Culture in Our City has been created to support local cultural and creative workers with opportunities for connecting, professional development and skills support. Whether starting out, adapting, and growing, or in leadership, it’s a resource to help you flourish with others encouraging resiliency during challenging times and ambition for the future.

The ABCD Plan for Cultural Recovery is led by the cultural sector, supported by Brighton & Hove City Council. The website is administered by the BHCC Arts Team. Its aims are delivered in collaboration with a group of cultural leaders within Brighton & Hove, coming together with the mission to champion the city’s arts and creative industries sector.

The site will only function well if the cultural community of the city also takes responsibility for sharing information, using it as a resource and keeping it live. The administrative team want to hear from you, so do get in touch!

In the middle of the Covid-19 storm, Brighton & Hove’s cultural and creative sector came together. 100+ creative workers participated in 17 conversations over two weeks in September 2020, focusing on how one of the most vital sectors to the city’s economy might recover from the crisis.

The ABCD Plan for Cultural Recovery was created to help find more sustainable and inclusive ways to grow and protect the sector in the future, led by a group of local cultural leaders and working groups.

Read more on our Why We Exist, People and Cultural Framework pages.

The city’s arts infrastructure has evolved over recent years and several strands support it.

Brighton & Hove Connected is an umbrella organisation, bringing together different parts of the public & private sector, as well as business, community, and voluntary sectors locally, so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together.

Brighton & Hove City Council Arts team  provide leadership in the arts, cultural and creative sector as well as develop and shape cultural policies and strategies for the city.

In 2015 the Arts team set up the Arts & Creative Industries Commission to bring the local sector together and strengthen citywide connected thinking. They developed a Cultural Framework for the city designed to strengthen the sector.

In late 2020 the commission disbanded in order to prioritise the creation of  the ABCD Plan for Cultural Recovery created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The plan was defined by key stakeholders in the city with a transparent governance structure and a series of working groups put in to place to deliver a coherent response to how the sector would remobilise.

The Cultural Framework is a map of actions and long-term ambitions, designed to create ways to strengthen the future of Arts & Creative Industries throughout Brighton & Hove. You can read the written documentation produced here. We recommend ensuring any local funding applications you partake in link to this thinking.

We recognise that we are mid-pandemic and as such our current goals are focused on the sector’s protection and recovery. This work is being led by the ABCD Plan for Cultural Recovery.

Read more on our Cultural Framework page.

Commitment
The ABCD Plan for Cultural Recovery and the Cultural Framework have at their heart a commitment by the creative and cultural sector to cultural, ethnic and social pluralism in their organisations’ practices, processes and policies. This is expressed through a voluntary Inclusivity Charter, which organisations can adopt.

The first draft of the Brighton & Hove Cultural Inclusivity Charter is below.

Inclusivity Charter
We will actively promote the importance of reflecting a diversity of life experiences in our:

• Governing body
• Artistic practice (including learning & participation practice)
• Employment practice
• Audience development activities
• Internal and external communications
• Respect the diversity of life experiences of our staff team
• Encourage dialogue within the organisation, and with our partners, audiences and funders about the importance of plurality in society
• Report annually on what we have done, and the difference it has made to our customers/communities, artists and staff.

Working groups
Read more about the ABCD working groups and how you can get involved, via the People page.

The ABCD structure will evolve in 2022 to become a new and sustainable force for arts and culture in the City. If you’d like to be involved in this process or would like to contribute to a working group, please read more on the People page and get in touch CONTACT.

Each group focuses on problem-solving different industry obstacles, in order to join up thinking & access to the arts & creative industries, citywide. All groups are committed to the commission’s voluntary Inclusivity Charter.

If you have expertise to offer a particular group, please email via the CONTACT page.

Please head over to our contribute page to submit an entry.

Please Note

Listings for local arts & creative industries groups and national funding, opportunities and relevant resources are welcomed.

Submissions are updated every few days, please bear in mind this time turnaround when sending through your entry.

Submissions are checked and if not relevant to the sector will not be listed.

Due to the volume of entries received – only submissions submitted via the contribute page will be added.

If you have an access need and require support let us know and we will do our utmost to help.

This is not and Arts Council England or Brighton & Hove City Council project. It is a shared resource led by the ABCD for Cultural Recovery team and administered by the Arts team at BHCC.

Welcome!

Arts & Creative Industries mailing list

Keeping an eye on this website and joining the arts & creative industries mailing list (bottom of our Home page) are two great ways to remain updated on what is happening in the city.

Adding a listing

Please submit here! Network groups and national funding, opportunities and relevant resources.

Arts Council England interactive map

The Arts Council England has an interactive map – allowing you to identify local National Portfolio Organisations / venues within the city, that you may like to contact directly, pending your interests. Each venue will be able to advise on their programming processes, upcoming events, opportunities, and volunteering needs.

Further Information

Additionally, The Brighton & Hove city council website lists local galleries, live music, cinemas & public art, VisitBrighton is the city’s definitive tourism & festival guide, What’s On Brighton has daily listings and Brilliant Brighton has a city directory. Design My Night offers a range of after hours/other activities. Go out and see as much as you can – the city has cultural offers every night of the week! (Covid-19 pending).

A number of city organisations offer voluntary schemes including: FABRICA & ONCA galleries, Brighton Fringe Festival, Brighton Festival, Springboard Festival, Little Green Pig (young writers), Brighton Open Air Theatre, Brighton Museum & Brighton Digital Festival. Community Works has an excellent local volunteer opportunity directory.

The Arts Council England has an interactive map – allowing you to identify local National Portfolio Organisations / venues within the city, that you may like to contact directly to see what their current needs are.

These two excellent festivals are not run by the council (although we work closely with those who do). You can read here how Brighton Festival creates their programme & how to take part in Brighton Fringe.

We are a very small team and cannot support work experience students at this time. However, we are happy to introduce you to Arts & Creative Industries across the city if you have a specific area of interest in mind. Drop us an email on our contact page and we’ll do our best to help.

Please head over to our contribute page to submit an entry. For pricing guidelines, we would recommend observing the Paying Artists website.

Yes. Please email the city council Events team on [email protected]

Please see the Resources page of our site for further information. You can re-watch the pooling resources webinar here & download the webinar notes.

See also
[How can I volunteer in the Arts & Creative Industries locally?]
[How can I take part in the annual Brighton Festival or Fringe?]

Unfortunately, we cannot offer funding to support arts activities. However, we are here to support you by sharing information, opportunities for professional development and skills support, resources, external funding opportunities, ideas and up-to-date industry blogs.

Whether starting out, adapting and growing, or in leadership, Culture In Our City is a resource to help you connect with others and flourish.

Public Art funding

Local public art commissions are funded currently by Section 106, an act that requests financial contributions from developers to reduce the impact of new developments in the city. Funding opportunities are listed on our Opportunities page.

[See also: How can I be commissioned to create a piece of Public Art for the city or elsewhere?]

Communities funding

If the work you undertake benefits local community groups or if you are part of a local voluntary organisation that addresses improving wellbeing, building cohesion and promoting fairness, you can apply for The Communities Fund and The Communities and Third Sector Commissioning Prospectus Fund.

BAME Engagement funding

The BAME Engagement Fund 2020-21 was set up to support Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community groups and voluntary organisations.

The above two funds are distributed by the Equalities & Inclusion team at the city council. These funds do not support individual applications, however if you were to partner with a community group, that would increase your eligibility. Questions? [email protected]

When applying for any council funds – please align your application carefully with the goals of the cultural framework document as you’ll have more chance of being successful. This will also avoid duplication of project/event requests and support a joined up approach to the development of city project proposals.

General funding

No general funding is available to support artistic projects in the city via Brighton & Hove council, for that we would recommend you approach The Arts Council England about their National Lottery Project Grants. This is a useful guide. Do also check out the external Funding page of this website, as well as our Opportunities page, where you can use the filters to narrow down your search.

Opportunities

Please keep an eye on our Opportunities page, where we list latest public artwork opportunities.

Please note: Brighton & Hove City Council does not accept speculative applications for public art.

If you have access needs, let us know via our contact page and we’ll do our best to send the application in a format that supports you.

The Brighton Experience group

Be sure to read The Brighton Experience group info on The Cultural Framework page of this site, which looks specifically at the strategy of public art within the city.

Cultural Framework & submissions

For local submissions, be sure to align your application carefully with the goals of the commission’s cultural framework document, as you’ll have more chance of being successful.

Public Art

Read more about Public Art in the city on the Brighton & Hove City Council public art page.

See also
[What is the Cultural Framework for the city?]

As a guide, a pre-application advice fee is approximately £150 and the actual application fee is approximately £259.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know. Please email us via our contact page, stating a location, details and add an image if possible.

The city is currently undergoing a public art strategy consultation. Read more about this on The Cultural Framework page / The Brighton Experience group (which looks specifically at the strategy of public art within the city). Part of the consultation will be looking at the city’s public art upkeep. Going forwards, we’ll be implementing systems to maintain our public art more regularly.

All opportunities are listed on our Opportunities page. You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive the latest updates. The council does not accept speculative applications, so this is the best way to stay in touch.

If you have access needs, let us know via our contact page and we’ll do our best to send the application in a format that supports you.

Council permissions

The city council receives many requests from artists to access walls in the city, however it actually does not own the vast majority and unfortunately does not have funds to support street art currently.

Finding a wall

The best approach is to locate a wall, find out if it is council or privately owned (via signage, asking local residents, the interactive property map below) and then contact the owner directly.

Next, we would recommend researching what local community groups or charity organisations are active in that district of Brighton & Hove. Create a brief & contact these groups directly, suggesting them as partners to create the work, for example if the wall was in Surrey street Brighton, you could connect with the Brighton Peace & Environment Centre.

Then think about appropriate local sponsors (or donations in kind, e.g. paint companies, local businesses).

Property map 

To support your investigations, there is an interactive property map on the Brighton and Hove council website that allows you to decipher whether property is privately or council owned. This how to guide supports users using the map.

If council owned

Please only contact the city council if you have checked via the above interactive map that the wall is council owned. Please note: although an object may show as council owned, it will then fall under many different services, i.e. Highways, parks, premises. These will all have a different approval process and may have a policy to just say no. However, you are always welcome to get in touch and ask.

Conservation area

If you have a query about whether a wall/property is part of a conservation area, you can check this by getting in touch with the city council planning team directly on [email protected]

Street Art Tours

Check out Enter Gallery’s Street Art Tours, happening weekly, to see what currently exists in the city.

The council is often approached about permissions to use outdoor spaces in the city – but many are not council run and have private owners you’d need to contact directly, before then requesting license or permit requirements.

Firstly, please identify the owner of the space you are interested in (this includes shop fronts / street furniture e.g. electrical boxes & phone booths, parks, green spaces etc). This may involve some investigation e.g. looking for signage, asking locals and using the city council’s interactive property map.

To support your investigations, there is an interactive property map on the Brighton and Hove council website that allows you to decipher whether property and land is privately or council owned. This how to guide supports users using the map. Please only contact the city council if you have checked via this map that the outdoors space is council owned.

Brighton Train Station: contact Network Rail.
Jubilee Square: contact Sick Festival.
Jubilee Library windows: contact Jubilee Library.
Bus Stops: contact Brighton & Hove Buses.
Car parking spaces: private owners are often named on plaques. Most local car parks are owned by NCP.
Green Spaces: not all are owned by the council, please check via this interactive map.

Once certain the space is council-owned please read this guide and be specific about your idea, including details of the exact location, an image, your proposal, duration needed, activity etc. Next you will need to contact the most relevant department to your location, to ask about permissions & permit/licensing requirements. A number of council-owned spaces have pre-existing licenses so it’s worth checking these.

If you would like to host an event on land owned by the council (including green spaces / parks) you will need permission from our Events Office. Download this form to see full costs and email to: [email protected]

To apply for licensing permits contact Environmental Health: [email protected]

You might need a license for a number of reasons, e.g. serving alcohol, performing a play, exhibiting a film, live music/dance. More details.

See also
[How can I be commissioned to create a piece of Public Art in the city, or elsewhere?]
[I’m a graffiti / mural artist – how would I go about being commissioned for a city piece?]

Lens-based organisations

There are a number of lens-based arts organisations within the city.

PhotoFringe is a volunteer-led, collaborative platform providing essential professional development opportunities & peer-support for lens-based artists.

Photoworks is an international platform for artists and audiences and a registered charity.

Additionally, the city council website lists local galleries which may also be a useful starting point.

Exhibiting site-specifically

If you are looking to exhibit site-specifically, please identify whether the space you are interested in is privately or council owned (this may involve some investigation, perhaps talking to people in the community, looking for signage, using the interactive map below). If it is privately owned, please contact the owner directly, as the council would not hold these permissions.

Property map
To support your investigations, there is an interactive property map on the Brighton and Hove council website that allows you to decipher whether property and land is private or council owned. This how to guide supports users using the map. Please only contact the city council if you have checked via this map that the space you are interested in is council owned.

If identified as council owned

Once certain the space is council owned please be specific about your idea, including details of the exact location, an image, your proposal, duration needed, activity etc. Next you will need to contact the most relevant department to your location, to ask about permissions & permit/licensing requirements. A number of council owned spaces have pre-existing licenses so it’s worth checking these.

Popular areas

If you would like to host an event on land owned by the council, you need permission from our Events Office: [email protected]
The Seafront: contact [email protected]
Traffic/Highways: contact [email protected]
Hove Lawns / Valley Gardens/ Green spaces/ Parks: [email protected]

See also
[I’d like to create an outdoors/site-specific event in the city, how would I go about this and do I need a permit from the city council?]
[How do I host a pop-up shop / exhibit or perform in an empty shop window in the city?]

Brighton & Hove City Council own a substantial amount of land and buildings in the city and there is often an expectation that a lot of it is vacant, however generally this is not the case. All availability is listed below and you are welcome to get in touch with portfolio managers directly for further details.

Essentially, there are five portfolios that the Council manage:

Commercial (managed by Avison Young)
Commercial portfolios are commercial properties leased on market rents.

Agricultural (managed by Savills)

In house (managed in house)
For example: community centres, garages, scout huts etc, this includes community use, however vacancies are limited.

Seafront (managed in house)
Seafront portfolio availability is shown on the council website, however these are commercial properties leased on market rents, so not generally appropriate for third sector requirements.

Operational (unavailable to the general public as as portfolios are not appropriate due to their use).

Yes. Brighton Open Air Theatre (BOAT) is a permanent outdoors performance space in Hove. The Luna Beach cinema is a seasonal big screen hosted outdoors on Brighton Beach.

Ownership

The council does not own / host permissions for many shops & shop windows within the city. Firstly, please carefully investigate who owns the space you are interested in by looking for signage, asking locals and using the city council’s interactive property map below.

Property map

To support your investigations, there is an interactive property map on the Brighton and Hove council website that allows you to decipher whether property is private or council owned. This how to guide supports users using the map.

If privately owned

If you discover the space is privately owned, please contact the owner to ask for permission. Once you have permission, you can then contact the council to discuss licensing / permits and the details of your event by getting in touch with the relevant team.

Licensing permits

To apply for licensing permits contact Environmental Health on: [email protected]

You might need a license for a number of reasons, e.g. serving alcohol, performing a play, exhibiting a film, live music/dance. More details.

If council owned

All Brighton & Hove council properties are managed by Avison Young real estate so the best way to find any unused property is to check out their website, refining your search to Brighton to see what is available to rent. Each property listing has a contact you’ll need to get in touch with directly, regarding availability. Once the property is leased to you, you may need to contact the council for licenses / permits (see above).

Jubilee Library windows

Jubilee Library are occasionally able to display / offer usage of their windows. Please contact Jubilee Library directly to request permission. Once received, if licenses / permits are required get in touch with the Environmental Health team at the council (depending on your proposal).

Brilliant Brighton pop-up shop project

As of September 2020 Brilliant Brighton (a not-for-profit organisation, formed of 517 businesses within Brighton city centre to make Brighton a fantastic place to work, live and visit) has partnered with Brighton & Hove City Council to utilise the city’s vacant premises. The project is initially running for six months and will predominately focus on creating pop-up shop opportunities. However, they are also looking for organisations interested in dressing windows/ creating art installations to improve the appearance of vacant properties too. If you are interested in hosting a pop-up shop or being involved in window dressing please email: [email protected]

Please note: for pop-up shops, please let Brilliant Brighton know your rental budget and how long you would like to have a temporary store for.

See also
[How is the Brighton & Hove City Council property portfolio managed?]