Cassandra Ash, Author at DLWP, The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, East Sussex

Emerging plans for De La Warr Pavilion revealed

De La Warr Pavilion and Rother District Council are delighted to reveal their masterplan to conserve and enhance the iconic Grade 1 listed building over the next decade.

Based on twenty years of operations in its current model, and ninety years since opening in 1935, the emerging plans seek to address pressing conservation and refurbishment issues, widen engagement across the town, district and region, and streamline operations to increase organisational business viability and economic impact regionally.

The unrealised original ambitions for the site and subsequent limited investment in the fabric of the building over the decades is a constant challenge for the Pavilion in its seaside location. The 2005 John McAslan scheme was a highly ambitious and successful project, which has since welcomed over seven million people through the doors, however the original fabric investment of c.£20m was highly cost engineered and eventually delivered for just £8m.

This thoughtful and ambitious masterplan scheme developed by a design team led by architects Haworth Tompkins, gives us a roadmap to complete works through the site, addressing practical challenges that include:

Increased welcome and access for artists and visitors.
Care of the Grade 1 Listed Building.
An auditorium that missed out on investment in 2005 and is in need of urgent attention.
Refurbished gallery spaces.
Re-aligned learning and event spaces, that connect the community with the building, landscape and sea.
Commercial operations that allow the organisation to grow, and to support the longer-term conservation of the building.
Efficient systems that move us towards net zero.

The Levelling Up government funded project, also supported by a Heritage Fund development grant, seeks to create an environment where the organisation can have increased impact on the communities it serves, bringing international artists and performers to the region, but also reaching out to co-develop creative and skills programmes such as Coastal Catalyst, Talent Accelerator and Creative Sidley. Our project also works closely with Heart of Sidley to support their new Community Hub.

The masterplan will be delivered through a series of phased works, starting with the auditorium and foyers, with further phases delivered in line with fundraising activity.

A public consultation on the emerging plans is taking place in the Rooftop Foyer at the De La Warr Pavilion between 2 and 6 April 2025 where feedback can be shared via questionnaires during your visit.

This ambitious project needs your support to become a reality. To be part of our story and support our ambitious plans please speak to Jessica Cheetham on 01424 229 102 or jessica.cheetham@dlwp.com.

Further resources

Rother District Council secures over £19m Levelling Up funding for community, creativity and skills in Bexhill.

De a Warr Pavilion & Heart of Sidley Announce Appointments of Architechs for Levelling Up Capital Projects.

Empowering Future Creatives: A Week of Hands-On Work Experience at De La Warr Pavilion

Here at De La Warr Pavilion, we are always keen to offer a variety of work experience opportunities for people interested in creative careers. Recently, we were able to support almost twenty students from East Sussex College Group (ESCG) Hastings for a work experience week set around a research project.

During their week with us, the ESCG students were set a brief by our fundraising and comms teams to research, develop, and create a marketing strategy for a brand-new youth membership that we are hoping to launch in 2025. This was an extremely broad taste of what arts admin roles can look like, giving the students an opportunity to work with the comms team and learn about marketing techniques, as well as researching and evaluating similar youth memberships for their effectiveness.

Students were able to decide which type of role they preferred after the first day and choose whether they wanted to continue the rest of the week in the membership research team or the marketing team. This allowed them to make work-based decisions around the types of job roles they were interested in and select the team that would give them the best knowledge for their future careers.

Whilst the membership research team explored various youth memberships across the UK, with a focus on creative and cultural organisations, the marketing team got to work creating posters, social media campaigns, and coming up with branding ideas such as logos and names. The marketing team decided to create hand-crafted marketing materials, preferring the analogue method of marketing and the personal touch this can add to a companies branding. Meanwhile, the research team started planning a launch event and considering what types of workshops, discounts, events, and benefits would make young people want to sign up for the free membership.

After a week of research and content creation, the students were asked to present their findings and ideas back to the group. This presentation happened in front of their peers, as well as members of the De La Warr Pavilion team from the comms and fundraising teams, allowing for post-presentation discussions and in-depth feedback.

The students learnt a range of new skills during their work experience placement with us. They left with a better understanding of behind-the-scenes careers in an arts organisation, as well as a new-found knowledge of themselves and the types of roles they might see themselves working in the future.

We will be hosting a number of work experiences in the coming months, from helping the exhibitions team with the install of our upcoming exhibits and a chance to get behind-the-scenes with our tech team, right through to an experience of what it’s like working in live programming.

To see any work experience opportunities that are still available for sign ups, please check the T alent Accelerator page. Sign up to the Talent Accelerator newsletter to be the first to hear about these opportunities or contact the team on talentacc@dlwp.com if you have a specific work experience request.

Jobs & opportunities for all at Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair

Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair, the annual free jobs and skills event for the whole community, will be back at the iconic De La Warr Pavilion on Friday 21 March 10.30am – 3.30pm.

The fair, in association with Bexhill College, is an opportunity to explore full-time, part-time and seasonal job vacancies, apprenticeships, skills development opportunities, back to work support, training and courses.

Last year’s fair welcomed a record 700 visitors with a wide range of ages and experiences, ranging from the unemployed and college leavers to people considering returning to work and the retired. Visitor feedback included ‘Lots of new contact points for potential employment’, ‘What a wonderful and well organised event and very inclusive’, and ‘Thank you for having me – and I didn’t feel too old, phew!’

Over 50 businesses and organisations from across the region will be at this year’s event on 21 March. There will be free workshops including confidence boosting sessions for job-seekers, advice for young people interested in a freelance creative career, and, for employers, a session on alternative apprenticeships. The Creative Industries Zone will be offering entry level opportunities to help young people get into the industry and Bexhill Chamber of Commerce will be running a CV checking service. The fair will once again be operating a Quiet Time between 2pm and 3.30pm for visitors with access requirements or who would feel more comfortable in a quieter environment.

Kieran Mullan MP said: ‘I would urge anyone looking for a job or thinking about returning to work to visit the fair on 21 March. It’s a fantastic opportunity to talk directly to employers across the region in sectors including Transport, Construction, Financial Services, Digital, Health & Social Care, Education, Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology, Tourism, Hospitality, the Creative Industries and many more.’

Stewart Drew, Director & CEO, De La Warr Pavilion, said: ‘We’re really looking forward to welcoming everyone to this year’s fair. It’s an amazing community event that offers something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for a new job or career or are interested in volunteering or learning something new, come along to the Pavilion on 21 March and explore the hundreds of opportunities on offer.’

A not-for-profit community-led initiative, Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair is organised by the De La Warr Pavilion, Kieran Mullan MP, Bexhill College and Rother District Council with the support of Bexhill Chamber of Commerce.

Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair is 10.30am – 3.30pm on Friday 21 March at the De La Warr Pavilion. Find out more and register at dlwp.com/jobsfair. Visitors are welcome to come along on the day but are encouraged to register in advance to smooth their entry to the event.

Exhibitions programme 2025 at De La Warr Pavilion

We are thrilled to announce the five new exhibitions taking place this year at the De La Warr Pavilion.

Spring

February 22–May 26, 2025
Jaki Irvine: Ssh Ow
Ssh Ow is the first major solo exhibition in a UK public gallery in a decade by Dublin-based artist Jaki Irvine (b. 1966, Ireland) and features Ack Ro’, an immersive thirteen-channel video installation that surrounds viewers with an evocative interplay of sound, imagery, and light. The piece layers delicate sound and visuals, to create an atmosphere that feels both disorienting and intimate. Fragments of film are interspersed with 28 looping pink neons, which spell out anagrams derived from the words of Cracklin’ Rosie, the title of a Neil Diamond song from 1970.

Irvine’s project at DLWP includes a newly-commissioned immersive live work titled SHWO EM TEH WAY OT GO HMOE that will be presented in our auditorium in May 2025.

February 22–June 1, 2025
Michelle Roberts: Red, Blue, Up
Michelle Roberts is a Bexhill-based artist whose paintings and drawings are ambitious in scale, conception and realisation. Her subjects arise from the realm of lived experience, such as a holiday, or the thrill of an Air Show, whilst other works celebrate events such as the Diamond Jubilee, or films that she has seen. Roberts’ meticulous drawing style intricately dissects shapes and forms, creating patterns with unwavering precision and control, with compositions that come to life through vivid colour.

Roberts’ solo exhibition is programmed in collaboration with Outside In, following the artist winning first prize at its national open exhibition, Humanity, in 2023, and Project Art Works, a neurodiverse collection of artists and activists based in Hastings, of which Roberts is a member.

Summer

June 14–September 14, 2025
Allan Weber: My Order
Allan Weber (b. 1992, Brazil) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Rio de Janeiro. Working across a range of mediums including assemblage, installation, sculpture and photography, his practice acts as a vehicle to deconstruct the realities of daily life within the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Weber’s work incorporates material and visual elements he views as synonymous with life in the favelas. This includes tarps used at funk parties, common architectural features such as water tanks, razor blades used to create popular hairstyles, as well as elements that relate to the work life of those active in phone app bicycle and motorcycle food delivery. Questioning the traditions and legacy of Brazilian Constructivism, he appropriates these elements into compositions that transform their social meaning.

Weber’s first institutional exhibition in the UK is a co-commission with Nottingham Contemporary, where the first iteration will open in February 2025, and has been co-curated by Pablo León de la Barra, Curator at Large, Latin America at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation.

Claudia Alarcón & Silät
Claudia Alarcón (b. 1989, Argentina) is an indigenous textile artist from the La Puntana community of Wichí people of northern Salta, Argentina. Alongside her individual practice, she leads the Silät collective, an organisation of one hundred women weavers of different generations from the Alto la Sierra and La Puntana Wichí communities. Wichí society is clan-based and matrilocal. Weaving with hand-spun vegetal fibres from the local chaguar plant has been a communal, female-led activity for centuries, and is fundamental to the visual culture, narrative history and economics of the Wichí people.

This exhibition will be Claudia Alarcón & Silät’s first institutional solo presentation in Europe and follows their participation in the 60th International Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere in 2024.

Autumn

October 4, 2025–January 4, 2026
Betty Parsons
Betty Parsons (b. 1900, d. 1982, USA) is best-known as a visionary New York gallerist who significantly shaped twentieth-century art in the US through her roster of artists including Ad Reinhardt, Barnett Newman, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock. Alongside her gallery career, Parsons maintained a rigorous artistic practice of painting and sculpture, working at weekends in her Long Island studio.

Parsons developed a bold, playful, and expressive style, with influences ranging from natural phenomena and the cosmos to spirituality. Extensive travel across Europe, Africa, Japan, and Mexico deeply enriched her relationship with colour and form, while the coastal landscape of Long Island, New York inspired her pursuit of capturing fleeting energy in her surroundings, which she described as the ‘sheer energy’ or ‘invisible presence’ of a situation. In the 1970s, Parsons began sculpting, using driftwood from the beaches near her studio to create small, memento-like constructions. This coastal setting also inspired her poetry, which filled her sketchbooks alongside watercolours of the landscape.

This will be the first survey of Parsons’ work in Europe, charting the trajectory of her artistic practice through painting, sculpture and poetry.

Opening Doors to Creative Careers: De La Warr Pavilion Hosts Local Students for Hands-On Industry Insights

As part of Discover Creative Careers Week 2024, the Learning & Participation team carried out a number of Open Doors visits with local schools and colleges. Various members of the wider De La Warr Pavilion team attended these visits too, talking about their roles, how they got into them, and general information about working in their type of creative work.

To start off the week, nine further education students from Mount Camphill Community School visited the gallery. They were joined by Laura from the Auditorium Technical Team, who spoke about working as a technician, including a tour of the auditorium and the sound and lighting desks.

To celebrate the brand-new creative T Level course happening locally, our next visitors were nine Year 12 T Level students from Bexhill College. João from the Exhibitions team joined them for their visit and let them know a little bit more about what it’s like working in exhibitions and curation, including jobs and routes into that field. Learning even more about working in the creative industries, they were also joined by Greg from the Live Programming team, who spoke to them about them about working in the live music and events sector.

Helping to teach students about creative careers before selecting their options, the next visit was from twenty-three Year 9 students from Saxon Mount School. This visit was joined by Amy from the Talent Accelerator team, who spoke about her roles at Talent Accelerator, Beeching Road Studios, and East Sussex College Group including what it means to be freelance and work across multiple areas within a similar sector.

Finally, we were joined by fourteen Year 8 students from Ratton School. Their visit was supported by Cassie and Daisy from the Communications & Marketing team, where they spoke about everything from social media through to communicating with audience members, and the growing importance of this type of behind-the-scenes role within arts organisations. Along with this, they also gave the Ratton School students an insight into apprenticeships, and how this is a great alternative route into work and the creative industries.

We had a wonderful time showing these students around the De La Warr Pavilion, and opening our doors to give then am insight into everything that happens at the gallery from front of house right through to office based work.

If you would like to attend an Open Doors visit with you school, get in touch with Maya Kindcaid, our Head of Learning & Engagement, on Maya.Kincaid@dlwp.com.

De La Warr Pavilion awarded £45,000 from Art Fund’s RE-IMAGINE Programme for community partnerships

The De La Warr Pavilion is delighted to announce that we have been awarded £45,000 over the next two years through Art Fund’s Reimagine grants programme. Art Fund has awarded £1million to museums and galleries across the UK reliant on local authority support. This latest round of the programme supports museums to reimagine their approach to partnerships.

This funding will allow DLWP to continue working with our valued community partners including established and emerging artists and organisations to strengthen, build and sustain the arts ecology in Bexhill, Rother and wider into Sussex.

We continue to work together with Rother District Council, to ensure excellent cultural activities and access to our Grade I listed building are kept free to accessible to all.

Stewart Drew, Director and CEO of the De La Warr Pavilion said:

“Our surveys tell us that 86% of our visitors agree that DLWP is welcoming to all the community and 75% agree DLWP encourages participation in community life and events. Responding to vulnerable local authority funding, this fund allows us to continue our vital work with the community and re-imagine our approach, increasing resilience and building a creative and skills-based ecology in which we can all thrive.”

Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund, said:

“We’re extremely pleased to offer £1million in support to local-authority reliant museums and galleries across the UK through this latest round of Reimagine grants. The projects showcase the incredible value local museums have for communities and demonstrate their remarkable ambition, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit in the face of growing challenges.”

Further information will be announced soon.

About De La Warr Pavilion

The De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP) is a centre for arts, culture, creativity and skills in a Grade One Listed iconic modernist building by the sea, designed by refugee Erich Mendelsohn and émigré Serge Chermayeff. It opened in 1935 as the ‘people’s palace for art and culture’ and, almost 90 years later, continues to produce an innovative and integrated cultural programme of exhibitions, learning and creative engagement as well as a diverse and popular programme of live music and comedy. DLWP sits at the heart of its community taking the lead in the development of skills and cultural tourism the region and plays a central role in the cultural and economic growth of Sussex.

As a result of the De La Warr Pavilion’s community engagement approach, in 2023/24 it:

Presented 4 free outdoor film screenings
Hosted 64 community group and private hires
Employed 149 staff, 89% of whom live in the local area
Worked with 20 local volunteers
Programmed 39 free creative family events and 25 free Blueprint Collective creative sessions for 16 – 22 year olds
Welcomed 700 people to the Bexhill Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair
Engaged over 11000 young people with our learning and skills programmes
Worked with 43 primary, secondary and SEND/SEMH schools, and colleges
Hosted 24 drop in sessions for Bexhill’s Ukrainian Refugees and hosted Refugee Week events with the Refugee Buddy Project, Hastings Rother & Wealden
Welcomed 325 children from families who receive free school meals into our music, heritage, arts and free food holiday clubs

The De La Warr Pavilion receives core revenue funding from Arts Council England (NPO) and Rother District Council.

Re-imagine Grants

Reimagine grants are funded by Art Fund and made possible with support from The Headley Trust, alongside other generous trusts and supporters of the Making Connections campaign.

The funding has been prioritised to support local authority-reliant museums and galleries in response to Art Fund’s Museum Directors Survey 2024 and other pieces of research revealing the significant challenges currently facing museums and galleries.

Art Fund

Art Fund is the UK’s independent charity for art, helping museums and people to share in great art and culture for 120 years. Art Fund raises millions of pounds every year to help the UK’s museums, galleries and historic houses. The charity funds art, enabling the UK’s museums to buy and share exciting works, connect with their communities, and inspire the next generation. It builds audiences with its National Art Pass opening doors to great culture; and it amplifies the museum sector through the world’s largest museum prize, Art Fund Museum of the Year, and creative events that bring the UK’s museums together. Art Fund is people-powered by 135,000 members who buy a National Art Pass, and the donors, trusts and foundations who support the charity.

The National Art Pass provides free or discounted entry to over 400 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and Art Quarterly magazine.

www.artfund.org

The De La Warr Pavilion has gained support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for its Transforming Heritage: Creativity, Community and Skills project.

This significant project will deliver much needed cultural-led regeneration, improving the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in Rother by building on the iconic status and local significance of the De La Warr Pavilion through refurbished and redeveloped spaces and creativity and skills programmes. By making the Pavilion more accessible, resilient and inclusive, it will showcase the transformative power of culture and heritage, offering a vibrant and culturally enriched future for all its communities. It will also serve as a unifying force, bringing communities together, creating opportunity and returning the building to its original purpose as a People’s Palace.

Development funding of £219,258 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to progress our plans to apply for capital funding in 2025. This initial support from the Heritage Fund is made possible by National Lottery players.

A successful Heritage Fund would enable us to

Preserve the heritage of the building by repairing and refurbishing original and iconic spaces
Make spaces more physically accessible and inclusive by unlocking community learning and skills programmes for all our communities
Redevelop spaces for commercial and mixed use, so the Pavilion can grow its business model ensuring future financial sustainability.
Improve the environmental sustainability of the organisation
Help us reach our fundraising goals for the full capital scheme. Read here about our Levelling Up award here: www.dlwp.com/luf

The Heritage Fund Development grant allows us to work with a number of consultants to look at specific areas or our work, particularly in regard to our heritage, access, digital, inclusion and participation, which will feed into the project and ensure that the future of the organization is meaningful and of value to the communities that we serve. They will be running consultations with our partners, visitors and the public throughout the autumn while plans are being developed.

Stewart Drew Director and CEO of the De La Warr Pavilion said:

‘We are thrilled to have the initial support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund to enable us to continue with our plans for the Transforming Heritage: Creativity, Community and Skills capital project. It presents a wonderful opportunity to speak to our communities about accessibility, inclusion and participation and to work towards preserving the heritage of our Grade One Listed building for everyone to enjoy now and in the future.’

About the Project

In January 2023, Bexhill heard the amazing news that it had been awarded £19m from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund for Bexhill and Sidley. Read more here.

In April 2024 we announced Haworth Tompkins as architects for the project. Read more here.

Support from the Heritage Fund will help us realise this ambitious project.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

www.heritagefund.org.uk