Lottery players. 

Arpita Shah, who spoke at Towner as part of our programme of events in association with Brewers Towner International, talks about the work she does and why.

Towner 100: a year of new exhibitions launches today to celebrate the centenary year of the South Coast’s biggest gallery 

Join us in February for some extra-special screenings! We present two classic Valentine's day matinees, including Morocco starring the enchanting Marlene Dietrich in association with Eastbourne Rainbow, and Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn. 

As our last message of 2022, we'd like to say an enormous thank you for our continued support this year, and we hope all our friends and visitors are enjoying a relaxing festive season.

“Art can create a really helpful space for people who don’t usually work together to work together”

We are delighted to announce that the University of Sussex will join as the Education Partner for the Turner Prize, which will build on an existing collaboration between Towner and the History of Art department at Sussex.

Turner Prize 2023: Meet the Judges

This November, Towner Cinema brings you the best of new releases - expect plush production and A-list casts across this selection, which includes heartfelt comedy, witty satire and slower paced sultry mystery. Read on for the highlights...

2023 marks one hundred years of Towner! Read on to find out about our plans for this centenary year...

The Brewers Towner Award of £10,000, sponsored by Brewers Decorator Centres, has been given to one of the exhibiting artists alongside mentoring from the Towner team.  The winner of this prestigious award has been announced as Harald Smykla.

It’s getting colder and wetter outside this month, the perfect weather to be cosied under the warm light of your local cinema...

This month, we welcome two new facilitators to Arts in Mind; Ella Hempstead and Michaela Ross.

In a new long-read piece, Chris Rakoczi, grandson of Benny, describes the somewhat tumultuous artistic lives of the couple, who together founded the White Stag Group, interested in “holding the conscious world in voluntary abeyance.”

Towner Eastbourne is deeply sorry to hear of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Our heartfelt sympathies are with the Royal Family at this time. We will remain open until further notice whilst details of the Queen’s state funeral are confirmed.

Hayley and Jacqueline from Obscure Secure share notes from their artist residency at Towner, uncovering how they began to learn more about Kathleen Walne and Lucy Wertheim through the personal stories of people who visited the Studio.

There's lots to look forward to this month, including a showcase of work by shortlisted artists for the Film London Jarman Award, the welcome return of The Cult Film Club and some exciting debuts from new emerging directors including Larry Achiampong and Nana Mensah. Keep reading to see more on our top picks for September...

Open Plan's final week of participating artists told us a bit more about their work and what they're looking forward to about the programme...

Open Plan's third week of participating artists told us a bit more about their work and what they're looking forward to about the programme...

Open Plan's second week of participating artists told us a bit more about their work and what they're looking forward to about the programme...

Tim Mainstone of The Mainstone Press tells us about the life, work and vision of Suzanne Cooper ahead of the release of new book Suzanne Cooper: Paintings under the Spare-Room Bed.

This week's participating artists told us a bit more about their work and what they're looking forward to about Open Plan...

Our summer programme at Towner Cinema is not to be missed... Read on to find out more about special screenings and the return of our Family Film offer, just in time for the summer holidays!

We’re delighted to be introducing two new Trustees to our Board, who will support us in shaping strategic direction as we enter an exciting period including our centenary year in 2023 and develop our ambitions to deliver greater outcomes for Eastbourne communities, particularly those most disadvantaged and underrepresented in art and cultural participation.

We were delighted to work with architects Manalo & White on the redesign of our ground floor spaces which are now open. The newly improved spaces will enable us to warmly welcome our audiences to the gallery as well as provide an inviting space for live events, makers fairs, networking events and artist residencies.

iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) and Towner Eastbourne are excited to announce an open call for expressions of interest from artists of African, Asian or Middle Eastern descent, British born or based, to undertake a major new commission.

Towner Eastbourne collaborators Leap Then Look are inviting early career artists with an interest in collaborative and participatory art practice to apply to be an associate artist for Play Interact Explore, a 9-month long project which will culminate in an exhibition and series of events at Towner in February 2023.

Towner Cinema returns on 2 July with a spectacular line-up of special screenings, new releases and an extra-long run of the new feature-length documentary, Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War.

We're delighted to be able to offer this new opportunity through Future Collect, a partnership project initiated by iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) to reimagine the future of public collections at major art galleries and museums in the UK. 

The Turner Prize, the world’s leading prize for contemporary art, will be presented at  Towner Eastbourne in 2023, as the centrepiece of our centenary celebrations. 

iniva has selected Towner as its partner for the third year of Future Collect, a national partnership programme designed to diversify who is collected by, who works at, and who goes to national museums and galleries, with the aim of better reflecting the breadth of contemporary British society.

Towner is one of three UK museums to receive a significant acquisition from these performances, made possible with the generous support of ArtFund. Towner will be presenting the acquisition, which is the first ever performance piece to be added to our collection, as part of our programme next year - more details to come!

Following our recent Open Call, we are excited to be able to announce the final list of 23 exhibiting artists for Towner Eastbourne's upcoming show, Brewers Towner International, an exhibition featuring artists living and making locally in Sussex, Kent and Hampshire, as well as those working and exhibiting nationally and internationally.

From tomorrow, Towner is pleased to be able to share with you all the results of our completely revamped ground floor area, after many months of refurbishment. Designed by British architects, Manalo & White, we have worked hard to create a brighter, more accessible and relaxing environment, perfect for socialising, browsing, shopping or quiet reflection.

Towner is seeking a visual artist to work on a year-long programme with members of Arts-in-Mind.

With only one month until Towner Cinema is back, we thought we'd give you one last instalment of recommendations while you wait. Read on for what we've been watching lately and to get in the mood for the return of the big screen! 

Tickets are now on sale for a pair of major exhibitions opening in summer 2022 that shine a light on the pioneering female gallerist, Lucy Wertheim and the celebrated young artists she supported in her gallery from its opening in 1930 until its closure at the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. 

From the Eileen Mayo archive, this short article from 1931 reveals some of the artists' thoughts on privacy as an essential aspect of being a woman. Her self-sufficiency and determination were vital to the development of her long career, so it is no surprise how highly she regarded her own time and space.

In August, Towner is opening up its ground floor studio to become workspace for artists. You are invited to spend a week with other artists in the region, to share ideas and perspectives, forming connections to support you in generating new artworks, collaborations and opportunities together. 

It feels like a lifetime since we temporarily closed the doors to Towner Cinema, and while we've missed being able to host you all, we've been asking ourselves - if we were open, what would our dream big screen line-up be?

Towner Eastbourne is inviting artists to submit works for consideration to Brewers Towner International through an online Open Call process which is now open.  

Following on from our creative kit bags, we will be offering free creative workshops next spring in Shinewater and Seaside for enjoyment and relaxation. Communities and artists will make new work together: experimenting, getting creative with different materials and learning new skills. We will also be starting new weekly play and making sessions for families with young children in Shinewater and the gallery. 

The Towner Eastbourne website might seem like a strange place to talk about Newhaven’s cultural offer but ‘Ravilious, Bawden and Piper all loved the place’, and the gallery owns a rich collection of portrayals of the town’s landscape, so the connection is real.

We are pleased to announce a major capital redevelopment ahead of our centenary year in 2023.

We are delighted to be shortlisted by Freelands Foundation for the Freelands Award 2021 for our forthcoming solo exhibition with Emma Stibbon.

We have acquired a new work by Rachel Jones for the Towner Collection, generously presented by the Contemporary Art Society.

Towner Eastbourne and Brewers Decorator Centres are delighted to announce that Ayo Akingbade – artist, writer, and filmmaker – has won the Brewers Award for her work submitted to Towner International.